Steam minced pork facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Steam minced pork
A kind of Cantonese cuisine, steam minced pork
Traditional Chinese	蒸 肉 餅
Simplified Chinese	蒸 肉 饼
Literal meaning	Steamed Pork Cake
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin zhēng ròu bǐng Yue: Cantonese Jyutping zing1 juk6 beng2

Steamed minced pork is a yummy dish that many families in Hong Kong and southern China love. It's mostly made from finely chopped pork. Sometimes, people add other tasty things like dried squid or special preserved cabbage. This dish is cooked by steaming it over hot water until it's perfectly done. Cooks usually add soy sauce, salt, sugar, and corn flour for flavor. Sometimes, they also use white pepper and sesame oil. It's often eaten with rice for lunch or dinner.

The Story of Steamed Minced Pork

We don't know exactly where steamed minced pork first started. But many people believe it came from the Guangdong area in China. It's a famous dish from Cantonese cuisine, which is a style of cooking from that region. This dish has many things that make Cantonese food special. For example, it often tastes both sweet and salty, and it's cooked by steaming.

Some people think it might have come from the Hakka people's cooking traditions. Hakka people are known for using preserved foods like fermented vegetables (like preserved cabbage) and dried seafood (like dried squid). These ingredients are often added to steamed minced pork to make it even more flavorful. As the dish became popular across China, its taste changed a bit in different places. For example, in the Foshan area, it might be less salty and a bit sweeter. People also started adding local ingredients like water chestnuts or Chinese fermented black beans to create new versions.

What Makes It Special?

One cool thing about making this homemade dish is the sound you hear. When people prepare the pork by hand, they rhythmically pound it with a big knife on a chopping board. This dish is super popular with Cantonese families because it tastes great with rice. Plus, it's easy to make, and the ingredients are simple to find. That's why in Hong Kong, you might often hear the sound of hand-mincing pork coming from homes around lunchtime or dinner!

Steamed minced pork with salted egg.

Steamed Meat Patty with Salted Egg

Different Kinds of Steamed Minced Pork

Steamed minced pork can be made in a couple of ways. One way is to mix the chopped pork with other ingredients. Here are some examples:

• Steamed minced pork with shiitake mushrooms and dried scallops
• Steamed minced pork with dried squid
• Steamed minced pork with preserved cabbage (called "moi choi" in Cantonese)

Another way to make it is by adding special, very flavorful foods on top of the pork patty. Cantonese people believe these additions "lift up" the taste of the pork. Some examples include:

• Steamed minced pork with salted fish
• Steamed minced pork with salted egg

How to Cook It

Getting Ready

First, you usually start by chopping the pork very finely. Traditionally, this is done by hand. A special trick to make the meat chewier and more firm is to lift the minced pork and then throw it back into the bowl. The meat usually has a mix of fatty and lean parts, often one part fat to two parts lean. The fat helps keep the pork moist and juicy. But you can change this mix based on what you like best! Then, you add seasonings like soy sauce and other ingredients to the chopped meat. You mix everything together really well, either by hand or with chopsticks.

There isn't just one way to make it! You can add all sorts of different ingredients to create new flavors. Salted fish, Chinese water chestnuts, and mushrooms are some common things people like to add.

Steaming the Dish

The main way to cook steamed minced pork is by steaming it. You place the pork mixture on a special stand over a pot of boiling water. In the Guangdong area, some people even steam it inside their rice cookers while the rice is cooking! It usually takes about 10 to 30 minutes for the dish to be fully cooked and ready to eat.

Healthy Facts

Steamed minced pork is a tasty dish, and like all foods, it has different nutrients. For example, a serving of steamed minced pork with dried squid and rice contains protein, which helps your body grow strong. It also has some carbohydrates for energy and a bit of fat. Steamed minced pork with salted egg also provides protein and some vitamins and minerals.