Stir-Frying · FFET10244
Chao he cai (stir-fried mixed vegetables)
Shredded bean sprouts, garlic chives and carrot stir-fried fast, often with egg and glass noodles, rolled in thin pancakes, an old Beijing dish.
A deep white porcelain bowl holds brown sweet potato noodles glistening with oil, pale bean sprouts, yellow egg, orange carrot and green garlic chives mixed together, with wooden chopsticks resting beside the bowl.
Cooking small pieces in a little oil over high heat, tossed quickly in the wok.
Chao he cai is a quick stir-fry of several shredded vegetables such as bean sprouts, garlic chives and carrot, often with egg and glass noodles and sometimes pork. A 2020 article lists it among old Beijing dishes; a 2016 article notes Beijing cuisine's adoption of other regional dishes and the custom of eating the stir-fry rolled in thin pancakes at the start of spring. No dated record of the dish itself was found.
What
Chao he cai is a quick stir-fry of several shredded vegetables, commonly bean sprouts, garlic chives and carrot, often with egg and glass noodles and sometimes pork. The vegetables can vary with what is at hand.1,3,4
When
No dated record of chao he cai itself was found. A 2016 article links it to Lichun, the start of spring, and the custom of biting the spring, eaten rolled in thin pancakes. It is made in spring when garlic chives are young, with a cabbage version in fall and winter, and is also associated with the spring equinox. The spring pancake custom is traced to the Jin and Tang periods; this does not date the stir-fry.1,3,4
Where
Beijing. Chao he cai appears among old Beijing dishes in a 2020 article. Beijing cuisine absorbed dishes from other regional styles. The available information does not identify a district.1,2,4
How
The 2 recipes differ slightly. The first cooks and dresses sweet potato noodles, scrambles the eggs softly, stir-fries the bean sprouts, carrot and other vegetables separately, and tosses everything with the garlic chives and noodles. The second uses soaked wood ear, eggs, carrot, bean sprouts, green pepper and garlic chives, seasoned with soy sauce, sesame oil and brown sugar, and served with 6 to 8 thin pancakes and sweet bean sauce. Another version is topped with an omelet.1,3,4
Why
Eating chao he cai rolled in spring pancakes on Lichun is called biting the spring. The dish combines whatever vegetables are at hand and is made in spring when garlic chives are young. The available information gives no further explanation.1,3
Impact and influence
Chao he cai can serve as Beijing-style vegetarian moo shu, a vegetable filling rolled in pancakes.4
No tale about this food has been found.
Grandma Li
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
This is the simpler way I make it at home, without oyster sauce or peanut oil. I drew on two English-language published recipes, both by named authors. The amounts of noodles, bean sprouts, eggs and chives mostly follow the first, and serving it with thin pancakes and sweet bean sauce follows the second. The carrot amount, the seasoning amounts and the cooking times are my own choices at home.
Ingredients
- Sweet potato noodles 85 g
- Bean sprouts 170 g
- Eggs 3
- Carrot, cut into fine matchsticks 1 medium, about 100 g
- Garlic chives, cut into pieces about 5 cm long 115 g
- Light soy sauce 1 1/2 tablespoons
- Shaoxing wine 1 tablespoon
- Sesame oil 1 teaspoon
- Vegetable oil 3 tablespoons
- Salt to taste
- Thin pancakes (store-bought) 6 to 8
- Sweet bean sauce to taste
Steps
- Cook the noodles until soft following the package directions, drain, cut them shorter, and toss with half a tablespoon of the soy sauce and the sesame oil. Set aside.
- Beat the eggs with a pinch of salt. Heat the wok, add 1 tablespoon of oil, and scramble the eggs over medium heat into soft pieces until set, then take them out.
- Add another tablespoon of oil and stir-fry the carrot over high heat for about 1 minute, add the bean sprouts for about 1 more minute, and splash in the Shaoxing wine and the remaining tablespoon of soy sauce.
- Return the eggs, add the noodles and the garlic chives, season with salt, and toss for about 30 seconds, turning off the heat as soon as the chives have just wilted.
- Serve with the thin pancakes and sweet bean sauce, and roll the stir-fry up in the pancakes to eat.
Tips
- I always put the chives in last and turn off the heat after a few tosses, because they go limp and watery if cooked longer.
- I cut everything into shreds of about the same thickness, so the filling is easy to bite through once it is rolled in a pancake.
Allergens: egg, soy, wheat, sesame