Stir-fried rice cakes with spring bamboo shoots & pork
A Shanghai-style spring stir-fry: sweet, crunchy bamboo shoots, fragrant preserved mustard greens and soft, chewy rice cakes — ready at home in 30 minutes.
- 35 min
- Serves 2
- Stir-fry
- Easy
Why it suits you: Qi Stagnation brings low moods and a tight chest, and liver energy peaks around Spring Equinox. Bamboo shoots ease the chest and move qi down, fragrant mustard greens wake the appetite and carrot adds colour — a hot, regular lunch that lifts the mood.
Method
Prep 25 min · Cook 10 min- 1Soak the rice cake slices in water for 15 minutes until pliable, then drain.
- 2Peel the bamboo shoot, cut into strips and blanch for 8 minutes to remove bitterness. Soak the mustard greens for 5 minutes, squeeze dry and chop. Shred the carrot.
- 3Marinate the pork with 1 tsp of the soy sauce and the cornflour for 10 minutes, then stir-fry in the hot oil until it changes colour.
- 4Add the bamboo shoot, carrot and mustard greens and stir-fry until fragrant. Add the rice cakes, remaining soy sauce and 100 ml water; cook over medium heat for 3–4 minutes until soft and the liquid is absorbed.
- 5Stir in the sugar, taste and serve.
Cautions
- Always blanch fresh bamboo shoots thoroughly before stir-frying. With weak digestion or bloating, go easy on both the shoots and the rice cakes.
Chef's tips
- No fresh bamboo shoots? Vacuum-packed cooked shoots only need rinsing and save the blanching time.
The TCM view
Spring bamboo shoots are sweet and slightly cold and ease the diaphragm and move qi downwards; preserved mustard greens are pungent and warm and move qi and wake the appetite; pork is sweet, salty and neutral; rice cakes are sweet and neutral and build qi; carrot is sweet and neutral. Fragrant pungency moves qi while sweetness protects the stomach, and the warm greens balance the cool shoots.
