Wash the glutinous rice and rinse it several times until the water is clear. Use a large bowl and cover the rice with plenty of water and soak for at least three hours or overnight. The rice will expand as it absorbs the water so you need the big bowl for the space. Do check after a couple of hours if you need to add more water. The rice should stay submerged.

On the day you want to cook the rice, you will to need prepare the other ingredients.

Rinse the dried shitake mushrooms and soak them in boiking water for at least 30 minutes. Drain the mushrooms but keep the soaking liquid liquid for later. Cut off the stalks and dice the mushroom into about 5mm pieces.

Rinse the dried shrimp to remove any sand or bits of shell. Then soak in hot water for about the same time as the mushrooms. Drain the shrimps but keep the soaking liquid. Give these a rough chop to break them into smaller pieces, NOT finely chopped.

To cut the lap cheung, quarter them lengthwise, then dice these into the same size as the mushrooms.

Slice all the spring onions and set aside.

Prepare the rice seasoning by mixing all the ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. You can add a tablespoon of soaking liquid to loosen this up if necessary.

To start cooking, use a wok or a big saute pan with deep sides.

On a high heat, add 1 tbsp oil to the wok and add in the lap cheung. This will render the fragant oil from the lap cheung. Stir fry for about 1 minute, moving the sausages with a spatula constantly to prevent burning.

Add the diced mushrooms and shrimp and keep stirring it all together for about 2-3 minutes. You will see that any fat in the bottom of the wok will have been absorbed by the mushrooms and you will start to smell the umami notes from the shrimp.

The point when this is ready is when you start to hear popping sounds from the bottom of the wok. This happens after all the fat has been absored. Remove from wok into a bowl and set aside.

In the same wok, add another tablespoon of oil and pour in the soaked rice. Pour in a dash of the retained soaking liquid. On a high heat, keep stirring the rice until the water has been absorbed.

Add more water and keep stirring. Repeat.

After about 5 minutes, taste the rice. We want to get to an al dente stage where the outside is starting to turn translucent and you can still see the white dot in the middle. You don't want the rice to be too mushy as you want the final dish to have distinct rice grains. You can test the rice by squishing some between your fingers or taking a bite.

When the rice has been cooked to the right stage, add back the meat and mushrooms mixture. Stir into the rice until evenly spread. Watch your heat at this point, you might need to turn it down to a medium heat.

Add in the spring onions with some reserved for garnish. Stir well.

Pour over the prepared soy seasoning and stir until the rice is evenly coloured. Add a pinch of white pepper to taste.

Serve immediately in rice bowls or in a big bowl to share.