Shanghainese Veggie Rice

A one-pot-contains-all meal. I usually make this for dinner, when I can't be bothered making a separate veggie or meat dish. I think the first time I tried this was when I was in Hong Kong on holiday. The waitress asked me if I would like plain rice or 'Choi-Fan' with my order. I opted for the later and was nicely surprised. The vegetable rice was so tasty. Instead of being a side dish for my main, it became the star.

Shanghainese Vegetable Rice
First tasted in Hong Kong - recipe by Astrogirl

• 2 cups of white rice
• 1 cup clear chicken broth
• pinch of salt
• cooking oil
• 2 cloves of garlic (chopped finely)
• 4 slices of salted pork (optional - sliced thinly - from asian grocery)
• 3 bunches of small bak choi (roughly chopped)
• 1 teaspoon of chinese wine
• couple of dashes of sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon of soy sauce

Wash the rice until the water runs clear, add 1 can of chicken broth and a pinch of salt to the washed rice and set rice cooker to start. 5 mins before the rice has finished cooking, add some cooking oil to a pan, once it has heated up add garlic then salted pork (if using) and then the chopped up small bak choi. Once the veggies starts to cook, add sesame oil and soy sauce.

By this time the rice cooker would have finished. Pour the contents of the pan into the rice cooker and mix everything all around.

Put the lid back on the rice cooker and let sit on 'standby' for another 45 mins.

Serve alone or with other meat veggie dishes.

Notes:

• The 'choi-fan' I tried in Hong Kong although tasty was actually quite oily. I try to use about a teaspoon of oil, just enough to get the garlic flavors going in the beginning.