Ingredients
1 1/2 cup raw white rice
3 cup water
1 or 2 chinese sausages
Directions
The MOST typical use of sausage is (hold your hat - another strange
locution but slightly more comprehensible) steamed on rice. Plain.
Poor people's food (actually, a poor people's special treat) but quite
satisfying: Bring the rice to a boil in 2 1/2 c of the water. Lower
heat to low and cook 10 min. Meanwhile, slice sausages into thin
diagonal strips. Add rest of water to rice and cover top of rice with
sausage strips. Some people add scallion or ginger but I prefer the
flavor pristine. Raise heat to the boil again and then lower to low
again. Steam until sausage fat is transparent and rice is done, 5
minutes or so more. Serve with soy sauce on the side.
To take this dish one step up, use sticky ("glutinous" or "sweet")
rice in the usual way (requires somewhat more water and more careful
cooking). To take this dish to its artisanly conclusion, cook the
sticky rice separately; let it cool; cut it into 8 portions and
spread 4 portions flat on the center part of a lotus or other large,
tough, nonpoisonous leaf. Take the sausage strips and cut them into
smaller pieces, and top each portion of rice with a portion of
sausage. Add a small amount of chopped bamboo shoot, chopped
scallion, and chopped dried shrimp (previously soaked in sherry for
1/2 hour) to each serving. Make a sauce from 2 T soy sauce and 1 T
broth boiled together and thickened with 1/2 t cornstarch (mixed into
3/4 t water). Apply two teaspoons of this sauce to the top of your
dish. Top this mess with the other 4 portions of rice and crimp the
edges together. Now: carefully bring the sides of the leaf up to make
an envelope, and tie with twine. Steam for 5 minutes or so and serve.
From: Michael Loo
Servings: 4 servings
Chinese Sausage & Rice Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Asian; Chinese; Meat; Rice; Sausage
The History of Recipes
It is quite possible to follow the history of transcribed cooking instructions way back into distant history, at least as far back into history as the ancient Egyptians, and maybe further still. Interesting though that maybe, sadly, these early cook books were just basic pictorial instructions for meal preparation.
In fact, the most ancient recipe in existence, according to historians are some tablets in Sumerian which describe the preparation of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making drinkers feel `wonderful`. Later on, in The time of the romans around 25BC a roman called Apicius assembled a collection of documents showing how to cook the recipes cooked by his fellow Romans. In his publication, Apicius describes how the roman meals were divided into hors d`oeuvres, entrees and desserts, a style of dining still practiced today. This early Roman chef tells us how the cooks of his times were skilled in the use of many herbs and spices, including a few you will know like basil, rue and parsley. Later, we have some interesting books which were published in the 14th Century ; one book titled `Forme of Cury`, and another titled `Curye on Inglish`. Surprisingly, these books are nothing to do with the indian curry that is popular today, but instead accounts of the types of food prepared for the nobility of the time. Later on in the 1400s, knights returning from the crusades brought back a variety of foods and spices from Arab cooking, such as basil and coriander. These new herbs and spices caused a surge in books on cookery, many of which are kept safe in private cookery archives. The arrival of television brings us TV chefs and the demand for the accompanying recipe books. Which brings us neatly up to date and the invention of computers and the internet, allowing everyone to access massive numbers of recipes like the ones you can find on our web site. |
We hope you enjoy this Chinese Sausage & Rice recipe.
