Taiwanese "Oil" Rice

I'm taking a break from bread to get in touch with my inner Taiwanese cook. Inspired by cousin's fantastic cooking skills, I tried my hand at "oil" rice, or you fan. It's a classic Taiwanese food, something that's usually reserved for a slightly special occassion or a meal out. It's popular because of the many flavors it combines: a little seafood, a little meat, and a lot of onion and soy saucy deliciousness. It was a little labor-intensive but a lot easier than I anticipated, and great for a crowd! This is an intensely fragrant and calorie-rich comfort food. I suggest sprinkling it with some chopped cilantro and pairing it with plenty of light dishes to avoid food coma.

For 4 servings (or 2 and leftovers):

• 2 cups glutinous rice, soaked for 2 hours and then drained.
• 2 Tbs soy sauce (1 if you're using extra dark soy sauce, which is sludgy and almost black)
• 2 Tbs rice wine
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp five spice powder
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 Tbs neutral cooking oil
• 1 cup sliced pork or diced Chinese bacon
• 1 cup sliced or diced shitake mushrooms
• 1/8 cup dried shrimp, soaked and chopped roughly
• 1/4 cup dried deep fried shallots
• 1 cup water

Combine the soy sauce, rice wine, white pepper, five spice powder, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Set aside. Heat a pan over high heat and add the oil. Stir fry the meat, mushrooms, shrimp, and shallots until fragrant. You may have to turn down the heat once the meat browns. If you're using bacon, you'll want to turn the heat to medium low and let the fat render out a little. When everything is hot and you can smell the fragrance of the mushrooms and shallots, add the drained rice and stir fry. The aim isn't to cook the rice, but to toast it until it's warmed through and ever so slightly cooked around the edges. After about two minutes of constantly tossing the rice in man over medium heat, add the soy sauce mixture and toss again to coat well. Then, and this is where experience comes into play, add enough water so that the mixture is moist but there's no water pooling at the bottom. Usually this means half as much water as there is rice. But like I said, experience plays a role.

Pour the entire rice mix into a rice cooker and steam. When the rice cooker is done, leave the rice in the steamer for at least half an hour before checking on it. At this point, the rice should be done if you've only cooked two cups. If you've doubled the recipe, you'll want to mix up the rice, taste a little and see if you need to add a little water and mix well, then cook the rice again. Like with the first time, let the rice cooker sit for half an hour after it indicates it's done. This allows the glutinous rice to cook completely through.

You might need to steam the rice a third time, but not if you've soaked it properly and used fairly fresh rice. Serve hot with some cilantro, and enjoy this sticky, savory, rice!