Lo mai gai, sticky rice and chicken parcels steamed in lotus leaf

Wash the sticky rice three or four times until the rinsing water has lost about half its opacity, then cover with water and soak at least four hours and up to overnight.

Soak the dried shiitake, dried shrimp and dried scallop in cool water for the same length of time as the rice.

The soaked rice should break apart gently between the fingers. Drain it in a strainer.

Nestle a damp cloth into a bamboo steamer, lay the rice in and make a few holes with your fingers so it cooks evenly. Steam over bubbling water on high for half an hour, returning every ten minutes.

At ten minutes, ladle a cup of cool water bit by bit over the rice, flipping as you go, and cover again.

At twenty minutes, judge the rice. If it is still a little dry and slightly yellowish, repeat the cup of water and the flip; otherwise just flip it. Slightly too wet is safer than slightly too dry for this dish.

Tip the cooked rice into a big bowl and let it cool. Once it is no longer hot to the touch, season with the salt, MSG, chicken bouillon powder and the melted lard, stirring the lard right through.

Squeeze out the soaked shiitake, reserving the soaking liquid, discard the stems and dice the caps. Reserve the dried seafood liquid too, tossing it in with the mushroom liquid. Mince the shrimp and crush the dried scallop with the flat of a knife.

Debone the chicken drumstick and cut it into six even-ish pieces. Marinate with the salt, sugar, cornstarch, chicken bouillon, white pepper, soy sauce and dark soy, mix well, then drizzle in the toasted sesame oil and mix again.

Dice the bamboo shoots.

Swirl about two tablespoons of peanut oil into the wok over a high flame and fry the chicken about 30 seconds, until it looks basically cooked. Add half a cup of the reserved soaking liquid, drop to medium and simmer about six minutes until the liquid is mostly reduced, then take the chicken out.

Swirl in another tablespoon of oil, add the dried ingredients and the bamboo shoot and fry about one minute until fragrant. Add the same half cup of reserved soaking liquid and any sauce from the chicken and let it reduce away.

Add the pre-prepared sauce and cook one to two minutes until it has formed into a good sauce, then take it out and set aside.

Fold the dried lotus leaves into quarters and soak in 80 centigrade water for half an hour until pliable. Squeeze out the excess liquid and cut into quarters along the creases; soak a little extra leaf to patch any holes.

Brush the leaf with a little peanut oil. Take one sixth of the seasoned rice by weight, press it together, cut it in half with a spoon and lay one half on the leaf.

Add one tablespoon of the sauce and one hunk of the cooked chicken, then press the other half of the rice into a small dome and lay it over the top. Seal the sides gently.

Wrap like an onigiri: press in using the leaf, roll and press again, fold the sides in like a Christmas present and roll it up, hiding the excess leaf on the bottom.

Set the steamer over bubbling water, drop the flame to medium and steam 20 minutes.

To store, cool the steamed parcels to room temperature, lay them flat in a bag and freeze. Re-steam from frozen without thawing, over a medium flame for 30 minutes.