Lots of families are big on chicken. Roast chicken, grilled chicken, chicken pastas, chicken pot-pie, chicken Caesar salad, you get the drill. But for as long as I can remember, whenever my family had a choice of protein, the default tended to be beef. Steaks, not chicken on the grill, steak, not chicken on top of salads, and beef fried rice and beef lo mein from the takeout place, natch. This Chinese rice cake stir-fry is one dish that fits in perfectly with our red meat tendencies.
The tender slices of steak, the savory seared scallion and ginger, and the rich umami flavor of the soy and shaoxing wine, all lifted up by the delightful glutinous heaven that is the rice cakes (Nian Gao) …you won’t regret making this! When it comes to “rice cakes,” we’ve always gotten some funny looks or confused faces from our non-Chinese friends, but, basically, what they are is a mixture of rice flour and water that’s been shaped into cylinders, then sliced into “cakes.” They have a deliciously chewy texture kind of similar to gnocchi.
We whipped this up while I was in Beijing last month, and it was seriously satisfying. Of course, you can swap the beef out for chicken or pork if you like. But don’t be surprised if when you make this, your family ends up fighting over the last piece of steak!
Some of our other rice cake stir-fry dishes you must see are Classic Sticky Rice Cakes , and Shanghai Rice Cake with Shepherd’s purse. They all start with the chewy and addictive rice cakes (nian gao) which you cannot stop eating once you start!
Ingredients:
- 12 oz. sirloin steak, sliced
- 3 tablespoons oil, divided
- 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon light soy sauce, plus 1 tablespoon
- 4 thin slices ginger, finely julienned
- 3 scallions, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 lb. Chinese rice cakes
- 2 tablespoons shaoxing wine
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Marinate the beef with 1 tablespoon oil, cornstarch and 1 teaspoon light soy sauce and set aside for 15 minutes. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in your wok over high heat. Once it’s smoking, add the beef and sear for a minute before setting aside on a plate. Add the ginger to the wok…
…and when it starts to brown, add the scallions and give everything a stir.
Pour in the rice cakes and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes.
Spread the shaoxing wine around the perimeter of the wok and cover the wok immediately. Cook, covered, for 2 minutes.
Add the beef, 1 tablespoon each of dark and light soy sauce, sesame oil, and salt.
Toss together for another 2 minutes. The rice cakes should be tender but still a bit chewy. If not, cover the wok and cook a little longer.
Rice cakes wait for no one–serve immediately! You can also top your steak and scallion rice cake stir-fry with some of your preferred Chinese hot sauce, if that’s your fancy–sriracha, black bean hot sauce, homemade hot chili oil, or anything you want!
- 12 oz. sirloin steak, sliced
- 3 tablespoons oil, divided
- ½ tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon light soy sauce, plus 1 tablespoon
- 4 thin slices ginger, finely julienned
- 3 scallions, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 lb. Chinese rice cakes
- 2 tablespoons shaoxing wine
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Marinate the beef with 1 tablespoon oil, cornstarch and 1 teaspoon light soy sauce and set aside for 15 minutes. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in your wok over high heat. Once it's smoking, add the beef and sear for a minute before setting aside on a plate. Add the ginger to the wok, and when it starts to brown, add the scallions and give everything a stir. Pour in the rice cakes and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes.
- Spread the shaoxing wine around the perimeter of the wok and cover the wok immediately. Cook, covered, for 2 minutes. Add the beef, 1 tablespoon each of dark and light soy sauce, sesame oil, and salt. Toss together for about 2 minutes. The rice cakes should be tender but still a bit chewy. If not, cover the wok and cook a little longer.
Graham says
Please, please, remove the scam ads you have on your recipes ie “you are the 1,000,000 th person etc etc. They are very intrusive, and very denigrating to your excellent blog. Ordinary advertising in fine, but this insulting type of advertising only encourages many people to leave your otherwise excellent site.
Bill says
Hi Graham, sorry about that! We’ll forward that to our ad provider.
Roxan says
This is so delicious!
I have a little question:
I used one of your pictures as a little part in my bachelor project that wasn’t published in any way.
But now I have the chance to be part of a design award. And I wanted to ask if its okay when I am using this picture in the award too?
Thank you
Bill says
Hi Roxan, we love supporting academic projects. When using our photos, please include credit and attribution to thewoksoflife.com and a link to this post where it was first published. Good luck on the award!
Cindy Fuhlendorf says
Thank you very much !
Sara says
This recipe looks great but we don’t do alcohol in our household (not even in our cooking). Can I replace the wine or would it be better to just leave it out then? That’s what I usually do but with this little ingredients I’m afraid we’ll miss out on some flavour…
Bill says
Hi Sara, You can leave the Shaoxing wine out – I have to work on a good non-alcoholic substitution. Adding a dash of fish sauce could give the dish an extra umami boost!
Amy says
I made this tonight and it turned out great! I only had galangal not ginger so I used it and added thai chili’s because we need and love spicy food. A win and we will do this one again.
Bill says
Hi Amy, happy to hear you liked it and that you customized it to your own preferences.
Lien says
Hi Bill! If I don’t have any Shapxing wine what can I use in replacement of it? I have rice wine and regular cooking wine, can I use them in place of Shapxing wine? Will there be any different in flavor?
Bill says
Hi Lien, rice wine or other types of cooking wine work as well but the Shaoxing “yellow” wine or Huang jiu really has a unique briny flavor to it that does adds a little extra something
Anita says
This recipe is a staple in our house now. I was able to find the rice cakes at the local Korean market (the closest Asian market to me) and have stocked up so I can make this on the regular. Thank you!
Bill says
Hooray Anita! Think of us when you have this meal :)
Frances says
Made this tonight! It was fantastic! My hubby is a picky eater and he devoured it. Thank you!
Bill says
Hi Frances, Excellent work! Love to hear that the family approved. :)
Fiona says
I made this for lunch today and it was SO FUCKIN’ GOOOOOOOOD! Am eating the leftovers as I type. Thank you so much for posting the recipe! Thanks also for your ingredient glossary which was invaluable for navigating the Chinese supermarket.
I added more greens (broc, kale) because that’s how we eat; otherwise I followed the recipe to the letter, and was amazed at how something so authentic tasting could come out of my Barcelona kitchen!
Bill says
Wow Fiona, nice job!
Julie says
I am so happy I found this blog! This is the third recipe I have made from you guys so far and it was a big hit. My daughter was so excited that I could make rice cakes at home since she loves them in restaurants. We will be making this one again for sure.
Bill says
Hi Julie, love to hear that and hope you try some of our other stir-fried rice cake recipes!
Jarrett says
Just made this tonight and it was fantastic. I also added some bean sprouts for a little extra texture and it was very nice!
Bill says
Hi Jarrett, Bean sprouts are an excellent addition!