Stir-Fried Pork and Rice Cakes

After eating with some classmates at Din Tai Fung in Arcadia, I became mildly obsessed with wanting to make rice cakes. This recipe comes from Serious Eats and of course, I modified it a bit to reduce sodium content. I also added snow peas because I love them.

Ingredients

2 ounces greens for stir-frying, such as bok choy, napa cabbage, and snow peas
6 ounces pork shoulder, cut into 1/4 inch slices
For marinating the meat:
1 tablespoon cooking rice wine
3/4 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon reduced sodium soy sauce
1/4 teapoon ground white pepper
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/8 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 cups rice cakes (about 10 ounces)
To flavor rice cakes:
1/4 cup reduced sodium chicken stock
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
To garnish rice cakes:
1/4 teaspoon roasted and ground black or sichuan peppercorns
Green onion, finely chopped

Marinade the pork. Put pork in bowl and add rice wine, cornstarch, soy sauce, white pepper, and salt.



Heat wok (I don't have a wok so I used a non-stick medium size pan) over high heat. Swirl in 1/8 cup of oil and add vegetables. Stir-fry until stalks are tender but still crisp, 1-3 minutes.



Remove from heat and set aside. I put the veggies on a plate and stored in the microwave to keep it warm.

Heat wok over high heat. Swirl in 2 tablespoons of oil. Add garlic and stir-fry until garlic is golden brown, about 10 seconds.



Add pork mixture and stir-fry until pork is lightly browned. Remove pork from wok and set aside. I put the pork on the same plate as the veggies and stored back in the microwave.

Add rice cakes to wok. Add broth and cook uncovered 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add oyster sauce and pepper. Stir constantly to prevent rice cakes from sticking too much. Cook until rice cakes are soft but still chewy, about 1 minute.



Add vegetables and pork back to wok and stir to mix evenly.



Serve immediately, garnishing with green onions.

I totally loved this! It was a bit of a hassle to get all the ingredients together--I went to 3 different stores to get everything needed. However, it was worth it. I loved the taste of the sichuan pepper and the white pepper in this. Will make again!