Chinese stir-fried rice cakes with pork and leafy greens is known in Chinese as “chǎo niángāo” (炒年糕).
It’s a popular dish that is also distinctively “Shanghai” to me, as my Shanghainese mom and grandmother would make it often for a quick lunch when we were growing up.
Our entire family enjoys the delicious chewiness of the rice cakes in this savory, filling stir-fry!
Note: This recipe was originally published in December 2013. We have since re-tested and re-photographed the recipe, and published it with updated instructions, photos, metric measurements, nutrition information, and more. Enjoy!
What Are Chinese Rice Cakes?
Chinese rice cakes, or niangao, are made from pounded rice, and have a sticky, chewy texture. Think of them as a kind of thick, oval-shaped pasta.
There are sweet versions that have the same name, nian gao. But these little white ovals are usually used in savory stir-fries, soups, and hot pot.
Buying Asian Rice Cakes
Nowadays, rice cakes are readily available in your Asian grocery store. Find them next to the fresh noodles and dumpling wrappers.
Some varieties come vacuum packed, some are frozen, and some come fresh. You can also sometimes even get them in whole logs, which need to be sliced.
You may also find dried packages, where you need to soak them in water to reconstitute them (similar to rice noodles). We prefer the frozen rice cakes, though any of the aforementioned varieties would work for this.
When it comes to shape, however, we prefer the thin oval rice cakes. You can also use the Korean-style thick cylinders, though the cooking time may vary.
Other Recipes Featuring Rice Cakes
While this stir-fried rice cake recipe is our go-to when preparing these chewy treats, we have many recipes featuring them. Check them out:
- Shanghai Rice Cake Stir-fry
- Spicy Rice Cake Stir-fry
- Chinese Rice Cake Soup
- Hot Pot at Home
- Steak and Scallion Rice Cake Stir-Fry
Note!
- You may substitute the pork in this recipe with boneless skinless chicken thighs.
- While we did not photograph this recipe with mushrooms, they are included as an optional ingredient!
Stir-fried Rice Cakes: Recipe Instructions
Start by preparing your meat.
Marinate the julienned pork with the water, light soy sauce, sesame oil, white pepper, vegetable oil, and cornstarch. Allow to sit for 20-30 minutes, while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Rinse the rice cakes and drain. If using fresh or frozen rice cakes, you do not have to soak or thaw them. Only soak (according to package instructions) if using dried rice cakes.
Thoroughly wash the baby bok choy (or napa cabbage). Drain, shaking off excess water. If using baby bok choy, separate into individual leaves.
If using napa cabbage, cut the large leaves into smaller bite-sized pieces. Also prepare the garlic and scallions.
If using mushrooms, slice them thinly. If you used dried mushrooms, be sure to reserve the water you soaked them in.
Ok, now you’re ready to cook!
Place your wok over high heat until it begins to smoke lightly. Add the vegetable oil to coat the wok, and add the pork and garlic. Cook until the pork turns opaque.
(If using mushrooms, add them at this point and stir-fry for 1 minute).
Stir in the scallions…
Along with the bok choy/cabbage and Shaoxing wine.
Stir-fry for 30 seconds, and move everything to the center of the wok to create an even “bed” of vegetables and meat. Distribute the rice cakes on top (this prevents them from sticking to the wok).
Add the water (or the mushroom soaking liquid). Depending on how hot your stove gets, you can add anywhere from 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup water. Cover, and cook for 2 minutes to steam the rice cakes and cook the vegetables.
Remove the cover, and add the sesame oil…
Dark soy sauce and light soy sauce…
And the white pepper and sugar.
Stir-fry everything together for 1 minute over medium heat.
Taste, and season with additional salt if necessary.
Continue stir-frying until the rice cakes are coated in sauce, cooked through but still chewy. Plate and serve!
Stir-fried Rice Cakes (Nian Gao)
Ingredients
For the meat and marinade:
- 8 oz. pork shoulder or loin (julienned)
- 1 tablespoon water
- 2 teaspoons light soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
For the rest of the dish:
- 1 pound rice cakes
- 8 ounces baby bok choy (or napa cabbage)
- 2 cloves garlic (coarsely chopped)
- 3 scallions (cut on a diagonal into 1 inch/2.5 cm pieces)
- 6 dried shiitake mushrooms (soaked for 2 hours until reconstituted; can substitute fresh shiitake mushrooms)
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 1/2-3/4 cup water (depending on how hot your stove can get; for higher BTU stoves, use up to ¾ cup water)
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- salt (to taste)
Instructions
- Marinate the julienned pork with the water, light soy sauce, sesame oil, white pepper, vegetable oil, and cornstarch. Allow to sit for 20-30 minutes, while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- Rinse the rice cakes and drain. If using fresh or frozen rice cakes, you do not have to soak or thaw them. Only soak (according to package instructions) if using dried rice cakes.
