This Shanghai Rice Cake Stir-fry with Shepherd’s Purse is another classic dish to add to your repertoire. We’ve talked about Shepherd’s Purse, or jicai, before––in our original dumpling post.
Shepherd’s purse is a wild vegetable that’s kind of shaped a little like dandelion greens. They have a wonderful, delicate flavor, and they’re often used in this Shanghai-style stir-fried rice cake dish. The people of Shanghai love Shepherd’s Purse. We use it to make wontons, dumplings, soups, buns and stir-fried Shanghai rice cake (or nian gao), of course.
Okay, here comes the bad news: I’ve never seen fresh shepherd’s purse in the US. You can only get the frozen version, usually imported from China, and you can look for it in the frozen section of your local Chinese grocery store.
The good news is: even though it’s frozen, it’s still very good. In some ways, the frozen shepherd’s purse is more fragrant than the fresh ones I had when we were living in Beijing.
Some of our other rice cake stir-fry dishes you must see are Steak and Scallion Rice Cake Stir-Fry, and our classic Stir-Fried Sticky Rice Cakes recipes. They all start with the chewy and addictive rice cakes (nian gao) which you cannot stop eating once you start!
If you absolutely can’t find shepherd’s purse, you can use finely chopped fresh spinach. If you can find the frozen shepherd’s purse in your local Asian grocery, here’s a quick tutorial in preparing it:
Leave the frozen package (it usually comes in 1 lb. bags) on the countertop for an hour or two. Once the package is partially thawed, cut off 1/3 of the block of frozen vegetables. Soak it in cold water until it thaws completely, and put the remaining vegetables back in the freezer. Most frozen vegetables are pre-washed, but for this, I do suggest that you rinse/wash it a couple of more times until water is completely clean of any sand. After washing, squeeze all the water out and chop finely.
Ok, here’s the rest of what you need. This Shanghai rice cake recipe is very quick to cook, so it’s best to have everything ready before you begin cooking!
To marinate the chicken:
- 6 oz. chicken breast, cut into very small, thin strips
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon shaoxing wine
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
For the rest of the dish:
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1/3 lb. frozen shepherd’s purse, washed, liquid squeezed out, and finely chopped (can be substituted w/ 1/3 lb fresh spinach, finely chopped)
- 1/3 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 12 oz. sticky rice cakes, thawed, rinsed
- ½ cup water or chicken stock
Combine the chicken and marinade ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Prepare the rest of your ingredients.
When you’re ready to cook, heat the oil in a wok over high heat. Stir-fry the chicken until opaque.
Add the shepherd’s purse (or spinach), salt, white pepper, and sesame oil. Stir-fry for 30 seconds.
Add the rice cakes on top of the meat and veg (the rice cakes shouldn’t be directly touching the surface of the wok), along with the water or chicken stock.
Cover the wok and let it cook for 2-3 minutes (not too long, or the greens will turn yellow and the rice cakes will be soggy). Once the rice cakes have softened, mix everything together and serve hot!
This Shanghai rice cake with Shepard’s Purse is a really classic dish in Shanghai, and it’s loved by many for good reason. Hope you will give it try!
Check out some of our other Nian Gao sticky rice cake recipes including Stir-Fried Sticky Rice Cakes (Nian Gao) and Steak and Scallion Rice Cake Stir-Fry.
- 6 oz. chicken breast, cut into very small, thin strips
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon shaoxing wine
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- ⅛ teaspoon white pepper
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons oil
- ⅓ lb. frozen shepherd’s purse, washed, liquid squeezed out, and finely chopped (can be substituted w/ ⅓ lb fresh spinach, finely chopped)
- ⅓ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 12 oz. sticky rice cakes, thawed, rinsed
- ½ cup water or chicken stock
- Combine the chicken and marinade ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Prepare the rest of your ingredients.
- When you're ready to cook, heat the oil in a wok over high heat. Stir-fry the chicken until opaque. Add the shepherd’s purse (or spinach), salt, white pepper, and sesame oil. Stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add the rice cakes on top of the meat and veg (the rice cakes shouldn't be directly touching the surface of the wok), along with the water or chicken stock.
- Cover the wok and let it cook for 2-3 minutes (not too long, or the greens will turn yellow and the rice cakes will be soggy). Once the rice cakes have softened, mix everything together and serve immediately.
Mike Crist says
Made with leftover broccoli rapini and chicken thighs. Came out great.
Judy says
That’s simply LOVELY, Mike!
