Scattered Braised Eight-Treasure Rice
散烩八宝饭 is a famous Hubei dish made by first preparing an eight-treasure base from eight ingredients including glutinous rice, lotus seeds, and red dates, then braising the base with sugar and lard.
Ingredients
Glutinous rice (soaked, washed, and steamed)
to taste
White sugar
1000 g
Cooked pork lard (mixed into the glutinous rice)
10 g
Lotus seeds (peeled, cored, and steamed)
to taste
Job's tears (washed clean and steamed)
to taste
Red dates (pitted and steamed)
to taste
Candied winter melon strips (chopped)
500 g
Candied tangerine cake (chopped)
to taste
Sweet-scented osmanthus sugar
to taste
Cooked pork lard (for braising)
50 g
Candied cherries (for garnish)
250 g
Wet starch (for thin slurry)
to taste
Instructions
1
Step 1
Peel the lotus seeds and remove their cores, wash the Job's tears clean, pit the red dates, and steam each separately. Chop the candied winter melon strips and candied tangerine cake. Soak the glutinous rice in water, wash it, drain, and steam until cooked; then mix in 1000 g of white sugar and 10 g of cooked pork lard until evenly combined.
2
Step 2
Divide the lotus seeds, red dates, Job's tears, candied tangerine cake, candied winter melon strips, and sweet-scented osmanthus sugar among 10 bowls, then cover each with the sugar-mixed cooked glutinous rice. Steam in the steamer until thoroughly cooked through to form the eight-treasure base.
3
Step 3
Set a wok over medium heat, add water and white sugar, then add the eight-treasure base and stir together until it comes to a boil. Once the sugar has dissolved, add 50 g of cooked pork lard and repeatedly push the mixture around, then finish with a thin slurry made from wet starch. Transfer to a serving plate, sprinkle with the candied cherries, and arrange tangerine segments around the dish as decoration.
