Rice cake (Nian Gao in Chinese), also translated as New Year Cake or Chinese New Year’s cake, is a traditional Chinese food made from rice or glutinous rice flour. While it can be eaten all year around, it is most popular during Chinese new year because Nian Gao is a homonym for “higher year”, or a more prosperous year. Nian Gao has wide influence all over Asia. Depending on the region, it can turn into different cuisines with different tastes and styles. Here we will share a Shanghainese recipe for rice cakes.

Preparation List for Bacon and Shrimp New Year Rice Cake Stir Fry

• Servings: 2
• Wait Time: 30 min – 1 hour
• Total Time: 30 min
• Ingredients:
  • 250g rice cakes (sliced type)
  • 14-16 frozen shrimp
  • 2 slices (30g) of bacon
  • 2 eggs
  • 6-8 Shanghai Bok choy
  • Half a cup(120ml) low sodium chicken stock
  • 2-3 tablespoons(30-45ml) of olive oil (or neutral flavored oil)
  • 1-2 tablespoon(15-30ml)shaoxing wine
  • 1-2 tablespoons(10-20g) corn starch
  • 1-2 tablespoon(15-30ml) soy sauce
  • 1-2 tablespoon(15-30ml) oyster sauce
  • 5-6 cloves garlic
  • Some slices of ginger
  • Some chopped green onions or leeks
  • Salt and pepper to taste

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Shrimp and Bacon Rice Cake Stir Fry Recipe

• Scramble eggs. Heat a wok or a large pan on medium high heat. Once the wok is hot, add 1-2 tablespoons (15-30ml) of olive oil (or neutral flavor oil) and the beaten eggs. Quickly stir fry it to prevent overcooking. Set the scrambled egg aside when there is still some liquid in it (We will re-fry the eggs later so we keep the eggs a bit undercooked for now).

• Sauté shrimp. Same wok or pan. Medium high heat. Add one more tablespoon(15ml) of olive oil if needed. Add in the marinated shrimp and quickly stir fry them. Once the shrimps turn gold (see bottom right picture), immediately turn off heat and take the shrimp out to prevent overcooking. We will keep shrimps a bit uncooked due to the same reason as the scrambled egg.

• Stir fry veggies and rice cakes. Same wok or pan with medium heat. Add all(2 slices/30g) of the chopped bacon, all of the ginger slices and chopped green onion/leeks. Sauté 1-2 min until fragrant. Then add the Bok Choy leaves to mix with the bacon mixture until softened like the bottom left picture. Then add all the rice cakes and mix well.

• Boil rice cakes. Pour in the half cup(120ml) of low sodium chicken stock and cover the wok with a lid as shown in pictures below and adjust to medium heat if not already there. Let rice cakes be boiled for about 3 minutes to fully absorb all the flavors from chicken stock and bacon.

• Finish up with seasoning. After 3 min of boiling, open the lid. The liquid should be mostly gone. If not, continue reducing the liquid until mostly gone. Add 1-2 tablespoons(15-30 ml) of soy sauce and 1-2 tablespoons(15-30ml) of oyster sauce. Add the scrambled egg and the shrimps cooked earlier and mix everything well and cook until shrimp and eggs are cooked through. Be sure to taste and adjust the salt level as desired. Serve hot.