Thursday, February 3, 2011

Sticky Rice Bento


Sticky Rice Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.
I made sticky rice today and it just begged to be used for bento. It's a nice way to put together a one-dish meal. I make mine in my trusty rice cooker, which happens to have a "sweet rice" setting; but you could probably use any old rice cooker. This batch contains Chinese sausage (lup cheong), shiitake mushrooms, and shredded baby bok choy. You could also add char siu or other vegetables if you like; I don't think it's necessary to stick to traditional ingredients. The rice itself is a mixture of one part regular Japanese white rice to two parts sweet (glutinous) rice. I found brown glutinous rice in my market and used some of it to replace the regular glutinous rice, but I think the brown takes longer to cook. Or I could have possibly soaked it longer. Anyway, I ran through another cycle and it was okay. I also replaced the water with chicken broth, which imparts a nice aromatic flavor. I put the sticky rice in a thermal frog bento, and sent along another box with steamed broccoli, romanesco and yellow cauliflower, plus carrots and blood oranges. And a frog fork to complete the set. I have two new thermal food sets to test and review, so stay tuned for that. Hope you all enjoyed your Chinese New Year!
Sticky Rice Method
2 cups glutinous (sweet) rice
1 cup medium grain (Japanese) white rice
3 cups chicken broth
Start rice cooker. About halfway through the cooking cycle, add ingredients of your choice, such as sliced lup cheong, shiitake, char siu. I used baby bok choy, which I added even later, to avoid too much wilting. You can also use green onion. Stir and serve! Delish!

*Note added 4/2/11: If you're in the market for a thermal bento jar like this one, there's a blue version up for auction right now on Bento4Japan! Just click here to see it!

11 comments:

  1. Mmm..that looks delicious! I'm assuming the Japanese rice is like a sushi rice, which I use frequently, but I don't think I've ever seen glutinous rice before. I'll have to go searching! I LOVE sticky rice and am always searching for ways to make it just right!

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  2. Yummy! That looks delish Sheri! :)

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  3. The next time I make this I'm adding shiitake like you did! Looks delicious.

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  4. Becky, yes, it's sushi rice. Glutinous rice is also called sweet mochi rice sometimes. Hope you can find it. Thanks!
    Thanks Susan!
    Debra, I put shiitake in everything. It's awesome. Thanks!

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  5. Wonderful idea! I love these *all in one pot* cooking :9.
    Can´t wait to see you using your new thermal sets! ^_^

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  6. Wow, looks so good! Can you do this without a rice cooker? Maybe I will have to get one when we move into our new place.

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  7. karaimame, me too! Thanks a lot :)
    Thanks Sonoma Bento! I'm sure you can do it on the stovetop. It's also good in a clay pot, which allows you to get crispy parts as well. I love it that way!

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  8. This sticky rice looks similar to our claypot rice (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claypot_chicken_rice) here in SG which is very tasty but cooked with regular Jasmine rice grain tho...
    Yours is too tempting, Sheri! ;D

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  9. Oh, yeah, I love clay pot sticky rice!! A lot!!
    I have a clay pot too, but sadly I usually reach for the convenience of the rice cooker :(

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  10. Oh, this is always the case now-convenience... hee ;P

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