Steamed pork patty with salted egg and garlic water spinach
Minced pork and water chestnut beaten until springy, topped with salted egg yolk and steamed, served with garlicky stir-fried water spinach — a classic Hong Kong home dinner.
- 35 min
- Serves 3
- Steam
- Easy
Why it suits you: A balanced constitution needs no special correction, but Major Heat kills the appetite, so simple, rice-friendly home dishes work best. Salted egg pork patty is savoury and steamed rather than fried, and its gentle saltiness replaces some of what you sweat out. Water spinach, in season now, clears heat and cools the blood — one meat, one vegetable, nicely balanced.
Method
Prep 15 min · Cook 20 min- 1Crack the salted egg and separate the white from the yolk. Halve the yolk and keep half the white for the pork.
- 2Mix the pork with the water chestnut, reserved egg white, soy sauce, cornflour, water and pepper. Stir in one direction until sticky, then slap it against the bowl a few times.
- 3Press the pork flat in a shallow dish, make two hollows and set the yolk halves in them. Steam over a medium heat for 15 minutes once the water boils.
- 4Meanwhile, wash the water spinach and cut into lengths. Fry the garlic in hot oil until fragrant, add the greens and stir-fry over a high heat until just wilted. Season with salt.
- 5Serve the patty with its juices, the water spinach and rice.
Cautions
- Salted egg is high in salt, so use less with high blood pressure or kidney problems, and don't add extra salt to the pork.
Chef's tips
- Stirring the pork in one direction makes it springy so it holds together; stir-fry the water spinach fast and hot so it stays green and doesn't weep.
The TCM view
Pork is sweet, salty and neutral, nourishing yin, moistening dryness and building blood. Salted duck egg is sweet, salty and cool, clearing heat and nourishing yin; water spinach is sweet and cold, clearing heat, cooling the blood and promoting urination; water chestnut is sweet and cold, generating fluids. A gently tonifying patty paired with cooling greens refreshes without chilling — right for a balanced constitution in Major Heat.
