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!
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.
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!
You’ll need:
- 12 ounces of fatty ground pork
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground white pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon finely minced scallion, the white portion only
- 1/3 cup chopped water chestnuts (optional)
- 4 to 6 thin slices of fermented, salted fish (about 2 ounces total)
- 1 tablespoon finely julienned fresh ginger
- 1 scallion, finely chopped
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!
- 12 ounces of fatty ground pork
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon fresh ground white pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon finely minced scallion, the white portion only
- ⅓ cup chopped water chestnuts (optional)
- 4 to 6 thin slices of fermented, salted fish (about 2 ounces total)
- 1 tablespoon finely julienned fresh ginger
- 1 scallion, finely chopped
- 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!
Jasmin says
Thank you for this wonderful recipe! I was craving this dish and decided to try and make it myself. I followed your recipe ad it turned out so delicious! I didn’t have the haam yu so I substituted with Italian anchovies in olive oil and it turned out beautifully, an inadvertent Chinese/Italian dish.
Bill says
Hi Jasmin, Good substitution and glad you enjoyed it!
John says
Hi there, does Salted Threafin Fish in Oil (jar) work for this recipe? That’s all my store has.
Bill says
Hi John, I have not tried the salted fish in the jars before so not sure they will have the exact same flavor. but I bet it would work. Let us know how it turns out if you try it!
Tricia says
Hi! The only variation I made was not to add any salted fish and adding light soya sauce. However, there was no tasty sauce or liquid after 10min of steaming.
What could have gone wrong? Thanks =)
Bill says
Hi Tricia,
The key to the flavor of this dish is in the salted fish which I should have emphasized more. There are other variations of this dish using different kinds of preserved vegetables so as you can surmise from my response, this class of dishes usually depends upon a salted preserved ingredient for its personality (stay tuned for more recipes like this one). That said, you could try adding a bit more sesame oil and a pinch of five spice and.or adding more ginger and scallion if you like the plain pork. Also, the next time you make it, add a bit more water (a couple of tablespoons) to the pork when adding the seasonings and mix the pork well so the water is completely absorbed for a moister pork patty. Another tip is to make sure you have enough water in your steamer to get a good head of steam going. Hope that helps and happy cooking!
Rita says
Hi, my boy loves it. Btw may I know what’s the purpose of adding baking soda?
Bill says
Hi Rita, It acts as a tenderizer for the ground pork but is totally optional!
Little Cooking Tips says
The most common salted fish here is salted cod and salted herring. Does that sound like something that could work Bill? We never combined salted fish with pork, but we did use anchovies in some other meat dishes and it was really really good, so we know this recipe will be great!
Thank you for the yummy idea!
xoxoxo
Bill says
Good question. Anchovies would be very nice but I think salted cod or herring sound very enticing to try!
Little Cooking Tips says
Thank you Bill!
Lily says
I saw the title for this post and it immediately conjured up an imagine of my mom with her clever chopping up pork on the cutting board. I’m amazed and delighted about how many readers have this same memory, haha! My mom used to make this dish sometimes with minced fresh water chestnuts (it adds a great crunch) and dried shiitake mushrooms.
Bill says
Hi Lily, I like the addition of the water chestnuts and dried mushrooms – your mom had the right idea!
Laura M says
Oh my goodness! The picture of the cleaver chopping the pork brought back a memory from my childhood when my grandfather would do this chopping with one cleaver in each hand to prepare the pork for this dish. Thank you so much for posting the recipe because I can never get the flavor right when I make it. I look forward to making this when I next visit my mom so we can share the best comfort food together, and I can have a wonderful taste from my childhood.
Bill says
Hi Laura, your are quite welcome and hope it turns out right for you. Remember that the type of preserved salted fish you use has a lot to do with the flavor so be sure to peruse the salted fish section of our Chinese Dried and Preserved ingredients page!
Foodforlife says
This looks good as always and everything else on your blog. I have a recipe request…an authentic recipe for the thai fish curry using thai red curry paste. Been searching high and low for one but none of them seem to cut it. I know for a fact that when you guys feature it here, its got to be right (having read the effort that went into those har gow). Please consider my request. I will be very glad.
Bill says
Hi Foodforlife, We will certainly look into that Thai fish curry!