- Thoroughly wash the baby bok choy (or napa cabbage). Drain, shaking off excess water. If using baby bok choy, separate into individual leaves. If using napa cabbage, cut the large leaves into smaller bite-sized pieces. Also prepare the garlic and scallions.
- If using mushrooms, slice them thinly. If using dried shiitake mushrooms, save the soaking liquid.
- Place your wok over high heat until it begins to smoke lightly. Add the vegetable oil to coat the wok, and add the pork and garlic. Cook until the pork turns opaque. If using mushrooms, add them now and stir-fry for 1 minute.
- Stir in the scallions, bok choy/cabbage, and Shaoxing wine. Stir-fry for 30 seconds, and move everything to the center of the wok to create an even “bed” of vegetables and meat. Distribute the rice cakes on top (this prevents them from sticking to the wok).
- Add water (or mushroom soaking water for extra flavor). Depending on how hot your stove gets, you can add 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup. Cover, and cook for 2 minutes to steam the rice cakes and cook the vegetables.
- Remove the cover, and add the sesame oil, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, white pepper, and sugar. Stir-fry everything together for 1 minute over medium heat. Taste, and season with additional salt if necessary. Continue stir-frying until the rice cakes are coated in sauce, cooked through but still chewy. Plate and serve!
Made this last night and it was delicious! I didn’t have leek or mushrooms, but I added in beansprouts, onion, bell peppers, and egg. Will definitely make this again.
So glad you enjoyed it, Darlene.
I’ve always loved Nian Gao and never knew how easy this dish is to make. Thank you for this delicious traditional recipe!
How great is that! Most situations are not as difficult as we envision them to be :-)
simple and easy with ingredients i generally always have on hand. another winner!
Thank you, Emily!
How long to soak the dried rice cake vs the frozen one.
Thx
Hi Louise, please follow the instructions on the package. If there are no instructions, please soak them in cold water overnight. FYI, you can’t really over-soak rice cakes. Fresh rice cakes are usually stored in cold water, but the water has to be changed daily since it gets starchy.
I’m going to try making this tonight, and I started soaking my dried rice cakes yesterday. It’s been over 24 hours now and they still don’t feel like they’re anywhere near wok-ready—I’m a bit worried about using these to be honest, but they’re all I could get! Wondering if I should boil them for a few minutes first?
Hi Jenn, are there any cooking instructions on the package? You can do a little test by boiling 1 to 2 pieces in boiling water to see how long it takes to soften, so you can apply that cooking time to this dish ;-)
I made this last night and it was delicious. Any suggestions for an oyster sauce substitute? I ran out a couple of months ago and have been trying to avoid grocery stores. Next time I will try your spicy rice cake recipe.
Hi Yvette, very few substitutes for oyster sauce, I’m afraid, unless you by chance have a vegetarian oyster sauce on hand. You could try adding a mixture of more soy sauce, a touch of ground bean sauce/hoisin sauce, and a dash of fish sauce.
This looks amazing! I definitely want to try and make it. Do you need to defrost the rice cakes if you bought the frozen kind?
Hi CL, you don’t really have to defrost the rice cakes before adding them!
Thanks Sarah!
Excellent prep instructions, appropriate ingredients, and presentation photos make my mouth water.
Great! Thank you.
Thanks so much, Robert!
I live in Canada and have a vegetarian in the house. I used Yves Veggie Ground Round and the results were to die for! Thank you so much for this website, I just discovered it. So many of the dishes remind me of my childhood (beef tomato, making dumplings, etc.). You do a fabulously thorough job of explaining things so that regular people can understand. Keep it up!
Thanks so much Tanya!
Well, well, well… considering the recipe is for 4 and we were 2 and finished the dish, I think it’s fair to say that we loved it! Even though I was a bit concerned about the rice cakes (very hard before cooking but turned out beautifully chewy), the result was as good as the rice cakes we can have here in Shanghai. I might next time cut off a bit on the salt just as an experiment. Thanks again for this brilliant recipe.
So glad you two loved the recipe, Nico.
Is this dish freezer friendly?
Hi Angie, not really! Rice cakes don’t actually reheat that well after they’ve been cooked and refrigerated, so I’m afraid what might happen if they went into the freezer! The texture of the vegetables would also change, so I think it’s a dish best eaten fresh!