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Guihua nuomi ou (sticky rice lotus root with osmanthus)
桂花糯米藕 · Hangzhou's lotus root stuffed with glutinous rice and glazed in osmanthus syrup
Around West Lake in Hangzhou, lotus roots are pulled from the mud in autumn just as the osmanthus trees bloom, and the two meet in this Jiangnan dessert: the hollow channels of the root are packed with soaked glutinous rice, then the whole root is simmered for hours in brown sugar until it turns rosy brown and soft. It is served cold or warm in slices, the rice showing as white dots, with a drizzle of osmanthus syrup. The common mistake is packing the rice in tight; it swells as it cooks and needs room, or the slices crack and the middle stays hard. Chef's tip: let the root cool in its syrup overnight before slicing; it firms up, cuts cleanly and soaks up more colour.
- Total time
- 180 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
- 3 ½ oz glutinous ricesoaked in cold water for 4 hours or overnight
- 2 lotus rootsabout 600 g in total, thick sections with both ends intact
For the syrup
- 6 ¼ cups water
- 2 ⅞ oz brown sugar
- 1 ⅜ oz rock sugar
- 3 tbsp osmanthus syrupor 1 tbsp dried osmanthus flowers simmered 2 minutes with 2 tbsp sugar and 3 tbsp water
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Drain 3 ½ oz glutinous rice well. Peel 2 lotus roots and cut off one end of each root 2 cm from the end, keeping that slice as a lid. Rinse the channels to clear any mud.
Step 2: Push the rice into the holes from the cut end, tapping the root on the worktop and using a chopstick to work it in. Fill each hole about 80% full and loosely, so the rice has space to swell.
Step 3: Put the lids back on and fix each with 3–4 8 cocktail sticks pushed in at an angle.
Step 4: Lay the roots in a deep pan, add 6 ¼ cups water, 2 ⅞ oz brown sugar, 1 ⅜ oz rock sugar and 6 dried red dates (jujubes) and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer on a low heat for 2 hours, turning the roots every 30 minutes, until a chopstick slides into the root easily.
120 minStep 5: Take off the lid and simmer for 20–30 minutes more to reduce the liquid to a thin syrup, turning the roots to glaze them deep reddish-brown.
25 minStep 6: Leave the roots to cool in the syrup, ideally overnight in the fridge. Lift them out, pull out the cocktail sticks and cut into 1 cm slices.
Step 7: Lay the slices on a plate, spoon over a little of the cooking syrup and drizzle with 3 tbsp osmanthus syrup. Serve cool or at room temperature.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 240 kcal
- Protein
- 3 g
- Carbs
- 56 g
- Fat
- 0 g
- Fibre
- 4 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does guihua nuomi ou (sticky rice lotus root with osmanthus) take?
- About 180 minutes in total: 30 minutes to prepare and 150 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of glutinous rice?
- Any long-grain rice, same amount.
- What can I use instead of brown sugar?
- White sugar + 1 tbsp molasses or treacle per 200g.
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