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榨菜蒸豬肉餅

Steamed Pork Patty

👍 9.2K likes
✍️ Published Aug 2021, Updated Oct 2026
Prep
25 min
Cook
20 min
Total
45 min
Serves
4

Learn how to make this traditional Cantonese homestyle dish!

Steamed Pork Patty (榨菜蒸豬肉餅)

Cooking Summary

Ingredients: (detailed list)

  • Main Ingredients: pork shoulder, hot pickled mustard tuber, water chestnut, green onion
  • Marinade: oyster sauce, sugar, cornstarch, sesame oil, chicken bouillon, white pepper
  • Misc: corn oil

Steps:

  1. Prepare pork
  2. Chop vegetables
  3. Mix flavors
  4. Create pork patty mixture
  5. Oil plate & lay patty
  6. Boil water & steam patty
  7. Plate & garnish

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Top 3 Mistakes

  • Choosing pork with no fat:

    Use a cut with some fat, such as the pork butt suggested here. An extremely lean mixture misses part of the recipe's approach to a tender patty rather than a firm, dense one.

  • Overworking the pork mixture:

    Combine the ingredients thoroughly, but do not keep mixing the pork after they are incorporated. The recipe calls for a tender patty, with enough mixing to combine rather than overwork.

  • Starting with cold steam:

    Bring the steaming water to the state specified before adding the dish. Starting too early changes the cooking time, so establish the steam before you begin counting minutes.

Overview

Also known yuhk béng (肉饼), steamed pork patty is one of the staples of traditional Cantonese home cooking, especially popular in Toisan where my parents grew up.

There are a ton of different variations on this dish that my dad makes for us, and I can assure you that this one is as delicious as any other!

Ingredients

Serves4
Main Ingredients
Marinade
Misc

Why this recipe

The story
Steamed Pork Patty (榨菜蒸豬肉餅) — Daddy Lau
Daddy Lau

Most steamed pork patty recipes online are tested only a handful of times. My dad used to make this dish multiple times a day, every day, for 60+ years and can make this in his sleep.

I know you'll love it as much as our community does! This recipe has over 583.3K views, 9.2K likes on YouTube.

On Pickled Mustard

ja choi / zha cai 榨菜, also officially known as hot pickled mustard tuber, originated in Chongqing. It's one of several varieties of pickled mustard plants that are commonly used in Chinese cooking. You can usually find these at most Asian grocery stores, but I've also included a few links to buy them online.

On Selecting Meats

Pick fatty cuts of pork, like pork shoulder butt or pork belly. Lean cuts (like pork loin, pork chop) will turn out too dry and tough.

Finding Asian Ingredients

If you don't live near an Asian market, most or all of what my dad uses in this recipe can be found on Amazon:​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

I've also included some other Chinese kitchen essentials, used in many of my dad's other recipes.

These links are affiliate links, which means that if you use our links to purchase these ingredients, Amazon pays my family a small amount for the sale - at no extra cost to you. If you use these links, we really appreciate the support!

Alternatives to Oyster Sauce

If you're vegetarian or need to stay away from gluten, we have three alternatives for you!

Vegetarian Oyster Sauce

Since oyster sauce is made out of oyster extract, here are some alternatives that have a similar taste without using the actual oyster:

Gluten Free Oyster Sauce

Wok Mei has a gluten-free oyster sauce, but it still contains oyster extract, so it's not vegetarian friendly.

Vegetarian + Gluten Free Oyster Sauce

Unfortunately, we don't know of a vendor that sells an oyster sauce that caters to both dietary restrictions, so you'll need to DIY the sauce.

Mix equal parts gluten free soy sauce and gluten free hoisin sauce. This isn't exactly the same as oyster sauce, but it's pretty close.

How to make Steamed Pork Patty

7 steps
1

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We'll first trim the fat off of our pork shoulder (12 oz). Then, we'll cut the pork into strips, slices, and finally, dice them into small bits.

  • (An alternative would be pork belly, which is fattier but less healthy. Avoid using leaner cuts, like pork chop or loin.)

Rinse the diced pork in a bowl of water, and lightly massage it.

  • In Cantonese cooking, it's fairly common to rinse the redness out of pork. You can see my dad repeat this technique in dishes like Steamed Spare Ribs, Siu Mai, and others. The traditional belief is that this leads to a better taste and appearance.

We'll drain the pork into a colander, and let the pork passively continue draining while we move on to chopping our vegetables. After we're done chopping the veggies, firmly squeeze the pork against the colander to extract some the extra water.

How each knife cut changes your food
LESSON 3.3
How each knife cut changes your food
Dive Deeper →
2

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We'll be preparing a few different vegetables:

  • pickled mustard (1.5 oz) - cut into small strips
  • water chestnut (4 oz) - use the blunt edge of a knife or a spatula to crush the chestnut into bits. Dicing leads to a harder texture that we don't want.
  • green onion (2 piece) - cut the green onion into small pieces, separating the whites from the greens. The whites will be mixed in with the patty, and the greens will be used as garnish.

The pickled mustard has a salty flavor, so the water chestnuts help balance out the saltiness and give the whole entire patty a nice crunch.

3

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Before mixing flavors together, don't forget to squeeze the extra water out of the pork!

To the bowl of pork, we'll be adding oyster sauce (1 tbsp), sugar (1 tsp), cornstarch (2 tbsp), sesame oil (1 tsp), chicken bouillon (1 tsp), and white pepper (0.25 tsp).

4

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With chopsticks, mix the pork and flavors thoroughly for about 1 minute. The pork should start becoming stickier and pastier.

Add the green onion whites, water chestnuts, and pickled mustard, and mix everything together for another 2 minutes.

5

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Add oil (0.50 tsp) to a plate, and spread it around the surface. This helps prevent the pork patty from sticking.

Add oil (0.50 tsp) to the pork mixture, and mix it around.

Pour the pork mixture onto the plate, and flatten the pork patty with a spoon. Add a bit more oil to the top and spread it around for an extra glisten.

6

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We'll set the stove to high heat and start boiling water in a wok. Set a steamer rack on the bottom of the wok. The water level should be just above the top of the steamer rack / just touching the bottom of the dish.

Once the water is boiling, we'll carefully set the plate inside of the wok. Cover the wok and steam for 15 minutes. (If you're using a metal plate, subtract 2-3 minutes).

7

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Once the 15 minutes are up, we'll carefully remove the plate from the wok. Garnish with the green onions from earlier.

Call your loved ones over! Time to eat!

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you use store-ground meat?

Yes, definitely! It may result in a denser, firmer patty compared to the fluffiness of hand-chopped meat because the meat grinders at the store will grind the meat into very fine pastes.

How do you make steamed pork patty tender?

1. Choose cuts of meat with enough fat. Pork butt is a very tender cut, and if you don't mind the extra fattiness, pork belly is another popular choice.

2. Always use cornstarch to marinate the meat.

3. Combine all the ingredients well, but don't overmix the meat.

4. Don't steam the patty for too long; cook for a maximum of 15 minutes.

Can you make a steamed patty with fish or chicken?

Yes! For fish, you must add firm tofu as well. Don't skip the cornstarch; in this case, it's necessary to help bind the patty. Smash everything together and season with ginger, green onions, and white pepper.

If you'd like to make this with chicken, opt for chicken thigh, because chicken breast will steam up to be too tough.

What other ingredients can you add to steamed pork patty?

Our pork patty includes water chestnut, ja choi (hot pickled mustard tuber), and green onions.

You can also add salted fish, salted egg, or other pickled vegetables and roots. Mommy Lau's family used to make it with mui choi, salted egg, and ja choi!