Shanghainese Vegetable Rice
To me, this is the base of a quintessential Shanghainese meal, a good bowl of vegetable rice. The name belies the hearty rice that is made with Shanghainese salted pork belly, green bok choy and shiitake mushrooms. It’s the best partner to any Shanghainese dish. Though Shanghainese salted pork isn’t easily found is this area, it can be easily substituted with bacon, and you can make this rice with bok choy or green bok choy. As for the shiitake mushroom, it’s a matter of personal preference to me, you can omit it without affecting the taste much.
You can use as much or as little bacon, bok choy, and mushrooms as you like. The amount I used below is for a very generous helping of vegetable, a lot more than your usual Shanghainese restaurant. But it makes me feel less guilty when I eat it with pork belly, like the vegetables is negating all the scrumptiously fatty meat.
Shanghainese Vegetable Rice 上海菜飯
Ingredients
- 2-4 strips bacon
- 1 lb green bok choy
- 6 shiitake mushroom
- ½ cup water or chicken stock
- 2-3 cups cooked rice
Instructions
- After cleaning the green bok choy, cut of the ends of the stem, and dice the green bok choy.
- Add a tbsp of salt to the bok choy, mix well. Set aside.
- Dice the bacon and fry on low heat.
- Once the bacon is lightly crisp, squeeze the liquid from the bok choy and add it to the bacon. Save the liquid for later use.
- Add the mushroom to the bacon and bok choy and stir fry. Let it cook until all of the bok choy is wilted and mushroom is soft.
- Add 1 tbsp of shaoxing cooking wine, the bok choy liquid, and 1/2 cup of water or chicken stock.
- Cook on low heat until most of the liquid as evaporated, add the rice and mix well. If it's very watery, you can cook for longer to let the rice absorb the liquid.
- Serve with your favorite Shanghainese dish.
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