I love lo mai kai (糯米雞) which to me, basically, is the Hokkien chang minus the bamboo leaf wrapping. For reasons unknown, it is not available here or at least, not in the way that I like it.
I managed to buy one at a bakery here in 2013…
…but in my own words in the blogpost on it, “I would not mind having them again though I would not go out of my way to buy them – they’re definitely not THAT good.“
They had this…
…at a popular restaurant in town though I am not sure if they still have their dim sum in the morning or not, especially during these troubled times. I guess it is pretty obvious from the photograph that what they had there was completely different from the ones that I would be more familiar with.
Likewise, the lotus leaf-wrapped ones…
…at this restaurant that has the best dim sum in town aren’t quite the same either.
I absolutely loved the nyonya lo mai kai…
…here but when I went again, I was informed that they had taken it off the menu as it was not selling well and since they had to make quite a lot at one time, they all had to be thrown away. Well, they closed down the place as well, eventually.
I don’t think I’ve seen it anywhere else, nice or otherwise so I guess should we feel like eating it, we would just have to make our own and that was exactly what my missus did.
She said that she browsed through some videos online to get a rough idea as to how to go about it but she was doing it her own way. Most would use chicken but she used pork instead and there was ginger in some but she decided to use shallots and garlic only. We had run out of lap cheong (Chinese sausage) in the house so she had to do without that. I mentioned to her in passing that it should be the same as how her mum used to make her Hokkien chang except that she would not need to wrap them in those bamboo leaves.
Well, this was how it turned out in the end…
I don’t know what recipe she followed but she only managed to make 6. It did seem like quite a lot of work and if I were her, I would double everything and make 12. We can always keep them in the fridge and steam to heat up and enjoy and eat them slowly one by one.
She layered the inside with a piece of the bamboo leaf…
…that is usually used to wrap those bak changs for the special fragrance and yes, I would say that it…
…was very nice. I guess this would have to do to appease the craving until the next time she decides to make them again.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
I love this, specially the ones with salted duck eggs
It so happened that I bought and cooked some to go with rice for my meals. Didn’t think of adding the yolks in a couple of them for me to enjoy. I’d love that too!!!
Yes, I love lo Mai kai which to me is just an easy version of bak Chang too. If go lap cheong, ma Kong tu tiok ( no need to say). With pork or chicken, I guess both taste equally great. I think this lo mai kai is much easily done than bak chang as bak Chang need to wrap which is time consuming.
…and if you do not know how to wrap, they will come in all shapes and sizes…and they may “explode” in the course of cooking. This is definitely a lot easier.
Wow… your wife really can cook very well! Yes, I think lor mai kai is not easy to make… and not easy to find nice ones these days.
Over there too? I thought only in Sibu. Lots of Cantonese, should be able to find good ones all over! A lot of work, not worth the trouble really. Once in a long while is fine, I guess.
I used to wonder if I could make bak chang without all the hassle of wrapping. like just steam it in a bowl and your missus has proven that it is possible.
It is possible…and the lady at that cafe did a superb job making nyonya chang in a bowl, so very nice…minus the wrapping. Too bad it was discontinued way too soon.
Your wife’s lor mai ju looks tasty too with pork instead of chicken.
Personally, I would prefer pork.
I would like to try the nyonya lo mai kai.
Too bad it has been discontinued. I loved it too!!!