炒年糕
I would consider this one of my favorite dishes to cook, as well as my personal flagship dish. It's fairly simple but tastes absolutely amazing, with essentially just four basic ingredients. Definitely give it a try for a hearty lunch or a quick dinner!
Active Time: 20 min
Total Time: 20 min
Ingredients
> Sliced rice cake
> Pork belly
> Cabbage
> Green onion
> Neutral oil, soy sauce, salt, potato starch, cumin, 花椒
Instructions
1. Prep: Boil some water to pre-cook cabbage in. Soak sliced rice cake in warm water, making sure to detach any pieces stuck together. Cut cabbage into approximately square pieces. Thinly slice pork belly, and coat generously with potato starch. Cut green onion into small pieces.
2. Boil the cabbage for a couple of minutes, then set aside.
3. In a wok, heat oil until hot. Stir-fry pork belly until around halfway cooked. Add sliced green onions, cumin, and 花椒. Stir-fry until pork is fully cooked and is lightly browned. Add soy sauce, stir for a few seconds, and return cabbage to the wok. Add a little salt, stir fry for a minute, then set aside.
4. Remove sliced rice cake from water and dry. In the same wok, add oil and some salt. Fry the rice cake on medium heat, occasionally stirring and making sure the pieces don't stick. Once both sides are lightly fried, add a tiny splash of soy sauce and stir. Finally, return cabbage/pork belly back into the wok and stir together. Serve and enjoy!
Notes/Tips:
> Soaking the rice cake is critical. Without doing so, the rice cake will be hard and inedible. Most recipes that use sliced rice cake actually use it in soups. Soak at least 15 minutes in advance of using, up to several hours in advance.
> Cumin and 花椒 are certainly not traditional additions; feel free to tailor your spice usage to your personal preference.
> What makes this dish so delicious is that each component is properly seasoned with both soy sauce and salt, so don't skip out on this!
> As with most Chinese cooking, do not be timid with the heat when stir-frying — always use the maximum heat setting. The only exception is when cooking the rice cake, which you don't want to get excessively crispy.