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Chinese Sticky Rice (Meal Prep Friendly)

Discover how easy it is to make a pot of your own Chinese Sticky Rice. Serve it as a stuffing, a side dish, or as a meal in itself. This is a fabulous dish to make ahead of time; perfect for meal prep.

Chinese Sticky Rice in Bowl
Perfectly delicious Chinese sticky rice

Perfect Chinese Sticky Rice

Super tender, soft sticky rice is one of those dishes Hubby and the boys scarf down like there’s no tomorrow. They’re hardly alone in their affinity for savory sticky rice. A hot pot of steamy, deeply flavorful sticky rice means comfort food in kitchens around the world.

Thankfully, it’s pretty easy to track down short-grain glutinous rice (more on that below) either at major grocery stores or online these days. Other Asian pantry basics such as oyster sauce and sesame oil can be found in many grocery stores as well.

Once you’ve prepared your ingredients, it’s a one-pot meal deal from there. Toss it all together and cook. You’ll be happily astonished at the succulent flavors that emerge.

Sticky Rice Sweet Glutinous in colander
Sweet Glutinous Rice doesn’t actually taste sweet, nor does it contain sugar

Buying and Storing Short Grain, “Glutinous” Rice (Gluten-Free)

Chinese Sticky Rice is surprisingly easy to pull off at home. The key is buying the correct rice. Look for short-grain glutinous rice, which is sometimes also labeled sweet rice, despite the fact that it doesn’t taste noticeably sweet. Short-grain glutinous rice can be found at major grocery stores (in ethnic aisles) or Asian grocery stores, as well as online.

All uncooked rice keeps fresh longer when stored in an airtight container and in cool, dry spaces. If you have a small bag of uncooked rice and can manage to keep it in the fridge, that’s the ideal situation for keeping grains fresh for a long time. A cool/dry basement space works well as a storage for most of your grains as well.

Importantly, you’ll want to pre-soak the glutinous rice for a few hours before you cook it. The pre-soak helps soften the outer surface of the rice grains and allows for even cooking throughout

Despite the term glutinous rice, there is no gluten in the rice. The term glutinous refers only to the sticky soft texture. It’s a bit of a misleading term, but glutinous rice is like any rice…gluten-free all the way.

Shiitake Mushrooms and Chinese Sausage

I deviated a bit from traditional Chinese sticky rice in this alternate sticky rice with ground turkey (the commonly used Chinese Sausage or lap cheong isn’t normally stocked in my pantry.) I always have ground turkey on hand, and it’s an amazing protein choice for adding to sticky rice. That said, purist foodies may be partial to the rich flavor Chinese Sausage. Admittedly, there’s nothing quite like the sweet, savory, flavorful aroma of it.

Thus, today’s Chinese sticky rice recipe is done the traditional way with slices of luscious Chinese sausage strewn throughout the mounds of tender, sticky rice.  Plus aromatic Shiitake mushrooms, which is my personal favorite part of this rice dish.

Chinese Sticky Rice in Bowl
Sticky rice is comfort food in a bowl

Leftover Sticky Rice

Feel free to make a big pot of this savory sticky rice, as you’ll thank yourself for having leftovers. When you open the fridge to survey meal options the next day, that already-cooked, delicious sticky rice will be ready and waiting.

It’s super easy to reheat leftover sticky rice in a microwave-safe bowl with a lid. Always store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge, which helps to maintain its tenderness and flavor.

Freeze it, Meal Prep it

Want to freeze cooked sticky rice? Not a problem. Simply store it in an airtight container and freeze for up to a couple weeks; use meal prep containers for individual servings, if desired.

For the most convenient option, choose glass containers with airtight lids that are microwave/oven/dishwasher friendly. When ready to serve, simply defrost and reheat using your preferred method.


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Chinese Sticky Rice in Bowl

Chinese Sticky Rice

4.85 from 33 ratings
This sticky rice recipe is a fail-proof, super easy, and crowd-pleasing dish. Most of the ingredients can now be found in the Asian aisles of your favorite grocery stores.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 55 minutes
Servings: 10
Author: Amy Dong

Ingredients  

Instructions

  • Prep Ahead: Rehydrate dried Shiitake mushrooms by soaking in warm water for about 1 hour. Drain well and chop. Set aside.
  • Drain soaked rice in a colander and rinse with cold water. Set aside. 
  • Heat up a heavy large pot (I use my All-Clad stock pot) with 1 TB oil until hot. Add ginger and stir fry for a minute. Add Chinese sausage and Shiitake mushrooms, stir frying for another minute. Add in rice wine, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, white pepper, and rice. Stir to coat thoroughly. Add broth, stir to incorporate, and bring to a boil.
  • Once it reaches a boil, immediately reduce to simmer. Cover tightly and cook 45 minutes. Turn heat off and let it sit for at least 10 minutes, covered. Do not open lid to peek!
  • Carefully stir cooked sticky rice, from bottom to top throughout. Cover and let stand another 10 minutes before serving.
  • Garnish with freshly sliced scallions, if desired. Chopped cilantro or chives work well, too. 

