For many Chinese and ABCs (American-born Chinese), this Cantonese chicken and salted fish fried rice dish is an absolute no-brainer. When it’s on the menu, you must have it, no matter whom you’re eating with and how disgusted they may or may not be by your meal choice. Feel no shame, my friend!
As for our non-Asian friends, this salted fish fried rice might sound perhaps a bit too adventurous, at best. At its worst, it sounds like something Andrew Zimmern might describe with one of his crazy adjectives. Fetid. Mineral-y. Barnyard-y?
Don’t click away! Try to keep an open mind, because I want to share a story with you—my first encounter with a plain cheese pizza.
My grandmother helped every one of her five adult children and their families come to America in 1983 (between all the uncles, aunts and cousins, there were 20 of us).
We were literally “fresh off the boat” (well, fresh off an airplane, anyway), and my grandmother was eager to show us America. We’d only been in the USA for one day when she decided to take everyone to a local pizza parlor in downtown Monticello, NY.
She ordered some cheese pizzas, raving about how good this “pizza” was. But when the hot, gooey pizza arrived at the table, we immediately started gagging.
The smell of the cheese was overwhelming—overwhelmingly bad! Staring at my grandmother as she dug in and chowed down, we couldn’t fathom how she was controlling her gag reflex, let alone taking bite after bite of the stuff.
Such was my first encounter with cheese.
Needless to say, now I love pizza and crave cheese of all kinds.
So let’s come back to this chicken and salted fish fried rice—which may sound kind of nasty at first blush, but is actually amazing. If you love cheese and the subtle nuttiness of cooked, melted anchovies, YOU WILL LOVE THIS DISH.
It is literally like a strong cross between cheese and anchovies (if you’re not convinced by now, you can go ahead and head to another page).
But for those of you still here…another big reason to make it yourself is that restaurants never give you enough of the salty fish—sometimes to the point where you can’t even taste it (it’s expensive stuff. An entire salted fish can cost you upwards of a hundred dollars. Dollars. It’s serious. But not to worry…you can buy it in small pieces, and a little goes a long way.)
For a less exotic choice, try Scallop Fried Rice or maybe a Thai Basil Shrimp Fried Rice?
Or, just stick with this one and I promise, you won’t be sorry – on with the recipe!
Recipe Instructions
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in your wok over very high heat, sear the chicken until lightly browned, and set aside.
Heat your other 2 tablespoons of oil in the wok over very high heat (the flame should be roaring the entire time you’re making this dish), and add the onion.
Cook it until turns translucent, and add the finely diced salt-cured fish. Cook for another couple minutes, until that funky (in a good way), heady aroma hits the air.
Then add the cooked rice and chicken and stir everything well until the rice is heated through.
Now add the shaoxing wine, sesame oil, and salt to taste. Stir for another minute, add the lettuce and chopped scallion, and give it all a final stir.
Serve this chicken and salted fish fried rice as a meal!
Cantonese Chicken & Salted Fish Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 1 chicken breast (diced and marinated for 15 minutes with the following: ½ tsp sesame oil, 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp oil, 1 ½ tsp corn starch)
- ½ medium onion (chopped)
- 1/3-1/2 cup Chinese salt-cured fish (finely diced)
- 4-5 cups cooked rice
- 1 tablespoon shaoxing wine
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- Salt (to taste)
- 2 cups finely chopped lettuce
- ¼ cup scallion (chopped)
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in your wok over very high heat, sear the chicken until lightly browned, and set aside.
- Heat your other 2 tablespoons of oil in the wok over very high heat (the flame should be roaring the entire time you’re making this dish), and add the onion. Cook it until turns translucent, and add the fish. Cook for another couple minutes, until that funky (in a good way), heady aroma hits the air.
- Then add the cooked rice and chicken and stir everything well until heated through. Now add the wine, sesame oil and salt to taste. Stir for another minute, add the lettuce and chopped scallion, and give it all a final stir. Serve!
Such a fabulous discovery!!! This was the first time I ate of cooked with salted fish and it was love at first bite. Thank you so much for brining this lovely dish into my life :-) Instead of regular rice I used cauliflower rice and it worked really well. I had some braised chicken so I left out the breast and used it as a side. Wow!
This dish is our must-order when we eat out at Cantonese restaurants, so we understand your love for it. :-)
One of the many things I miss having left the greater NYC area is ham Yu chow fon! I cannot tell you how happy I am finally finding this recipe. I used to work the 4-12 shift at St. Vincent’s on the lower west side and I would stop at one of the late night restaurants in Chinatown before heading home to pick up an order.
Hi Anthony, Hope you enjoy it!
Found some fish scales so should the skin be removed before dicing? Also finding it difficult to debone the dried croaker to get a nice piece to dice up. Any tips? A video on how to prep the dried croaker would be helpful.
Hi Lily, soak the salted fish in warm water for 5 – 10 minutes to soften, then descale and debone.
Hi Lily, you can actually scrape off the scales or remove the skin. I’ll put it on my list to produce a video for preparing salted fish.
hi there , I have salted anchovy’s. I use them for bait, fishing , fish love em ,,they are human grade for cooking ,never tried yet so this recipe is inspirational will they work and do I soak them to rehydrate ??????
Hi Joseph, you should soak the salted fish in warm water for 5 – 10 minutes to soften it. Then descale, debone, and wash some salt away before using it cooking. Good luck :-)
I always order salt fish fried rice! I ordered it a few months back and the Chinese lady looked at me with a kind of “are you sure you want this, white person?” look in her eye. I also ordered tripe, so I think she got the message…
Love this recipe, am going to try at home tonight.
Hahaha…what a funny image!
My father picked up a jar of chine
She salted threading in oil at the Asian market. Will this work? Hate to waste it when the recipe calls for dried salted fish
Hi Carolyn, I am not sure how that jarred threading tastes, but it probably will yield a good dish if you like the flavor fo the jarred salted fish :) happy cooking and let us know how it turns of if you try it!
I love saltfish. I’m not sure why you are paying so much but in the ones I’ve seen are in small bags with 4-5 small fish and cost around $5.
Anyway, thank you for this great recipe. I have a question about preparation. Do you rehydrate the fish? How do you get rid of the bones?
Thank you!
Hi Edward, the expensive kind is aged and fermented. The flavor is very different from the ones you describe. They are found in the refrigerated section, are much more fragrant (maybe stinky if you’re not used to it) and do not need to be rehydrated like the ones stored on the shelf. You can see additional pictures and links to other recipes on our salted fish entry on our Preserved Ingredients page.
Can you make this rice using salted cod that you find at an American super market or do you have to use the salted fish purchased at an Asian market?
HI Carolyn, you can, but the taste will be altered because Cantonese salted fish has its own distinctive aroma.
Hi.
Are there any non-alcoholic alternatives to replace Shaoxing wine. I am Muslim and I really am keen to try this.
Hi Khai, you can probably leave the shaoxing wine out, but I have been wanting to try non-alcoholic beer as an alcohol-free Shaoxing wine substitution. Let me know what you think if you try it!
just add the wine a bit earlier to evaporate the alchohol. all you have left is the flavor.
Can you substitute the salted cod you find in a box in the deli department of your local supermarket. It’s usually sold near the smoked trout or salmon. The Chinese salted fish is way too expensive. Btw, love your site!
Hi Caroline, I never tried using the salted cod but I bet it would taste good! That said, salted cod tastes different as it is just salted rather than salted and fermented like the Cantonese salted fish.