**Long Yau's Zhacai Stir-Fry and Cantonese Steamed Rice Noodle with Beef**

Ah, long yau. Heat up the wok till piping hot, then oil in, about one and a half tbsp, then heat on high and pour in the egg. Once it sets, push it to the side. Repeat till no liquid’s running around, heat off and out first.

The next step is to prepare the ingredients for our stir-fry. In the same wok, medium heat and 1 tbsp oil, fry the garlic till fragrant, about 30 sec, then add in the chili, fry for another 30 second, toss in the zhacai. Quick fry then swirl in 1 tsp liaojiu aka Shaoxing wine, mix then swirl in 1 tsp of soy sauce and mix again. Season with 1/2 tsp sugar and 1/8 tsp MSG.

Now that our stir-fry is complete, let's make a Cantonese steamed rice noodle with zhacai and beef, one of my favorite ways to eat rice noodles. First, we need to soak the rice noodles in hot water for 10 minutes. For this recipe specifically, the texture is actually better when soaking for half an hour with cool water, so do refer to the package instructions. While the rice noodle is soaking, let's prep our beef. Here we have 200g beef loin, thinly slice it into one-inch strips that's about the thickness of a chopstick.

Next, marinate the beef with 1/4 tsp each salt and MSG, 1 tsp sugar, 1/2 tbsp cornstarch, 1 tsp light soy sauce, 1/2 tsp dark soy, 1 tsp liaojiu aka Shaoxing wine, and 3 tbsp of water to saturate the beef. Mix it all well till the water's absorbed, then mix in with half a bag or 40g zhacai, and finally coat it with 1 1/2 tbsp peanut oil.

After some soaking, our rice noodle has softened and can easily be broken up by pinching it. Then, just strain well. Before we steam, let's give the rice noodle some base flavor. So on a big enough steaming plate, add in 1/8 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp MSG, 1 tsp each soy sauce and dark soy for some color, mix it well and arrange it evenly on the plate.

And then, top our beef evenly over the rice noodles. Pop it over a wok of boiling water with a steaming rack, cover and steam on high for 8 minutes. Once done, heat off, take it out. Drizzle in about a tsp of toasted sesame oil, sprinkle on some scallion green, and now this very delicious rice noodle dish is done.

**Tips and Variations**

You might have noticed that we used more sugar in these three recipes than usual, well, that is because garlic, sugar, and soy sauce are zhacai's good friends. Zhacai is quite salty, so you want something to balance it out, then garlic is there to provide some sharpness, and soy sauce for another layer of depth.