Notes

  • You may use reduced-sodium chicken broth instead of regular strength.
  • If you can’t find authentic Chinese sausage, you can use other types of cooked sausage, such as kielbasa or andouille. 
  • Chinese sausage is somewhat sweet, and not overly salty. If you use a salty sausage, decrease tamari soy sauce to 3 TB. 
  • Prep/Cook time does not include pre-soaking of rice and shiitakes.
*If you enjoyed this recipe, please come back and give it a rating ♡

Nutrition (per serving)

Serving: 1g | Calories: 222kcal | Carbohydrates: 32.6g | Protein: 9.3g | Fat: 7.2g | Saturated Fat: 2.3g | Cholesterol: 15.1mg | Sodium: 598.1mg | Fiber: 4.5g | Sugar: 3.2g
Course: Main Dish
Cuisine: Chinese
Diet: Gluten Free
Method: Stovetop

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Recipe Rating




59 comments

    • Richelle
    • 5 stars

    I forgot to soak the rice and so maybe ours had a bit more bite than I’m used to but seriously so yummy! Thank you!

    • PhotoTravelGal
    • 5 stars

    Excellent and easy to make. I doubled the ginger, halved the oyster sauce, used my preferred sweet soy, added a leek and added mushroom powder seasoning. I accidentally soaked the rice for 4 hrs but all was well. Delicious and taking to a family potluck.

      • Amy Dong

      That’s fantastic! 🙂

    • Matilda
    • 5 stars

    Yay! I just made this all the way in Lagos Nigeria. It looks, smells and tastes amazing. I substituted rice wine with white wine and didn’t have oyster sauce. It was still so delicious and the texture was perfect! Wish I could post a picture. So proud!

      • Amy Dong

      Fantastic! Thanks, Matilda!

    • j

    What do you mean when you said ‘Do not peak’ ? In step 4.

      • Amy Dong

      Oh, that means don’t open the lid 😉 Enjoy!!

      • Himalayan Chef
      • 5 stars

      She means “peek”.

    • Jessie

    How do we cook it with rice cooker?

      • Amy Dong

      You can follow instructions, except use your rice cooker, following manufacturer’s instructions. Enjoy!

    • LeeInNY

    Dying to try this. Used to go to a Chinese restaurant in NYC that made the best sticky rice but I haven’t been there in probably 15 years; not even sure it’s still there. I tried a different recipe for sticky rice which was more complicated, hard to follow and the flavor was there but the rice didn’t stick together like I remembered, even though I was sure to buy the right kind of rice. There was too much liquid in the pan for the amount of rice in the recipe.

      • Amy Dong

      I think you’ll love this one; it’s easy AND delicious!

    • Chantel

    I tried this recipe and found that the rice stuck to the bottom of the pot. I scraped it with a spatula so bits were crunchy which was good, but how would I avoid this in the future?

      • chewoutloud

      It sounds like maybe your stovetop burner might be a bit strong; can you move the pot to a smaller burner for lower simmer? That would definitely help. If you don’t have a smaller burner, try cooking for a bit less time. That should solve it!

    • Sara

    Hi,

    Nice recipe! I wanted to make the delicious rice dessert made in Korea called Yaksik, in Malaysia/Indonesia called Wajik but I can’t seem to find the short grain sticky rice. All I could see where Japanese rice, Thai sticky rice(which is long grain)…can you tell me what it is called in the Chinese main languages so I can show the staff at the Chinese supermarket thanks.

    • Oriane

    Hello! I’m planning to make this chinese sticky rice this week, but I was wondering if the 3 cups of rice are US cups or rice cooker cups? Many thanks!

      • chewoutloud

      Measurement is US cups. Enjoy! 🙂

    • Isi

    It’s really a bummer to not see a lot of people use metrics for the individuals abroad.

      • Himalayan Chef
      • 5 stars

      Here’s a solution. I keep the link in my browser toolbar: https://www.onlineconversion.com/weight_volume_cooking.htm

    • Tug
    • 5 stars

    Supper good

      • chewoutloud

      Thanks!

    • Joe

    This looks like a very nice sticky rice dish. Would it work as nice in a rice cooker?

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