Rinse and soak lotus leaves in the sink. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Remove lotus leaves from sink and transfer them to the pot. Weigh down the leaves with a plate. Place lid over the pot and boil leaves for 10 minutes. Remove, rinse, and drain.

Soak lap cheong in hot water for about 20 minutes. Casings should puff up. Remove casings and slice lap cheong at a diagonal.

Rinse and soak Chinese mushrooms in hot water for 20 minutes. When soft, rinse, drain and cut into thin strips.

Rinse and drain rice 4 to 5 times. Set aside.

Fry lap cheong in a medium size pot until lightly brown. No need to use any oil. Remove and set aside.

Add vegetable oil to pot. Sauté garlic for 20 seconds.

Add carrots and mushrooms. Continue to stir fry for 1 minute.

Add rice and dark soy sauce. Continue to stir fry until all ingredients are well mixed.

Pour in chicken broth. When broth comes to a boil, add salt and ground pepper. Place lid over the pot. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 7 minutes.

While rice is cooking, arrange lotus leaves in a shallow bowl with the underside of the lotus leaves upwards. Make sure the leaves overlap holes in the leaves. Trim the leaves if they are too big but make sure there is sufficient length for folding over the bowl.

Arrange fried lap cheong at the base of the bowl.

Fill a large pot with an inch of water. Place a metal rack in the pot. Bring water to a boil.

Rice should be partially cooked by now and most of the liquid will have been absorbed. Turn off stove and stir in fried dried shrimps.

Spoon partially cooked rice into the bowl over the arranged lap cheong. Drizzle sesame oil over the rice and fold lotus leaves neatly over the rice.

Transfer bowl into the steamer and steam over medium heat for 30 minutes.

When done, remove bowl from the steamer. Invert onto a plate.

When cool enough to handle, cut lotus leaves with knife or scissors into sections to expose the rice.

Serve immediately.