Steamed Pork Cake with Salted Fish

Even though Kaitlin is too young to remember it, this Cantonese dish is quite popular among the elderly in China. But Sarah isn’t a big fan of fish, and the salted fish has a flavor that’s a thousand times stronger than conventional fish. It could be an exaggeration to say that. Just with anchovies, the salty fish is something you have to get used to eating.

Additional Information On Ingredients

Due to the difficulty in sourcing good salted fish, steamed pork cake with salted fish is one of the Cantonese meals we frequently order when dining in Chinatown.

Many kinds of salted, dried fish are sold in Chinese markets, but the fermented sort is the one you want. In a perfect world, everyone would fly to Hong Kong, where salted fish is incomparably fresh and affordable.

But until then, you may always peruse the Dried Seafood selection on our Chinese Dried & Preserved ingredients website. Find out what to look for and how to recognize high-quality products while shopping for fish with our helpful hints.

When combined with fatty pork and salty fish, the fresh ginger is a game-changer. As the salty fish flavor can be overpowering, this steamed pork cake benefits greatly from the addition of Shaoxing wine.

Though it may sound unusual to Western ears, steamed pork cake with salted fish is well-known in China as a surefire strategy to get more rice onto guests’ plates. As a result, it’s a good idea to make a few extra servings.

When this is served, I invariably devour more than one bowl. In an effort to reduce my food intake, I’ve been eating out smaller dishes as of late.

If all this talk of fermentation and carbohydrate consumption hasn’t put you off salted fish yet, go ahead and buy some.

Ingredients:

• 340g of fatty ground pork
• 4-6 thin slices of fermented salted fish
• 1 finely chopped scallion
• 1/3 cup of chopped water chestnuts (optional)
• 1 tablespoon of Shaoxing wine
• 2 tablespoons of water
• 1 tablespoon of finely julienned fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons of cornstarch
• ½ teaspoon of sesame oil
• ½ teaspoon of salt
• 1/8 teaspoon of ground white pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda
• ½ teaspoon of grated ginger
• 1 teaspoon of finely minced scallion (the white portion only

Instructions:

1. Put the ground pork in a basin and coarsely chop it using a knife or cleaver. Mix in the cornstarch, ginger, scallions, water chestnuts, Shaoxing wine, baking soda, salt, white pepper, and sesame oil to the meat. Stir the ingredients together firmly with a fork until the pork mixture is smooth and sticky, almost like a paste. Put in a marinade and let sit for an hour.
2. Place the meat into a thin patty on a deep dish plate. The liquid (almost like a thin broth or sauce; fantastic over rice!) will pool at the bottom of a shallow bowl, so choose wisely.
3. Slice the salted fish and scatter it over the meat. You may want to exclude or reduce the salt from the ground meat in the preceding step if you plan to top it with a lot of fish. Simply adding a few thin slices of salted fish to a meal is usually all that’s needed to add flavorful saltiness. How salty you like it is completely a matter of taste!
4. On top of the meat and salted fish, spread the julienned ginger and then sprinkle on the chopped onion. Preheat the steamer and steam for ten minutes. After cooking, a lot of liquid will be left on the plate. A two- to three-minute relaxation period is recommended after turning off the heat. The meat will reabsorb some of the flavorful marinades. Before serving, drizzle the sauce over the meat. Put the ground pork in a basin and coarsely chop it using a knife or cleaver.
5. Mix in the cornstarch, ginger, scallions, water chestnuts, Shaoxing wine, baking soda, salt, white pepper, and sesame oil to the meat. Stir the ingredients together firmly with a fork until the pork mixture is smooth and sticky, almost like a paste. Put in a marinade and let sit for an hour.
6. Place the meat into a thin patty on a deep dish plate. The liquid (almost like a thin broth or sauce; fantastic over rice!) will pool at the bottom of a shallow bowl, so choose wisely.
7. Slice the salted fish and scatter it over the meat. You may want to exclude or reduce the salt from the ground meat in the preceding step if you plan topping it with a lot of fish.
8. Simply adding a few thin slices of salted fish to a meal is usually all that’s needed to add flavorful saltiness. How salty you like it is completely a matter of taste!
9. On top of the meat and salted fish, spread the julienned ginger and then sprinkle on the chopped onion. Preheat the steamer and steam for ten minutes. After cooking, there will be a lot of liquid left on the plate. A two- to three-minute relaxation period after turning off the heat is recommended. The meat will reabsorb some of the flavorful marinades.
10. Before serving, drizzle the sauce over the meat.