Chinese Sticky Rice

My grandma makes this every Thanksgiving and Christmas. I always want to get the recipe from her, but forget every time, so when I found this recipe, I realized it would be a perfect second option! My grandma puts little dried shrimp into the rice that nobody likes, so it was good to see that this recipe does not contain them.

Recipe from Noodle Fever.

Ingredients
2 cups of sweet rice, soaked for 2-3 hours
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 cloves of garlic
3 shallots
2 stalks of green onion
3 links of lap cheong
2 links of pork sausage
1½ cups mixed mushrooms
10-12 fresh water chestnuts, peeled and diced
1¾ cups water and/or mushroom soaking liquid
1½ tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
Chopped green onions and cilantro to garnish

Directions
1. Mince garlic, dice shallots, slice green onions. Chop up your lap cheong into small dice.

2. The wild mushrooms kind of got lost in the dish, so I'll probably skip them next time, and just use shiitakes. If you're soaking dried mushrooms, submerge them in just enough hot water to cover, let them sit for half an hour, and save the liquid to add to the rice. Dice mushrooms.

3. If you're using water chestnuts, peel off their tough brown skin, along with any mushy or rotten bits with a sharp knife, then dice. Don't make these too tiny, or they won't retain their crunch. Definitely do not substitute canned water chestnuts. These are watery and soft and will ruin rather than improve the texture of the final dish. A few stalks of diced celery would make a reasonable substitute.

4. Heat oil in a large wok, then add the shallots. Let them get slightly brown, which should take about four or five minutes. Toss in the garlic, and then start squeezing in your pork sausage, throwing the casing away. Break the sausage up into small pieces (I like to use two wooden spatulas for this step) and cook until browned on all sides. Toss in the rest of your chopped ingredients: mushrooms, green onions, water chestnuts, lap cheong, and give them a quick stir.

5. Drain your rice. Dump this into the pan and mix well with the other ingredients. Then turn off the heat and transfer the whole mixture to your rice cooker. If you soaked mushrooms, pour the reserved soaking liquid into a measuring cup. As you pour (slowly), check if there's any grit from the mushrooms in the soaking liquid. Stop pouring before the grit makes it into the measuring cup. Add enough water to make 1¾ cups total. Add this to the rice cooker. You can also just use water for this step.

6. Add soy sauce. Hit cook. This took half an hour in my rice cooker.