Cai Fan

a simple rice-cooker meal

Cai Fan

what's the story behind cai fan?

Cai Fan is simply put, steamed rice with chopped salted pork and an assortment of vegetables. I remember the first time I ate Cai Fan when I was 13. My mom had decided to take the easy route that night, and instead of making my favorite fried rice, she decided to make Cai Fan instead. I was instantly hooked, and I begged my mom to make some more. Then, before I left for college, my mom decided to pass on this recipe to me, so that whenever I was feeling tired, lazy, or just home-sick, I could make a simple and easy rice-cooker meal to warm myself right up. This is Cai Fan.

ingredients

  • 1 cup of Jasmine rice (or any plain long grain rice)
  • 1 1/4 cups of water
  • 1 Chinese pork sausage (any will do)
  • 1/2 lb of bok choy
  • 2 tablespoon of bacon grease (cooking oil will also work)
  • Cooking soy sauce to taste (~ 2-4 tablespoons)
  • Optional: 1/4 of a diced onion
  • Optional: 1 rounded/diced carrot
  • Optional: 1/2 teaspoon of minced ginger

    • instructions

    1. Pour the rice into your rice-cooker pot
    2. Rinse the rice once or twice with water and then strain using the lid
    3. Clean and chop the veggies and the pork sausge
    4. Put the water, veggies, pork, and grease/oil into the pot
    5. Add soy sauce, salt, and pepper to taste
    6. Set the rice cooker to cook and wait for it finish!