a common Chinese dish resembling rice pudding. The eight jewels are the eight different healthy ingredients that are used to make it. It is customarily consumed on Laba festival, which falls on December 8 on the lunar calendar. Simply keep in mind that there should be 8 primary ingredients (for the name’s sake) and that you should alter the time at which the item goes into the pot to ensure that everything is cooked perfectly at the very end. Ingredients can be readily swapped. Jujube, chestnuts, dried dates, dried longan meat, various dried fruits, peanuts, almonds, walnuts, melon-seed meat, pine nuts, lotus seeds, sesame seeds, kidney beans, black beans, and many more are other common ingredients.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 45 mins |
| Additional Time: | 20 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 15 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 pound pork belly, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
- 2 teaspoons Chinese cooking wine
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 pinch ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- ½ tablespoon fried shallots (Optional)
- 3 cups water
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon dark soy sauce
- ¼ pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons frozen peas
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 2 cups cooked jasmine rice, cooled, or more to taste
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
- 3 drops sesame oil, or to taste
Instructions
- Mix pork belly with cooking wine, oyster sauce, cornstarch, sesame oil, salt, and black pepper in a bowl. Marinate in the refrigerator, at least 20 minutes.
- Heat vegetable oil in a pot over medium-high heat. Add garlic and shallots; cook and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the pork pieces; fry until browned, about 6 minutes. Pour in water, light soy sauce, and dark soy sauce. Cover with a lid and bring stew to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook until pork becomes tender and water is reduced by half, about 30 minutes.
- Cut shrimp into 3/4-inch pieces. Mix cornstarch and water together in a bowl.
- Bring stew to a boil. Add the shrimp and peas; cook until shrimp changes color, about 2 minutes. Quickly stir in the cornstarch mixture. Cook and stir until gravy is thickened, 7 to 10 minutes.
- Heat oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Saute garlic until fragrant, about 1 minute. Increase heat to high. Add rice; cook, breaking up the rice with a spatula, until loosened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add oyster sauce and soy sauce. Cook and stir until rice is fluffy and heated through, about 3 minutes. Add remaining sesame oil.
- Divide fried rice between 3 or 4 bowls. Portion the pork and shrimp stew equally over the rice.
- Use any cut of pork you like, preferably something with good lean meat plus some fat, such as collar butt.
- You can use white pepper powder in place of black pepper, if desired.
- You can substitute a pinch of sugar for the dark soy sauce.
- It is important not to over-season the rice, as you don’t want the taste of rice overpowering the stew; over-seasoning may make this dish too salty also.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 466 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 34 g |
| Cholesterol | 84 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 22 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7 g |
| Sodium | 1312 mg |
| Sugars | 0 g |
| Fat | 26 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
It was super delicious and my family said it reminded them of a dish at our favorite vendor at the mall in our hometown. We miss it so much! Thanks for this recipe and for the nostalgia!
It was ok. But its different from the original steamed fried rice from cebu