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!
Recipe Instructions
Combine the chicken, cornstarch, shaoxing wine, sesame oil, white pepper, and salt 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 sticky 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.
Shanghai Rice Cake Stir-fry w/ Shepherd's Purse
Ingredients
To marinate the chicken:
- 6 oz. chicken breast (170g, 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 (150g, washed, liquid squeezed out, and finely chopped; can be substituted w/ fresh spinach, finely chopped)
- 1/3 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 12 oz. rice cakes (thawed, rinsed)
- ½ cup water or chicken stock (120 ml)
Instructions
- 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.
nutrition facts
Haven’t tried the recipe but it looks delicious- by the way, shepherd’s purse grows wild all over the place- I’ve seen it growing in sidewalk cracks in NYC, most people think of it as a weed. But I usually recognize it by its seed pods and I think that may mean it’s already too bitter to eat, based on my minimal Internet research
Really? I have only seen dandelion, but never shepherd’s purse. Sounds like I have to look closer :-)
FRESH Shepard’s purse is commonly found as weed in many parts of US; from plants, one can harvest seeds to grow. Seed pods are characteristically heart shaped.
Grow your own.
Or buy seeds, including from eBay vendors who post plant, seed, wonton, rice cake photos together. I think these seeds more reliable the correct Chinese variety.
Thanks for great recipes.
Hi Dave, I have been staring down the ground looking for them for the past thirty some years, and I have never seen one yet. Do you know where I can find them as a wild weed?
If using pork, which cut should we use?
Pork butt is a good choice.
Thanks for your general info on Shepard’s Purse veggie – I would have never known to find it frozen! I made this rice cake recipe last night and it was superb. It’s funny, this is the style of Shanghainese rice cake I remember most from my childhood (compared to the darker saucy style like DTF has) but I hated the bitter 荠菜. Now that I’m a grown up, I think it adds such an interesting and uncommon depth of flavor other veggies don’t have, and I love 荠菜 now. Thanks for your recipe and tips – now able to enjoy this dish completely and saved to a permanent favorite!
That’s so lovely, Jessica. We do change as we age, becoming more and more like our parents :-)
Just made this, it’s delicious! But how do you prevent the rick cake from sticking to the pan?
I tried to keep the rick cake from touching the pan. But it’s not possible once you toss everything together.
Hi Ja, more oil and lower heat will do the trick.
Easy and tasty recipe! I made this one and the one with Napa cabbage and mushrooms and they were excellent! Didn’t have any protein in the fridge, so I made vegetarian versions 🙂.
Love that you love both stir fried nian gao recipes. You should try my nian gao soup recipe as well.
Great recipe! So simple and good. I love chewy rice cakes, and I make this at least a couple of times a month. I’ve never run across shepherd’s purse in my local Asian stores, but I’ve made it with kale, spinach, lettuce and regular mustard greens – all delicious.
We love that you love the recipe, Melissa!