Rib-sticking recipes: nor mai fan, and fried spare ribs with fermented bean curd and garlic

Nor mai fan (glutinous rice cooked with preserved Chinese sausages and barbecued pork) is a dish my Chinese-American family serves alongside Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys, and as part of an everyday meal. Its ultimate incarnation is as a filling - either for tunnel-boned chicken, which is then deep-fried and chopped into pieces; or - even better (but harder to find) - stuffed into a boned suckling pig, roasted until the thin skin is as delicate as a potato crisp. This recipe pairs nor mai fan with another rib-sticking dish: deep-fried spare ribs. To complete the meal, stir-fry some Chinese kale or mustard greens - the palate-cleansing bitterness of the vegetables will balance the heaviness of the rice and spare ribs.

Nor mai fan (pictured)

This is my mother's nor mai fan recipe. I like this proportion of glutinous rice and regular, long-grain rice, but if you want the dish to be 'stickier', use more glutinous rice (which is sometimes called 'sweet rice'). Do not substitute Japanese or Korean short-grain rice; they're not the same as glutinous rice.

The amount of water is an approximation - you might need more if the rice you're using is older and drier

360 grams glutinous rice

200 grams long-grain rice