kimchi and pork lian gao 炒年糕

Sticky rice cake is eaten in many Asian cultures. It is called lian gao (or lin go in Cantonese) 年糕 in Mandarin. It is made with flour of glutenous rice (sticky rice). Here in Oregon I found the best quality ones are from Korean stores. While they are exactly like the Chinese one, the Korean ones always have a slanted cut instead of straight cut.

Before the advent of stick-free frying pan (or wok) stir frying lian gao 炒年糕 is challenging for average home cook because they would stick to the frying pan or wok. Before long you have a pile of sticky mess instead of a delectable dish. Commercial restaurant can deal with them because of the huge fire power that the rice cake would char instantly before it can stick to the wok.

In Chinese cuisine stir fried lian gao 炒年糕 is generally regarded as a Shanghai dish. It is enjoyed for it's toothsome mouth feel. The starch also is a natural thickener so the tasty juice clings to the otherwise blend rice cake making them richly tasty outside but with the subtle blandness (as you enjoy plain rice) inside.

i made this version with kimchi and pork - here are all the ingredients

closeup

this dish is very additive - it is very easy to overindulge