When making something with zhacai and don't know what other seasonings to put in, toss in these three, you won't go wrong with it. Remember, recipe's in the description box. A big thank you for everyone that’s supporting on Patreon, and of course, subscribe for more Chinese cooking videos.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enThis is Zha Cai, it’s a crunchy Chinese fermented mustard green,  and you should totally have it in your kitchen. I know that it might  not look like much, but trust us, it’s a Chinese icon for a reason.Often we’ll see people get frustrated… it’s an easy thing to mistakenly purchase  instead of yacai or suancai… and when we say it’s awesome,  people naturally then ask how to use it. Well, today… let’s answer that question.So first, you get your pack of Zhacai. And then,  you open your pack of Zhacai. And then finally… . You want some Zhacai too?The closest western comparable I could think of might be olives – they’re a  great ingredient, but they can be a nice snack.But I think that might be underselling it a bit… because for many of us 80s kids growing up, Zhacai  was this ultimate snack. For us, in school between classes, we’d sneak into small crevices and circle  around a bag of Zhacai... that’s kid’s favorite.For Chris, meanwhile, coming to China in his  early 20s he first fell in love with Zhacai as a beer drinking food… so it’s got a lot of range.But it’s also a really great ingredient. It’s like instant flavor, and can totally  form the backbone of a dish.So today, we’ll teach you  three ways that you can enjoy it –first, we’ll elevating that simple beer  drinking snack a little bit as a Chinese liangban cold dish; second, we’ll use it as a stir fry base of sorts, that you just can use Zhacai  in whatever stir fry you want to make;and finally, we’ll show you how Zhacai  can flavor steaming dishes with some Cantonese steamed rice noodles.But before we do – let’s talk about Zha Cai purchasing. Because when you go to a  Chinese supermarket, you’ll be greeted with a whole lot of Zha Cai options. Now, don’t panic, while there are definitely differences… for most dishes it’s hard  to really go too wrong with Zhacai.At Chinese grocers here in Bangkok,  we often see Jiangxiang – sauce flavor - which basically equals to original flavor,  then there’s often the lightly spicy version one, the sour-spicy one,  sometimes there’s the light sodium one, and Mala is quite common as well.The one thing you might want to be a little bit careful with is the “mala” flavor if you’re doing  something in Cantonese food or Shanghai food, you know, dishes that’re not spicy. But even in those cuisines Zhacai-based flavor profiles are usually on the  stronger side… so it might even be okay with some spiciness. And so if you use  mala in them it might have a little bit of oddness but it won’t ruin it.Now okay! How to use it. Well… again, you can just eat it straight. You have  permission to do so. Or, a simple way to add some complexity to it would be mixing it.Today we’ll be mixing it with some cucumber. Here’s one Asian cucumber,  deseeded, and cut it into one inch long chopstick sized strips, then take half a mild red chili,  deseeded and cut into 1 inch strips. Now just toss both in a bowl with half a bag  or 40g of zhacai, together with 3 cloves minced garlic, 1/4 tsp sugar,  1/8 tsp MSG, 1/2 tsp soy sauce, 1/2 tsp Chinese dark vinegar, mix well,  and optionally top with some scallion green. Perfect as a salad, or a beer drinking snack.Then next, let’s show you how to use zhacai as a stir fry base. First, take out half bag or 40g zhacai. Then mince 4 big cloves of garlic,  slice 2-3 medium size mild green chilis into 1cm wide strips. And crack 4 eggs,  season with 1/4 tsp each of salt and white pepper, whisk nicely till no stray strands  remain. And that’s it for the prep.A quick note here, we used eggs here as  our protein, but you can really just use pork, beef, chicken, tofu, literally anything you like.So to begin, as always long yau. Heat up the wok till piping hot, then oil in,  about one and half tbsp, then heat on high and pour in the egg. Once it sets,  push it to the side. Repeat till no liquid’s running around, heat off and out first.Then, same wok, medium heat and 1 tbsp oil, fry the garlic till fragrant,  about 30 sec, then add in the chili, fry for another 30 second, toss in the zhacai. Quick fry then swirl in 1 tsp liaojiu aka Shaoxing wine, mix then swirl in 1 tsp of soy sauce and mix  again. Season with 1/2 tsp sugar and 1/8 tsp MSG…Now turn the heat to high, add the egg back in,  quickly break it up with your spatula, mix well and out. A guaranteed rice killer, done.Then finally, let’s make a Cantonese steamed rice noodle with zhacai and beef, which is one  of my favorite ways to eat rice noodles.So here we have 100g Cantonese style  thin rice noodles, it’s a common sight at Chinese supermarkets, and it’s very similar  to the Vietnamese rice vermicelli. Basically, anything that’s a thin rice noodle would work. First, let’s soak it in hot water for 10 minutes. For this one specifically, the texture  is actually better when soaking for half an hour with cool water. So do refer to the package  of your rice noodle for recommended method.And while it’s soaking, let’s prep our beef. Here we have 200g beef loin, thinly slice it into one-inch strips that’s about the  thickness of a chopstick. Then marinate with 1/4 tsp each salt and MSG, 1 tsp sugar,  1/2 tbsp cornstarch, 1 tsp light soy sauce, 1/2 tsp dark soy, 1 tsp liaojiu aka Shaoxing wine,  3 tbsp of water to saturate the beef, mix it all well till the water’s absorbed, then mix in  with half bag or 40g zhacai, and finally coat it with 1 1/2 tbsp peanut oil then set aside. Now after some soaking, our rice noodle has softened and can easily be broken  up by pinching it, then, just strain well.Before we steam, let’s give the rice noodle some  base flavor. So on a big enough steaming plate, add in 1/8 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp MSG, 1 tsp each  sugar, soy sauce and dark soy for some color, mix it well and arrange it evenly on the plate. And then, top our beef evenly over the rice noodles,  pop it over a wok of boiling water with a steaming rack, cover and steam on high for 8 minutes. Once done, heat off, take it out. Drizzle in about a tsp of toasted sesame oil,  sprinkle on some scallion green, and now this very delicious rice  noodle dish is done. Remember to mix everything well before digging in.So you might’ve noticed that we used more sugar in these three recipes than usual, well,  that is because garlic, sugar, and soy sauce are zhacai’s good friends. Zhacai is quite salty,  so you want something to balance it, then garlic is there to provide some sharpness,  and soy sauce for another layer of depth.When you’re making something with zhacai  and don’t know what other seasonings to put in, toss in these three, you won’t go wrong with it. Right, recipe’s in the description box, a big thank you for everyone  that’s supporting on Patreon, and of course, subscribe for more Chinese cooking videos.\n"