GLUTTONOUS GLUTINOUS (STICKY) RICE

Steps:

• Rinse and then soak the dried shiitake in warm water for about 20-30 minutes, or until they've become soft and pliable. Do the same for the dried shrimp.
• Remove mushroom from water, squeeze dry, and reserve the water to add flavor to the rice. Remove the stems, they're too tough. Slice mushroom thinly.
• Drain shrimp from water, reserve water to add to rice later.
• While you wait for the little fungi to soften up, get a wok and heat it up. No oil will be necessary because the fat content in the sausages (whoops, forgot to mention that. But if it gets too dried, add about 1 tablespoon of olive oil But we're talking comfort food here, afterall...) will all come out during cooking. Quickly fry for 2-3 minutes, then add the dried shrimp and toss it about until you smell all the great aromas and much of the oil from the sausage has come out. Tip the sausage pieces and shrimp into a dish, taking care to leave most of the oil behind in the wok, and put aside.
• Heat up the wok again and add the glutinous rice. This part is a bit like the beginnings of a risotto. In an ideal world, the glutinous rice would be cooked in this way throughout, in the wok, until the rice has completely cooked through. But we don't have time, so my mom taught me this method of par-cooking the glutinous rice before adding it to the rice cooker with the medium grain rice.
• Keep stirring the rice until all the grains are coated in the sausage oil. Heat the reserved shrimp and mushroom water until nearly boiling, if using, if not heat up 2 cups of water. Then add small ladles of liquid in at a time, letting the rice absorb all the liquid before adding the next bunch. Do this for about 10 minutes until the rice looks fluffy and the mixture thickens. You may use mor less water than 2 cups.
• Rinse your medium grain rice in the rice cooker and fill with water to 2cm above the rice. Add your par-cooked glutinous rice, the reserved sausage and shrimps. Slice the mushrooms and add those in, too, along with any of the water they were soaking inches. Add soy sauce. Mix well. If needed, top up with water so there is 2cm of liquid above the rice again. Turn on the rice cooker and leave to bubble away happily....
• When the rice is ready, remove the lid and give it a big stir, loosening the rice. This ensures that it's all nice and fluffy. Drizzle with a bit of sesame oil. Mix well and serve in a large, thick bowl. Sprinkle over the chopped spring onions.
• And as with most comfort foods, it tastes even better the next day.