MUZIChinese Matrix
Stir-Frying · FFET10277
Sliced rice cake stir-fried with meat and greens in a soy-based sauce, a Shanghai-style dish often served at Lunar New Year.
A white porcelain plate holds rice cake slices and boneless chicken coated in glossy brown sauce, with green baby bok choy, ginger, scallion and garlic among the pieces, with wooden chopsticks resting beside the plate.
Cooking small pieces in a little oil over high heat, tossed quickly in the wok.
Chao nian gao is sliced rice cake steamed soft in the pan and then tossed with meat and greens in a sauce of soy sauce and oyster sauce. Two credited recipes both use Shanghai style. The dish is often served at Lunar New Year, and its name carries a meaning of a year of growth. A 2020 account article documents Shanghai people's liking for Ningbo rice cake and Shanghai stir-fried rice cake's red and white versions, with variants such as spinach and pork. No dated record of the stir-fried dish was found.
Chao nian gao is a dish of sliced rice cake with meat and greens: the slices are steamed soft in the pan with a little stock and then tossed in a sauce of soy sauce and oyster sauce. The two recipes are both Shanghai style and use chicken, not the shepherd's purse and shredded pork pairing. Shanghai stir-fried rice cake has red and white versions, with variants of spinach, chives or shepherd's purse with shredded pork.1,2,3
No dated record of this stir-fried dish was found; references to older records of rice cake itself are secondhand and have not been checked against the original books here. Ningbo people living in Shanghai and Shanghai locals enjoy Ningbo rice cake.3,5
Shanghai and the Ningbo area. Both recipes use Shanghai style, and Shanghai people enjoy Ningbo rice cake. A 2024 article mentions a saying in Cicheng, Ningbo, about stir-fried rice cake with shepherd's purse and shredded pork, and rice cake as a fixed item on New Year's Eve in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.1,2,3,4
The two recipes work alike: rice cake slices are steamed soft with stock and then tossed with chicken, greens and the sauce. One uses baby bok choy and eggs, the other shiitake, napa cabbage and baby bok choy; one soaks dried rice cake for 3 hours beforehand, and the other steams for about 4 minutes and then tosses for 2 to 3 minutes. Other pairings include shepherd's purse, spinach or chives with shredded pork.1,2,3,4
The dish is often served at Lunar New Year, and its name carries a meaning of a year of growth. Rice cake is also a fixed item on New Year's Eve in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.1,2,4
The other recipe's version is inspired by the Din Tai Fung dish. Shanghai people enjoy Ningbo rice cake.1,2,3
In Cicheng, Ningbo, a saying goes that stir-fried rice cake with shepherd's purse and shredded pork is so good that even the Kitchen God reaches out to grab it, meaning it is hard to resist. It is a saying, not a documented event.
Told in: A saying of Cicheng in Ningbo, retold in a 2024 article in China Energy News.
Grandma Li
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
This is my simplified home version. I read two recipes that name their authors; both are Shanghai style and both use chicken, not the shepherd's purse and shredded pork pairing. The chicken, baby bok choy, oil and stock follow one recipe and the weight of rice cake follows the other, converted to grams and milliliters by me. I leave out the eggs that one recipe uses and use plain vegetable oil. The sauce amounts are my own choices at home.
Allergens: soy, wheat, shellfish
