Chinese Okoge-style Ankake 中華おこげ風あんかけ

Chinese okoge-style ankake (thickened sauce) is a Cantonese recipe that lets you enjoy the harmony of the crispy okoge (scorched rice) texture and ankake. Healthy okoge made without oil is crispy and aromatic on the outside and chewy like rice cakes on the inside. By topping it with a thickened Chinese sauce full of ingredients, you can enjoy the umami flavor with various textures. With this dish, you can try genuine Chinese food made easily in a single frying pan.

中華おこげ風あんかけは、カリッとしたおこげの食感とトロリとした中華あんのハーモニーを楽しめる広東風の中華料理です。油を使わないヘルシーなおこげは、表面はカリッと香ばしく、中はお餅のようにもっちり。そこに、具材たっぷりのとろみのある中華あんをかけることで、旨みと共にさまざまな食感を楽しめます。フライパンひとつで手軽に本格中華を味わえるのも魅力です。

How to cook

An important point to note is that you can use pre-cooked rice packs for the okoge. Just put the rice in a plastic bag, add sake, mash it, spread it into a pizza dough shape, and grill it in a frying pan. Partway through grilling, brush the surface with soy sauce to increase the aroma. Use various ingredients in the ankake such as pork, shrimp, cabbage, Japanese mustard spinach, and wood ear mushrooms. Pour the umami-filled ankake over the okoge and it is ready. You can use whatever you have in your fridge as the ingredients for the ankake. Arrange it as you like.

Ingredients 1 serving

200g: Pre-cooked rice pack (or cooked rice)
4 pieces: Shucked shrimp
70g: Pork shoulder loin (or pork belly)
20g: Wood ear mushrooms (or another type of mushroom)
50g: Cabbage
50g: Japanese mustard spinach (or another vegetable such as broccoli or greens)
200cc: Chinese soup (or chicken soup)
1 Tbsp: Japanese sake (or white wine or water)
To taste: Soy sauce
1 Tbsp: Cooking oil (or olive oil)

[A]

1/4: Salt
1/2: Sugar
To taste: Pepper
2 tsp: Oyster sauce *You can also double the sugar and soy sauce.
2 tsp: Soy sauce
2 Tbsp: Potato starch dissolved in water (or cornstarch)
1 Tbsp: Sesame oil

Cooking steps

About 15 minutes

Prep for the thickened Chinese sauce

Thinly slice the pork. Cut the cabbage, Japanese mustard spinach, and wood ear mushrooms into bite-sized pieces.

Prep for okoge dough

Pour Japanese sake onto a pre-cooked rice pack, put it in a plastic bag, and knead it well to absorb the moisture.

Spread the okoge dough

With the rice still in the plastic bag, hit it with a rolling pin or wooden pestle.
When the rice grains have been mashed, spread the rice thinly as if making a 1-cm-thick pizza dough.

Grill the okoge dough

Brush the surface of the dough with soy sauce to taste.
Grill the surface on high in a frying pan without oil.
Grill for 3 minutes. When the surface changes color, flip.
Flip several times until the surface is crispy.

Stir-fry the filling

Put cooking oil in the frying pan and thoroughly stir-fry the pork on high.
Add the shucked shrimp. When the color changes, add the vegetables and wood ear mushrooms.