Lo mai gai

Lo mai gai (Chinese: 糯米雞 or alternatively, 珍株雞 literally meaning "pearl chicken"), is a classic dim sum dish served during yum cha hours. The dish is also called by the literal English translations such as "steamed sticky rice with chicken in lotus leaf wrap."

Description

Lo mai gai is mostly a southern Chinese food. It contains glutinous rice filled with chicken, Chinese mushrooms, Chinese sausage, scallions and sometimes dried shrimp or salted egg. The ball of rice is then wrapped in a dried lotus leaf and steamed. In North America, banana, or grape leaves may be used instead.

In Malaysia and Singapore, there are two variants of lo mai gai. The first is the original Cantonese version and the other a takeaway style served at coffee shops and speciality local dim sum shops. The takeaway style has glutinous rice served with chicken and are usually made by companies such as Kong Guan.

Variant

Sometimes lo mai gai is divided into smaller wraps, which are known as chun chu gai (Cantonese, 珍珠雞) literally meaning "pearl chicken" in Chinese.

Due to the flexibility of the lotus leaf, lo mai gai is typically wrapped to form a rectangular parcel. Zongzi is wrapped using bamboo leaves into a triangular based pyramid (tetrahedron).

Gallery

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  The takeaway style of lo mai gai (Usually served in a small bowl)

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  Machang (Zongzi or Ma-Chang 肉粽 - a variant of Lo mai gai shaped in a triangular pattern - Chinese food made from sticky rice with chicken or pork adobo inside seasoned with bean sauce. It has also some mushrooms)

See also

• Chinese sticky rice
• Zongzi
• Bánh tẻ
• Bánh tét
• Bánh chưng
• Tamale
• Pamonha
• Pasteles
• Hallaca
• Corunda
• Suman