Rice Cake Stir-Fry

These tasty, oval-shaped rice cakes have the texture of a chewy noodle. They’re widely available in the refrigerated or frozen section of Asian grocery stores. Here, they are paired with thin strips of boneless pork shoulder and lots of sweet scallions in a quick stir-fry.

Makes: 4 servings

For the meat:

6 ounces boneless pork shoulder or loin, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon water

1 teaspoon cornstarch

2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine

1 teaspoon neutral oil

1 teaspoon oyster sauce

For the sauce:

1/2 cup water

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 teaspoon light soy sauce

1 teaspoon dark soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1/8 teaspoon white pepper

For rest of the dish:

2 tablespoons neutral oil

2 1/2-inch slices fresh ginger

8 scallions, white and green parts separated and cut on the diagonal

1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine

1 pound Chinese rice cakes, preferably oval

1. Marinate pork: In medium bowl, combine pork with water, cornstarch, wine, oil and oyster sauce. Let marinate for 20 minutes.

2. Prepare the sauce: In a small bowl, combine water, oyster sauce, light and dark soy sauces, sugar and white pepper.

3. Assemble the dish: Heat wok over high heat until it starts to smoke lightly, then add 1 tablespoon oil. Spread it around the wok and add the pork. Stir-fry just until the pork turns opaque, about 1 minute. Remove from wok and set on a plate.

4. Reduce heat to medium and add remaining tablespoon oil. Add ginger slices and white parts of the scallions. Cook for 30 seconds, until the ginger begins to crisp at the edges and the scallions begin to turn golden brown.

5. Increase heat to high and add wine. It will hiss and bubble vigorously! Stir for 15 seconds. Add rice cakes, then prepared sauce and pork. Stir-fry for 30 seconds, using your wok spatula to scoop rice cakes and sauce up from the bottom of the wok so nothing sticks and everything is thoroughly combined.

6. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low to cook the rice cakes through.

7. Uncover wok after 2 minutes. The rice cakes should be cooked but still al dente, and there will be standing sauce pooling at the bottom of the wok. Increase heat to high, add green parts of the scallions and stir-fry until there is very little standing sauce, about 1 minute. Serve.

— Recipe from “The Woks of Life” by Bill, Judy, Sarah & Kaitlin Leung

Spring Rolls

Uncooked spring rolls can be frozen and then stored in the freezer in a plastic zip-top bag for up to 1 month. I served them with soy sauce mixed with a little chili crisp and rice vinegar.

Makes: 16 spring rolls

3 shiitake mushrooms

2 ounces dried mung bean glass noodles

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

6 scallions, white and green parts separated and sliced thin

4 garlic cloves, minced

4 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon table salt

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

4 cups shredded napa cabbage

3 carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch-long matchsticks

2 tablespoons cornstarch

16 (8-inch) square spring roll wrappers

Peanut or vegetable oil, for frying

1. Wipe mushrooms with a damp paper towel, then chop and set aside.

2. Soak noodles in 4 cups hot water for 15 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water until chilled. Drain noodles again and chop into 1-inch lengths; set aside.

3. Heat empty 14-inch flat-bottomed wok over high heat until just beginning to smoke, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-high, drizzle with oil around the perimeter of wok, and heat until just smoking.

4. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring constantly, until heated through, about 2 minutes. Add scallion whites, garlic and ginger and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil, salt and pepper and cook until thickened to glaze, about 30 seconds.

5. Add cabbage and carrots and cook, tossing slowly but constantly, until cabbage is just softened about 2 minutes. Off heat, add scallion greens and noodles and toss to combine. Transfer vegetable mixture to large plate, spread into even layer and refrigerate until cool enough to handle, about 5 minutes.

6. Whisk cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water in bowl until combined. Arrange 1 wrapper on counter so a corner points toward edge of counter. Place 2 heaping tablespoons of filling on lower half of wrapper and mold it with your fingers into neat 4-inch logs parallel to edge of counter. Using pastry brush, apply light coat of cornstarch slurry onto top corner of wrapper, being sure to coat edges.

7. Fold bottom corner of wrapper over filling and press gently along length of filling to remove air pockets. Fold side corners over to enclose filling snugly; gently roll to form cylinder.

8. Transfer spring roll seam-side down to parchment paper-lined platter. Press gently on spring roll to flatten slightly, and cover with damp paper towel while shaping remaining spring rolls. Do not stack. As this point, spring rolls can be frozen until solid, then transferred to zip-top bags and stored in freezer for up to 1 month. Do not thaw before frying; increase frying time by 2 minutes.

9. Set wire rack in rimmed baking sheet and line half of rack with paper towels. Add oil to clean, dry flat-bottomed wok or large Dutch oven until it measures about 1 1/2 inches deep and heat over medium-high heat to 375 degrees.

10. Using tongs, carefully add 5 spring rolls to hot oil and cook until light golden brown, about 5-7 minutes, turning as needed to evenly brown.

11. Return oil to 375 degrees and repeat with remaining spring rolls, adjusting burner to maintain oil temperature.

12. Using spider skimmer or slotted spoon, transfer spring rolls to paper towel-lined pan. Let cool for 5 minutes, then serve.

— Recipe from “A Very Chinese Cookbook: 100 Recipes from China and Not China (But Still Really Chinese)” by Kevin Pang and Jeffrey Pang