Another Brilliant Use for Yacai

When I saw a bag of yacai (芽菜) lingering in my fridge recently—likely leftover from my last dandanmian or ranmian craving—I thought about making an under-appreciated Sichuan dish: jīmǐ yácài (鸡米芽菜, rice-sized chicken with yacai). This speedy stir-fry dish (sometimes known as yácài suìmǐjī) delivers a plate of savory and slightly spicy flavors in just 20 minutes.

Yacai is a traditional preserved vegetable made of mustard stems and leaves. It comes from the southern city of Yibin (宜宾) but is beloved throughout Sichuan. Cooks use it in various noodle toppings and pastry fillings, such as ranmian (burning noodles from Yibin) and ye’er ba (a leaf-wrapped sticky rice cake). In this particular dish, these fermented mustard leaves are used to season chopped chicken with a nice salty flavor while also adding umami and a contrasting, lightly crunchy texture.

When I was growing up in Sichuan, I had this dish both at home and in restaurants, served with rice or wowotou (steamed cornmeal bread). However, as this was not a staple dish in our family, I don’t have strong memories of it. When I decided to make it for myself, I texted both my grandmas to ask if they’ve made this dish, and my paternal grandma, nainɑi (who is originally from Nanchong and now lives in the town of Cangxi), sent me instructions for making it. When I lived in China, I was rarely allowed in the kitchen, so I only started cooking once I moved to Germany to study at 21. I learned from a blend of memory, online resources and cookbooks, and I sometimes seek help from my family (though my grandmothers are notoriously bad at writing measurements). 

The preparation my nainai shared with me for jimi yacai is straightforward and simple: chop and marinate the chicken, then fry it with yacai and chili peppers. (She also told me that she likes to fry chicken with dongcai, a preserved vegetable from Nanchong. These two pickles, along with zhacai from Fuling and pickled mustard stems from Neijiang, are Sichuan’s four most famous preserved vegetables.) 

After I made her recipe, I tried looking into the history of this dish, but couldn’t find any references to it when flipping through cookbooks. I did, however, come across a few variations of other jimi dishes: One variation, from a 1985 book Encyclopedia of Sichuan Cooking (川菜烹饪事典), was made with peanuts, and two others, from the 1994 book The Comprehensive Guide of Chinese Sichuan Cuisine (中国川菜大观), were made with carrots and peas. Based on these dishes, I believe that jimi yacai is one of a variety of ways home cooks in the area came up with to flavor chicken—one of the many ways Sichuan home cooks skillfully transform pantry pickles into quick, affordable but flavor-packed meals.

Choosing Chilies for Stir-Fried Chicken With Yacai

Sichuan-grown chili peppers are traditionally used for this dish—usually a mix of red xiaomila chili and green erjingtiao to add different heats and textures. Some cooks use bell pepper instead. In my version, I used a combination of fresh long green Turkish pepper (sivri biber) and Spanish peppers, which are mildly spicy. You can choose any fresh chili peppers you prefer, such as Mexican, Chinese or Thai, depending on your desired level of spiciness.

Preparing the Yacai

Yacai is a popular ingredient in Sichuan cuisine, and in China it can be found whole (the stems pickled but still intact) in farmers’ markets. Outside of China, you’re more likely to find suimiyacai, the pre-chopped version of the dish. Yacai can be quite salty straight from the package, so it’s best to remove the excess salt in the brine before using the ingredient in your recipe. You can either rinse it under running water for 30 seconds, using a fine sieve, or soak it in cold water for about 5 minutes. Either way, make sure to drain the pickles and squeeze out all the water. You can also toast the yacai to dry it out and release its aroma, but this step is optional and you can skip it if you’re in a rush.

Preparing and Cooking the Chicken with Yacai

This dish is typically made with chicken breast, but if you’re not a fan, skinless boneless chicken thighs are a good alternative. The most labor-intensive part of this dish is the process of cutting the chicken. First, cut the meat into thin slices, then cut those into strips and then, finally, cut the strips into small pieces. As the name suggests, the pieces should ideally be pea-sized, but it’s not necessary for each piece to be perfectly consistent. 

The process of marinating chicken in starch and seasoning, known as “velveting,” is a common practice in Chinese stir-fries. Adding starch makes the meat more tender and gives it a smoother texture once it’s cooked. To remove unpleasant “meaty odors” from the chicken (known as quxing in Chinese) and add a nicer aroma, I’ve added Shaoxing wine and ground white pepper. Finally, I include a splash of dark soy sauce for color. Once these ingredients are mixed, I add a light layer of oil to seal the marinade and make it easy to stir-fry the meat.

This recipe uses the “hot pan and cold oil” method, known as reguo lengyou (热锅冷油), to fry the chicken. To do this, preheat the wok until it is lightly smoking, then add oil, swirl to coat the wok and immediately add your chicken while the oil is just warm (under 195ºF/90ºC). This technique is often used to stir-fry meat pieces quickly so that they don’t stick.

For more homestyle Sichuan dishes, check out our Cured Pork Belly Stir-Fry, One-Pot Weeknight Suancaiyu, and Hand-Torn Cabbage Stir-Fry.