From: daoffer@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Debora Offer)
Subject: RECIPE: Eight Treasure Rice
Posted-Date:  21 Jan 93 09:20:46
Keywords: Chinese cooking, dessert, banquet dish
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin
Date: 21 Jan 93 09:20:46

I found this recipe for Eight Treasure Rice in 
"Mrs. Chiang's Szechwan Cookbook" by Ellen Schrecker
I haven't tried it since I'm not really interested in desserts
but everything else I have tried from the book (~10 recipes) has been 
terrific.  I apologize for any typos I may have introduced.

Eight Treasure Rice (babaofan)
[Stolen from "Mrs. Chiang's Szechwan Cookbook" by Ellen Schrecker ISBN 0-60-015828-X]

[...]  The preparation will require at least 6 hours from start to finish.
It will not, however, be 6 hours of concentrated labor, since much of the 
time is spent soaking, simmering, and steaming.

Preparation

1 1/2 cups dried Chinese red beans
2 cups water
Put the beans in a bowl, cover them with water, and let them soak for at 
least 1 hour.  Then rinse them thoroughly.

4 cups water
Put the beans in a medium saucepan, cover them with the 4 cups water, and 
bring them to a boil over a high flame.  Let them cook for about 10 minutes 
before you reduce the flame, then cover the pan and let the beans simmer 
for 2 hours.

1 cup glutinous rice
2 cups water
While the beans are cooking, put the glutinous rice in a bowl and cover it 
with water.  Set it aside to soak for at least 1 hour.

(beans)
After the beans have simmered for 2 hours and are nice and soft, remove them 
from the heat and without draining them, let them cool off.  Then puree them, 
liquid and all.  (Mrs. Chiang discovered that the easiest way to do this using
Western implements was to force the beans through a strainer with a wooden spoon.)  
The pureed beans will probably be rather runny.

1 1/2 Tb lard
(beans)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Heat the lard in a flat frying pan over a medium flame.  When the lard is 
melted, add the pureed beans and the sugar.  Cook, stirring constantly, 
and if the beans are particularly watery, turn up the flame while you cook them.  
When they reach the consistency of mashed potatoes, remove them from the heat 
and let them cool off.

1 Tb peanut oil
1 1/2 Tb granulated sugar
Heat the peanut oil in a wok or flat frying pan over a medium flame for about 
15 seconds, then add the sugar and stir it continuously until it melts and turns 
dark brown.  Be very careful that it doesn't turn too dark a brown and burn.

1 1/2 lb fresh bacon [see Note]
Cut the fresh bacon into 3 large chunks.  Add these to the caramelized sugar 
in the pan and fry them gently for 4 or 5 minutes.  Turn the meat often, so 
it gets brown and slightly caramelized on all sides.  Remove from the pan 
and let cool.

20 dried red dates
2 cups water
While you are waiting for the pork to cool off enough for you to handle, 
wash the dates well under cold running water, then put them in a small 
bowl and cover them with water.  Let soak for at least 20 minutes.

(meat)
When the meat is cool enough to handle, slice it in the following way:  
First, cut the meat across the grain into a piece about 1/8 inch thick,
but do not cut the meat completely through.  Then cut a second slice of 
the same thickness, but this time cut all the way through the meat.  
This will give you a slice of meat that you can open like a book.  
Cut all the meat into the same kind of slices.

(sweet bean paste)
Stuff the cavity of each piece of meat with about 1 Tb of the 
sweet bean paste.

1 lg sweet potato
Peel the sweet potato and cut it into 1 inch cubes; you should get 
about 2 cups of cubed sweet potato.  You are now ready to assemble 
the dish.  Before you begin it is a good idea to assemble your steamer.  
You will have to steam the Eight Treasure Rice in a large round bowl 
and you may find that such a bowl will not fit into a regular Chinese 
steamer.  You may be able to devise one out of a wok and its top, or, 
if necessary, you can always make a serviceable one out of a large pot.

(glutinous rice)
(dates)
(filled meat slices)
Drain the glutinous rice and the dates.  Arrange the bean paste-filled 
meat slices in a regular pattern around the sides and bottom of the bowl. 
The meat slices should be slightly overlapping.

(dates)
Arrange the dates decoratively in the spaces between the meat slices.

(sweet potatoes)
Cover the meat with the sweet potato cubes.

(glutinous rice)
1 cup granulated sugar
Finally, heap the glutinous rice on top of everything and sprinkle 
the sugar evenly over the rice.

Cooking

Make sure that there are several inches of water in the bottom of your 
steamer.  Place the bowl of Eight Tresure Rice on a rack over the water, 
then turn the heat to moderate.  When the water is boiling, cover the 
steamer and steam for 2 or 3 hours, or until the rice is completely cooked, 
checking the steamer repeatedly to make sure there is enough water in the 
bottom and adding more if necessary.

1/4 cup water
If the rice seems to be drying out slightly while it is steaming, sprinkle 
several tablespoons of water over it; repeat this process whenever you feel 
it is necessary.

Serving

When the rice is thoroughly cooked, moist, and sticky, remove the bowl from 
the steamer.  Let it cool enough to handle and then unmold it by inverting 
the bowl gently over a large, decorative platter.  Since the inside of the 
bowl should be swimming in fresh pork fat, you shouldn't have any trouble 
unmolding the rice.  If it doesn't slip right out, loosen the rice gently 
from the sides of the bowl with a knife. 

You can eat the Eight Tresure Rice while it is still hot or you can wait 
until it cools down to room temperature.  Don't serve it cold; the liquid 
fat that is such a special feature of this dish is not very appetizing when 
it congeals.

NOTE
Fresh bacon is not the bacon you typically find in American supermarkets.  
It is the same cut of pork (which is approximately 1/3 lean and 2/3 fat) 
but without the salt, sugar and unpronouceable preservatives that our bacon has.
--

\__ __/          Debora    daoffer@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu           \__ __/
   T any opinions expressed are mine, not necessarily my employers T

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