Stir-fried cai fan

This stir-fried bok choy rice is my mum’s spin on cai fan (rice with salted pork and greens) which is a Shanghainese comfort dish that normally comes together in a clay pot. This is essentially the stir-fry version of that dish. It’s also a great way to use up any sad bok choy at home.

Credit: Jiwon Kim

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

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episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

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episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

G

• 1 tbsp oil
• 6 thick ginger slices
• 5-6 bok choy heads, thinly sliced
• 80 g lup yok (Chinese cured pork belly), thinly sliced (see Note)
• 2 cups cooked rice (see Note)

For the stir-fry sauce

• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• ½ tsp mushroom bouillon powder
• ½ tsp ground white pepper
• ½ tsp sugar

Instructions

1. To make the stir-fry sauce, in a small bowl combine the sauce ingredients and set aside.
   
2. Heat the oil in a large wok or frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the ginger and bok choy and stir-fry for 5 minutes, or until softened. Remove the bok choy to a plate.
   
3. Wipe out the pan, then return to medium heat. Add the lup yok and stir-fry until the fat has rendered from the pork. Using tongs, remove the lup yok to the plate with the bok choy.
   
4. Return the pan to high heat. Once the pan begins to smoke, add the rice and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes, until the grains are separated and coated with the rendered pork fat. Return the bok choy, lup yok to the pan with the prepared stir-fry sauce. Toss well to combine. Season to taste, then serve.

Note

• Cook with day-old rice as freshly steamed rice has too much moisture. Tread carefully with seasoning as lup yok is quite salty. I purposely left out salt in this recipe for this reason.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Stream free On Demand

Wok Hei

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

G

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

G