My sweet friend Cally asked me whether I know how to make this Steamed Fried Rice sometimes ago. She said that the sauce was to die for and the rice so yummy. It got me curious and I recalled something I have read on a blog of a Philippino foodie - Dinner at Six Thirty,the writer also mentioned about this steamed fried rice and how yummy it was.
With the intention to know more about this dish, I started researching online and learnt that this is a Philippine version of "Chinese Dim Sum". Here is something I found online about the origin of this dish fromthis website:
"The Steam Fried Rice of Cebuis fried rice topped with shrimp and pork, and steamed in a rice cooker with its secret sauce. This was an original creation ofMr. Henry UytengsuofDing Qua Qua Dimsum Housein Cebu, which pionereed the all-day dimsum dining in 1969.
After Ding Qua Qua (1 branch) which offers a signature dimsum buffet, Mr. Uytengsu's group createdHarbour City Dimsum House(3 branches) which featured the traditional dimsum carts wheeled to the customers' table-sides. They then created the mall-basedDimsum Breakoutlet (13 banches) to originally address the dining needs of the mall's late night foodies from the bowling alleys and cinemas.
True enough, the name "Dimsum Break" was inspired by taking breaks to eat dimsum during a bowling session. It is considered the Philippines' version of Panda Express."
As a Malaysian, I know only too well how interesting food could be with some local influence. As part of my effort to recreate this dish at home, I found a few recipes online and tweak my version based on my understanding of Cantonese dishes (which, is the origin of dimsum dishes.) .
The result is great and the taste superb! Though I never did try the original, this version I created is definitely satisfying and I will surely make it again!
For Pork & Shrimp Stew:
400 gm Pork (I used pork belly, you can use Collar Butt too for good lean meat plus some fat)
100 gm Shrimp (Devein,Shell)
3 cups water
2 tbsp frozen peas
1 tbsp of minced galic
1 tbsp of corn starch
1/2 tbsp of fried shallot Optional
For marinate:
1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine/Hua Diao Wine (花雕酒)
1 tsp oyster sauce
2 tsp corn starch
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 pinch of black or white pepper powder
Seasoning:
1.5 tbsp Light Soy Sauce or to taste
2 tsp of dark soy sauce or 1 tsp of sugar
For Garlic Fried Rice:
3 cups of Cooled Jasmine rice
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp of light soy sauce
1 tsp of oyster sauce
few drops of sesame oil
1. Cubed pork into 2 cm x 2 cm cubes, mix with all ingredients listed under for marination and marinates the pork for at least 20 minutes.
2. In a cooking pot, add 1 tsp oil and stir in shallot and garlic, stir until fragrant, then add the pork pieces, fried until browned. Add 3 cups of water and add soy sauce and sugar/dark soy sauce, cover with lid and bring to boil at high for 5 minutes, turn to medium and continue cooking for another 45 minutes or until pork become tender.
3. Meanwhile shell, devein the shrimps and cut into 2 cm in length. Mix 1 tbsp of corn starch with 3 tbsp of water, set aside.
4. When the pork become tender and the water reduced to half, bring the heat up to rolling boil, add the shrimp and quickly followed by frozen peas, when the shrimp changes color, quickly stir in the corn starch. Once the gravy thickened, It is done.
5. When the pork was simmering away, prepare garlic fried rice, in a heated wok, add 2 tbsp of oil, stir in minced garlic and stir until fragrant, add the cooled rice and break the rice with a spatula, keep stirring at high heat until rice loosen.
6. Season with soy sauce and oyster sauce, continue stirring until the rice is fluffy and well done, add a few drops of sesame oil before switching off the stove.
Note: It is important not to over season the rice, as you don't want the taste of rice over powered the stew, over season may make this dish too salty also.
7. To serve the rice, simply place fried rice in a 3-4 bowls and portion pork and shrimp stew equally on the rice. You can steam this dish on a steamer for 10 minutes to mimic the effect of a steamed dish like what they do in dimsum express. I personally think it taste just fine without steaming.