steam chicken rice on lotus leaf

Invited some friends over for a family style dinner. I am hesitant in buying groceries because this is my last week in Boston. Looking through chinese recipes, i see steam chicken wrapped with lotus leaf. There is a famous chinese dim sum that used the same technique but they use sticky rice and of course added a lot more other ingredients into this tiny squared dim sum. 

I used rice instead and only added chicken and mushroom into this dish.

You could get the dry lotus leaf in chinese supermarket. First boil some water and put in the leaf for 1-2 minutes. This help soften the leaf and brings out the aroma of the leaf.

First soak the dry mushrooms.

Then cut up the chicken (i used thighs) and marinate them. 

I did not have enough time that night, but if you use egg white and corn starch to marinate the chicken for half and hour, the chicken would be very smooth and chewy.

Then use light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, chinese wine and chopped ginger to marinate for at least two hours. (these are the basic ingredients for marinating most of the chinese meat.)

You could wrap the chicken into the lotus leaf and add some salty ham, scallion, ginger and wine to make steam chicken. This would take around 20 min on high heat.

For me, i cooked the rice with a rice cooker (took it out 5 minutes before it clicks) 

Put the rice in the center of the lotus leaf and add the soaked mushroom.

At the meantime, i slightly fry the chicken with chinese sausages. Fry till half cooked and put everything on top of the rice. Wrap the lotus leaf and put it in a steamer for around 10-15 minutes. 

Make sure the chicken is cooked, and the rice is ready to serve!

I always make sure there is a veggie dish in my meal therefore i made my favorite dish that my mom cooks at home. 

Soak the 'wood ear' fungus. You can purchase them in any chinese markets.

Then peel the chinese okra and cut them into pieces. 

Chop up some garlic. Add oil to the pan and add in the garlic when the oil is heated. Add the okra and stir fry them for a minute. Add in the fungus. For the sauce, i added some oyster sauce, chicken broth and sugar. Taste the dish and add a suitable amount of salt. Add in corn starch to thicken the sauce. Cover the pan and let it cook for 1-2 minutes, until the okra is soft and the dish is ready! You could also add in sliced beef into this dish.