Our Stir Fried Rice Cakes Recipe

We would always order this dish when we went out to eat so we decided to give it a try and were surprised at how easy it was to make at home!  Instead of the rice cakes that you need to rehydrate, we opted for the fresher refrigerated ones at the grocery store which helped to speed up the recipe.  

Stir Fried Rice Cakes (Nian Gao)

Prep Time: 60 minutes, Cook Time: 20 minutes, Total Time: 1 hr 20 minutes
Serves: 4-6 people

Ingredients
1 lb refrigerated rice cakes (boil for 3 minutes)
3 bunches bok choy or napa cabbage (when chopped should fill a medium sized bowl)
7-10 dried shitake mushrooms
1 to 1.5 lb chicken breast
4 tbsp oil (for cooking)

Chicken Sauce
3 tbsp light soy sauce
3 tsp sugar
3 tsp shao hsing rice wine
3/4 tsp white pepper
1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
3 tsp corn starch

Noodle Sauce
2 1/2 tbsp concentrated chicken stock essence + 1½ cup water
3 tbsp corn starch

Instructions:

1. Soak the shitake mushrooms in water to rehydrate, once pliable, slice into thin strips.
2. Slice the chicken against the grain into thin pieces. Add sauce and marinate for at least 1 hour.
3. Wash bok choy or napa cabbage. Slice cabbage in half for more bite sized pieces. Slice vegetables into small strips. Chopped vegetables should fill a medium sized bowl.
4. Boil the rice cakes for 3 minutes till they are chewy. Drain and rinse with cold water. You will need to separate the rice cakes so that they don’t stick together before you add to the rest of the ingredients.
5. Heat wok to medium heat and add 2 tbsp oil. Add chicken and cook, then set aside.
6. Keep stove on medium heat, add 2 tbsp oil and add the sliced mushrooms and stir until fragrant.
7. Add the bok choy or cabbage and cook till tender.
8. Add the rice cakes and turn down heat to low. Make sure the rice cakes are separated and not stuck together before adding.
9. Next add chicken and mix in the noodle sauce.
10. Once the sauce starts to thicken turn off the heat and serve.