Embrace the Process :)

I was not a big fan of lo mai gai. I only liked the taste of sticky rice itself, I just didn’t feel like eating it when there’s chicken in it. But, I really love zongzi, especially the alkaline rice dumplings with sweet red bean filling. I truly love those! So even though I didn’t like lo mai gai, I’ve always loved sticky rice. Then one day, after seeing some recipes online, a thought popped into my head again: why not make it myself?

Usually when I cook, I’m not the kind of person who can “smell and immediately know what ingredients are inside” (especially because I have allergic rhinitis, and my nose is honestly not very reliable hahaha). So I tend to use my eyes and my mouth to judge flavors instead. When it comes to cooking or making coffee, I figure out the taste out this way. (I’ll share how I do this properly another time, haha xD)

My version of lo mai gai is actually a little different from the traditional one, but it still tastes really good. I’ve also thought about making a vegetarian version, so I’ve tried adding different ingredients before. Plus, my method doesn’t require wrapping everything in aluminum foil and steaming it one by one. I just put everything into the rice cooker, press Rice, and wait.

Here’s my lo mai gai recipe that I’ve made many times, and it always turns out great:

Marinated chicken
1 TBSP vegetarian oyster sauce
1 TBSP dark soy sauce
1 TBSP sweet soy sauce
1 TBSP Shaoxing wine
1/2 TBSP sesame oil
7–10g sugar
A pinch of black pepper

Marinate the chicken in the fridge for about 30 minutes so it absorbs the flavors :)

After 30 minutes, stir-fry the chicken. You can add whatever ingredients you like, such as Chinese sausage, shiitake mushrooms, preserved radish, or salted egg… they all add more depth to the flavor!

P.S. For a vegetarian version, just skip the chicken, sausage, and salted egg, and replace them with other suitable vegetables or ingredients. No need to marinate, just stir-fry everything with the same seasonings :)

Once it’s done, pour everything into the rice cooker and spread it evenly.

Sticky rice (soaked for 4–8 hours in advance)
1 TBSP minced garlic
1 TBSP vegetarian oyster sauce
1 TBSP dark soy sauce
1 TBSP sweet soy sauce (if you don’t have dark soy sauce, just use two tablespoons of sweet soy sauce)

Stir-fry the seasonings first, then add the sticky rice and stir-fry everything together. If it feels too dry, add a little water. Then pour the rice into the rice cooker and spread it evenly.

Finally, add water. Just like cooking in a rice cooker, but not too much water. About level with the rice, or slightly above.

And that’s my version of lo mai gai.

I’m now sharing it with you :)

Home cooked Lo Mai Gai

And now, let’s talk about my experience with clay.

From something very familiar (cooking) in my daily life, to a medium that is completely unfamiliar to me.

I’ve actually never really liked clay. Even though I love collecting small things (like gacha toys and fridge magnets), I don’t like clay when it’s still unshaped. First, I’ve always thought my hands are not very good at making things. Second, I don’t really like the smell of clay.

When I was in kindergarten, everyone seemed to enjoy clay time, but I thought it smelled bad, and I never knew what to make. I felt like I had no creativity at all. Compared to playing with clay, I preferred listening to teachers tell stories in class, sitting quietly and learning something new, or running around the kindergarten during lunch time. 

Recently, for some reason, everyone seems incredibly creative, and the algorithm keeps showing me people working with clay and air-dry clay. I started to feel a little tempted, like I also wanted to use my hands to make something cute!

I took a sculpture class in college, but honestly, it didn’t give me much encouragement. Some of the teacher’s comments, plus the reactions from classmates, made me feel like my sculptures were really bad. It felt like everyone was trying to teach me something, but I just couldn’t do it right. Because of that, I slowly lost interest in making sculptures myself, although I always loved looking at them, whether in class or at the museum.

Later, I had a roommate who was really good at sculpture. She could make clay feel alive. I loved going to the studio with her, watching her turn raw clay into adorable pieces (I can’t really say what she made here). She would glaze them, put them in a kiln, and in the end, they became beautiful objects that could even be displayed in hotels.

That was how I felt about sculpture ten years ago.

Now, somehow, I’ve found myself longing for sculpture again.

I might still not love it (because I really don’t like getting my hands dirty hahaha), but I’m willing to try making cute things.

I’ve always had air-dry clay and sculpting tools in my storage room, but since my studio is at home, I can’t really sand things outdoors. I also don’t want to create too much dust inside the house. Air-dry clay can be painted with acrylics and looks really cute, but I don’t want to make a mess or affect my family’s health. So in the end, I decided to go with Fimo polymer clay.

After watching so many tutorials online, I started with the simplest things:
strawberry (for some reason, strawberry really speaks to me), tomato, croissant, and fried egg. And then I tried something more challenging — a character from my own picture book story, Dr. Tuffy.

Even though I might look like I know how to use sculpting tools in my Artist Journal 032, the truth is I just watched a lot of videos and experimented randomly. I’m not very sure about the techniques, and I’m not skilled at all — but I honestly don’t care.

As long as I’m happy :)

After finishing, it wasn’t as difficult as I imagined. Instead, I felt something like:
“Maybe my hands aren’t as clumsy as I thought.”

Fimo polymer clay - strawberry, tomato, croissant, fried egg, and Dr Tuffy.

I don’t really know why I’ve always judged myself so harshly. I tend to take other people’s words very seriously, and I over-reflect a lot. I’ve reflected on this too (haha), and I don’t want to keep letting casual comments bring me down anymore. So yeah, I’m learning to let that go.

If it were the old me, I probably would’ve thrown these away already.

But now, even though I can see the flaws, when I put them all together, they still look really cute to me. I don’t mind if they’re a little dirty or if the colors are off. I genuinely can accept them as they are.

Sometimes, change really happens in a moment.

I’m planning to make more tiny objects in the future and store them in small jars as decorations. That sounds really cute, right? 🤤

Actually, back in 2020, I also cooked my own clay using cornstarch and made Among Us characters. I never colored them in the end, but I remember enjoying the process a lot.

Among Us characters in clay

To be honest, the result doesn’t seem to be the most important thing to me.

What really matters is what stirs inside your heart during the process.

That’s also why my brand is called Embrace the Moment —

And that’s exactly my motto.

That’s it for today.

I’ll talk about adding colors and varnish in next week’s video, and the blog after next week. I also discovered some new things along the way.  I’ll share them with you soon!

Talk to you next time :)