Co-Stars: Lobster & Sticky Rice
But you might have some questions about this dish. The one that I asked myself: is the lobster or the sticky rice the true star of this Lobster Sticky Fried Rice dish? Of course, the answer is both. But I will say, that having made “fried rice” dishes with glutinous rice in the past (Sticky Rice with Chinese Sausage), the lobster really pushes it over the edge! Lobster is one of those decadent ingredients where it seems to get added to pretty much anything to make it better (see the birth of lobster mac n’ cheese). And this dish definitely gets a big boost from plenty of fresh, sweet lobster, cooked restaurant style—the perfect complement to plenty of glutinous rice, which makes the dish extra rich and delicious.
Inspired by Flushing Restaurants
We often write about the inspirations and histories of the dishes we publish. Many of them are from old family recipes or hail from the archives and traditions of various provinces. However, this Lobster Sticky Fried Rice is a product of eating out at lots of excellent Chinese restaurants and banquet halls in Flushing, NY, the Chinese culinary capital of the Northeast! There are so many Chinese people, both young and old, settling in Flushing, bringing many different styles of food. At this point, we know that if we want a truly authentic meal, we had better skip Chinatown and head straight to Flushing. There are so many restaurants there. The competition makes for some of what I think is the best Chinese food in the world. This dish comes from a combination of lobster dishes I’ve had at New York City’s Chinese restaurants over the years!
Worth the Extra Time in the Kitchen
Now, I ain’t gonna lie to you. There is a whole lot of work to do this Lobster Sticky Fried Rice dish right! From dispatching the live lobsters to frying the garlic and preparing the sticky glutinous rice, it is a bit labor intensive, but your guests will appreciate it, and when everyone lifts their chopsticks, you’ll see that it was worth it! In fact, we recently served this dish at a dinner party where we also had big juicy steaks, Peruvian chicken with green sauce), spicy Italian sausages, grilled veggies, and all the expected accoutrements, and this dish was clearly dubbed the hit of the party!
Lobster Sticky Fried Rice Recipe Instructions
This Lobster Sticky Fried Rice is definitely a family favorite, and one of my new crowd-pleasing go-to’s. So if you want to show someone some love or have a special occasion coming up, let’s get to it! Prep the lobster by dispatching them and cutting them into bite sized pieces. See my post for Cantonese Ginger Scallion Lobster or our Youtube video below for detailed, step-by step instructions on how to prepare your live lobsters! Next, put the lobster pieces in a large bowl. Mix the flour and cornstarch together in a bowl and sprinkle it over the lobster. Toss until all the lobster is lightly coated. Add the glutinous rice (sticky rice) (after soaking and draining)… …to a pot of 8 cups of boiling water and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain into a colander and give it quick rinse with cool water, and set aside to drain. Use a fork to break the rice up a bit before you add it to the wok to make the stir frying easier. This method of parboiling the rice yields a less sticky version of the rice, but makes cooking the rice much quicker and easier by eliminating the additional step of fully cooking it separately (i.e., in a pot with less water or in a rice cooker) and refrigerating it the day before to make it “fried rice” friendly. For other methods for cooking sticky rice, see our post on how to make foolproof sticky rice. Heat 2 cups of oil in your wok over medium high heat. When little bubbles form around a bamboo or wooden chopstick dipped in the oil, it’s hot enough! Beat the egg yolks, and drizzle them into the oil to fry. They’ll cook quickly, be ready to immediately pick out the egg using a fine meshed strainer, and set aside. It’s traditional to fry the yolk separately for a richer color and flavor and add the egg whites at a later stage, but you can definitely just stir fry the eggs like we do in many of our other fried rice recipe and then add it to the fried rice as you normally would. Using the fine-mesh strainer, make sure there are no egg debris in your frying oil. Turn the heat down to low and fry the garlic at a low temperature (200F), until it is light golden brown in color. I like to fry it IN the fine-meshed strainer, so that it’s easier to take out. Transfer to a dish and set aside. Now crank up the heat to medium high. When the oil reaches about 375 to 380 degrees F or until just smoking, fry the lobster in batches for 30 to 60 seconds for each batch, gently moving the lobster around with your metal wok spatula or until the shells just turn pink. Make sure the lobster is cooked, but not overcooked, or it will be rubbery! You must also let the oil come back up to temperature after each batch since the cold lobster cools down the hot oil significantly. Drain the lobster pieces of excess oil using a spider or steel strainer and set aside in a large bowl. You can also move them to a wire rack to drain further. You will have leftover oil from frying the lobster, egg yolk and garlic. Pour the oil through a fine mesh strainer into a heatproof bowl. We’ll use some of this for the fried rice, but for the rest, let it cool, refrigerate it, and use it for cooking other recipes! The infused flavors will add good umami to other dishes, and it’s what many restaurants do! Now it’s time to bring all these elements together. If your wok is on the smaller side, you may want to cook the sticky rice in two batches! Add 1 tablespoon of the frying oil to the wok set over medium-low heat, and add the chopped ginger. Gently caramelize the fresh ginger, taking extra care not to burn it. Next, add the Jinhua ham, and let it fry for 30 seconds. You can use dry-cured Virginia ham as a substitute for the Jinhua ham, which is much harder to find! Next, add the chopped red onion, and stir fry for 30 seconds, or until fragrant and just softened. Add the par-boiled sticky rice and stir-fry for 2 minutes or until reheated. Beat the egg whites with a fork until frothy and pour on top of the rice. Continue stir-frying for another 1 to 2 minutes, or until the rice is coated in the egg white. Spread the Shaoxing wine around the perimeter of the wok, and add the salt and dark soy sauce. Stir fry until combined, and add the fried egg yolks, the ground white pepper, and the white parts of the scallions. Next, add the lobster and any juices from the bowl, and gently fold the lobster into the rice using your wok spatula until well combined. Then add half of the fried garlic and the green parts of the scallions. Give everything another quick toss, scoop it all up into a serving platter and sprinkle the rest of the fried garlic over the top! Serve Lobster Sticky Fried Rice hot and enjoy! Lobster Sticky Fried Rice is a crowd pleaser for sure!