Tiffany says
It was my first time cooking with 年糕 & this recipe was so easy & tasty!! Thank you :)
Judy says
You are very welcome, Tiffany!
Gloria says
Thank you! I’ve been looking for this kind of recipe for ages. I always searched “niangao stir fry” and only saw a couple of results, but this time I decided to go to Google Images and look for the niangao of my dreams. I made this niangao a couple of hours after finding your recipe (those couple of hours were spent waiting for my Prime Now ingredients to be delivered) and it was heavenly. I ordered spinach but for some reason they gave me cilantro, but cilantro tasted really good with this dish.
I’ve eaten this dish at my favorite restaurant over 10 times, but whenever I made niangao at home, I always used a more complicated recipe with more seasoning/ingredients. This recipe took me about 15 minutes and was so delicious in its simplicity. Thank you for posting it! I’m already excited to make it again.
Judy says
What a story, Gloria! So glad we can help to realize your dream :-)
Sing-Yi Feng says
So nice to see shepherd’s purse here. My mom makes this often but uses pork instead of chicken and also slivered fresh winter bamboo shoots. So delicious. I also make our family’s recipe of Shanghai style shepherd’s purses pork wontons. It’s our favorite.
Judy says
These are all Shanghainese favorites. Check out our dumpling recipe with pork and shepherd’s purse.
megan says
Eep! It’s lunch time and I love ji cai and this makes me hungry..I had never seen ji cai with 年糕 before- only in 餛飩 and 餃子! I’ll have to give it a try..but I will definitely do pork instead, because I love pork :)
(Is the traditional way with pork, or chicken?)
Judy says
Hi Megan, definitely go with the pork. The original version is ji cai rou shi chao nian gao. You must try, you’ll love it.
megan says
Will do! :D
Lori says
I have been waiting for a recipe for Shepherd’s Purse with rice cake–one of my favorites! Can’t wait to try it!
Judy says
Hi, Lori, it’s absolutely delicious and so simple to make. Try soon!
Sarah says
Thanks Lori! Let us know how it goes when you make it!
Brooke @ Chocolate + Marrow says
This looks delicious!! And congrats on the Saveur nomination! Well deserved! I made (and posted) your XLB recipe a while back and have been a big fan ever since. :)
Judy says
Hi Brooke, thank you so much! Love to see you here.
Sarah says
Thank you SO much Brooke! Congrats to you as well!
TeaJae says
These almost look like water chestnuts to me, never seen rice cakes like this before, don’t think I’ve had them. I saw rice cakes and instantly thought of the big round puffed air cakes from Quakers. I put cream cheese and salmon on them for a snack, lol. It looks really good. I really learn a lot from your blog. It helps me to enjoy Chinese food even more when I know details or even history behind the foods. I hope one day I can visit this part of the world. It’s something drawing me in. :)
Judy says
Hi Tracey, a trip to China would be so nice. Hope we can help you to realize this dream. ^_^
Sarah says
Hi TeaJae, these “rice cakes” are definitely not the Quakers kind you’re used to. They’re chewy, pasta-like ovals that are often used in stir-fries in China–I sometimes describe them as “chinese gnocchi.” Not sure if that’s the best comparison, but hopefully it clears things up a bit for you!
TeaJae says
@Sarah thank you for explaining to me I understand better what they are :)
Sarah says
Of course!
Lena says
i hope it’s ok that I use this post to ask a more general question/suggestion: would it be possible to get a post on how to choose which chinese dishes to combine? I mean, usually a chinese meal would consist of a combination of different dishes and I am always a bit unsure on what would be considered a good combination? Maybe some general tips and a few examples with dishes from your archive?
Judy says
Hi, Lena, what an idea! We will work on it. In the meantime, please let us know If you have any special dinner plans (in the near future) that you need suggestions with, we will be more than happy help.
Lena says
Thanks, looking forward to it! I would love a vegetarian or vegetarian-friendly option, but it’s really not time sensitive, just something I think would be interesting to learn more about. By the way I just registered at saveur to vote for your blog.
Sarah says
Great idea, Lena! Hmmmm…my wheels are turning now. We’ll see what we can do. :)
Michelle says
This looks so delicious. Is shepherd’s purse the same as 雪菜? I haven’t heard of shepherd’s purse before. Just wondering if it was a Cantonese name versus a Mandarin name thing!
Judy says
Hi Michelle, shepherd’s purse (荠菜）is different than 雪菜 (which is actually radish greens).
Michelle says
Thanks, Judy!