Name: Chao Nai (Stir-Fried Milk)
Yield: Serves 4 as Part of a Chinese Meal, or 2 as a Single Dish.
Cuisine: China
Ingredients: 4 tablespoons cornflour; 1 tablespoon peanut oil, for the tin; 450 ml/16 fl oz milk; 1 teaspoon salt; ½ teaspoon Freshly ground white pepper; 125 g/4 oz medium-sized uncooked prawns unpeeled (but without heads) or 350-375 g/12-13 oz peeled uncooked prawns, coarsely chopped; 225 g/8 oz Chinese barbecue pork or mild ham, coarsely chopped; 1½ tablespoons peanut oil; 125 g/4 oz pine nuts

Preparation info

Serves
4
as Part of a Chinese Meal, or 2 as a Single Dish.

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Taste of China

By Ken Hom

Published 1990

About

I have sampled many versions of this dish in Hong Kong and in the province of Guangdong where it was served most memorably to me at the Qing Hui Yuan restaurant in Shunde. The “milk” is really a thick custard, which they stir-fried with prawns, barbecued Chinese pork, and pine nuts, a perfect combination of taste and textures. I was told by the residents of the town that cows are abundant in the area and that milk-based dishes have been part of the local cuisine for a long time. In a cou