PETER: Cài fàn, which literally translates to “vegetable rice,” is a humble local food—a way to stretch your ingredients with lard, small scraps of salted pork, and diced vegetables to add a boost of flavor. You can find cài fàn on the menu at any Shanghainese restaurant, but it’s never as good as the way my mother made it. At restaurants, they focus on presentation, so the vegetables are tossed in much later in the cooking process to maintain the bright green color. But th
