Steamed Pork Cake with Salted Fish, 咸鱼蒸肉饼 Xián Yú Zhēng Ròu Bing in Mandarin and Hom Yee Jeng Yook Baeng in Cantonese, is a dish my mother used to cook for us often growing up.
It’s a popular Cantonese dish among older Chinese folks, though Kaitlin enjoys it when we make it. Sarah, on the other hand, isn’t much of a fish person, and the salted fish packs a fishy punch 1000x the strength of regular fish! Well, maybe that’s an overstatement. The salted fish is an acquired taste (in case you couldn’t tell by its name), similar to anchovies, and I’ll leave it at that!
Notes on Ingredients
Steamed pork cake with salted fish is one of the Cantonese dishes we usually order when we eat out in Chinatown, because it can be a bit difficult to procure high-quality salted fish to make it at home. It’s one of our go-to’s alongside Stir-Fried Shrimp and Eggs and Salt & Pepper Pork Chops.
There are many varieties of salted dried fish at Chinese markets, but the kind you want to get is the fermented variety. In an ideal world, we’d all jet over to Hong Kong to buy our salted fish, which is hands-down the best place to buy it.
But until that happens, check out the Dried Seafood section of our Chinese Dried and Preserved ingredients page. We have some tips for selecting and buying the correct fish—what to look for and how to identify high quality product.
The fresh ginger is a vital ingredient here, as it balances the fattiness of the pork and the saltiness of the fish. Shaoxing wine also smooths out the taste of the salted fish, so it’s best to use it and avoid substitutions for this steamed pork cake.
A “More Rice!” Kind of Dish
This dish may sound a bit out there for some of you, but steamed pork cake with salted fish is one of those dishes that’s so good that it’s generally known among Chinese people to make everyone eat more rice! So be sure to cook a little extra.
I am notorious for eating multiple bowls of rice when this is on the table. Lately, I’ve taken to the tactic of using smaller bowls in an attempt to eat less. I’m never quite sure if I net out eating less rice whenever I go in for that third or even fourth “small” bowl, but it’s a mind game that works for me!
If all these mentions of salted fish, fermentation, and carb intake hasn’t scared you away yet, then it’s time to get your salted fish and get to cooking!
Recipe Instructions
Chop the ground pork finely with knife or cleaver and transfer to a bowl or start with a piece of pork shoulder butt and chop the meat without a meat grinder and make your own ground pork.
Add sesame oil, salt, white pepper, baking soda, Shaoxing wine, water, cornstarch, grated ginger, minced scallion, and water chestnuts (if using) to the meat.
Use a fork and mix everything together vigorously until the pork mixture becomes sticky and smooth—almost like a paste. Set aside to marinate for 1 hour or more.
Transfer the meat to a deep dish plate, forming a kind of thin patty. You must use a deep dish because liquid will pool in the bowl (it’s almost like a thin broth or sauce, and it’s great over rice!).
Distribute the slices of salted fish on top of the meat. If you put a lot of fish on top, then you may want to eliminate or reduce the salt from the ground meat in the previous step. If you put only a few slices of salted fish, then the fish will likely provide enough salt for the dish. It’s definitely about personal preferences when it comes to how salty you like it!
Spread the julienned ginger across the top of the meat and salted fish and then sprinkle the chopped scallion evenly over the top.
Steam for 10 minutes starting with a pre-heated steamer. See our post on how to set up a steamer if you’re not familiar with steaming foods in Chinese cooking.
You’ll see quite a bit of liquid in the plate after cooking. Turn off the heat and let the dish rest for 2 to 3 minutes. Some of that tasty liquid will be reabsorbed into the meat. Spoon the sauce over the top of your pork before servings and enjoy!
Serve this steamed pork cake dish with lots of white rice. That salted fish really makes you eat a whole lot of rice!
Steamed Pork Cake with Salted Fish (咸鱼蒸肉饼)
Ingredients
- 12 ounces fatty ground pork (340g)
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon ginger (grated)
- 1 teaspoon scallion (the white portion only, finely minced)
- 1/3 cup water chestnuts (chopped, optional)
- 4 to 6 thin slices of fermented salted fish (about 2 ounces total)
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger (finely julienned)
- 1 scallion (finely chopped)
Instructions
- Chop the ground pork finely with knife or cleaver and transfer to a bowl. Add sesame oil, salt, white pepper, baking soda, Shaoxing wine, water, cornstarch, grated ginger, minced scallion, and water chestnuts (if using) to the meat. Use a fork and mix everything together vigorously until the pork mixture becomes sticky and smooth––almost like a paste. Set aside to marinate for 1 hour.
- Transfer the meat to a deep dish plate, forming a kind of thin patty. You must use a deep dish because liquid will pool in the bowl (it's almost like a thin broth or sauce, and it's great over rice!).
- Distribute the slices of salted fish on top of the meat. If you put a lot of fish on top, then you may want to eliminate or reduce the salt from the ground meat in the previous step. If you put only a few slices of salted fish, then the fish will likely provide enough salt for the dish. It’s definitely about personal preferences when it comes to how salty you like it!
- Spread the julienned ginger across the top of the meat and salted fish and then sprinkle the chopped scallion evenly over the top. Steam for 10 minutes starting with a pre-heated steamer. You'll see quite a bit of liquid in the plate after cooking. Turn off the heat and let the dish rest for 2 to 3 minutes. Some of that tasty liquid will be reabsorbed into the meat. Spoon the sauce over the top of your pork before servings and enjoy!
My first time handling salted fish. Do we need to wash or soak the salted fish first ? Thx
Hi Terry, you should wash the salted fish, but I wouldn’t soak it, as too much flavor will leak out.