Shanghainese Rice Cakes for Chinese New Year

By Regine Lee

Pressed rice cakes are a traditional staple of the Chinese New Year menu, although their incarnations vary across regions. The Cantonese eat it as a dessert, the cakes sweetened and lightly scented with coconut and shallow fried. In Shanghai, they’re usually savoury and stir-fried, and are satisfyingly chewy like an udon noodle.

Shanghainese stir-fried sticky rice cakes with pork and Chinese cabbage

Serves 2-3 as a full meal or 3-4 as part of a meal

• 1 packet of sticky rice cakes, or ‘nian gao’ which will be dried like pasta. (Wing Tai has Egret Brand, which calls them ‘white rice sticks’)
• 10 dried Chinese mushrooms
• 1 knob ginger, about 2-3 inches long
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 2 spring onions, sliced
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

• 2 pork fillets (about 500g)
• 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon cornflour
• 1 Chinese white cabbage, cut in half lengthwise and sliced very finely

You will also need a wok or large frying pan with a lid.

1. Soak the rice cakes in cold water for 2-12 hours before cooking (For a lunch, soak them the night before. For a dinner, soak them the morning before work.)
2. When you’re ready to cook, start by soaking the mushrooms in hot water, set aside for 10-15 minutes.
3. Make a quick marinade for the pork by mixing it with the soy sauce, sesame oil and cornflour.
4. Mince the ginger and garlic finely. Slice the spring onions
5. Put the wok on a high heat and add the vegetable oil. Fry the ginger, garlic and half the spring onions until fragrant and lightly browned, about 2 minutes.
6. Add pork and stir-fry until well-browned. This will take about 2 minutes.
7. Remove mushrooms from the water, slice thinly and then add to the pork along with the soaking liquid.
8. Stir in the cabbage and cook down for 2-3 minutes with the lid on.
9. Drain rice cakes and stir into the pork and cabbage mix. Pop the lid on the wok and let it all cook for about 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking on the bottom of the wok.
10. When the rice cakes are tender, the dish is done. Taste for salt and add more soy sauce or sesame oil as desired. Garnish with the remaining spring onions and serve.