Cebu Style Pork Steamed Rice Recipe

This recipe is from our previous contributor, Mai who is a Cebuana and now a chef. Oh, and yes, we’ve been to Dimsum Break at SM North Edsa many times already. Check out our review.

Everytime I go home to Cebu (fyi, I’m a pure Cebuana), I always see to it that I get to eat at Harbour  City Dimsum. One of their most popular, and my favorite, dish is their Pork Steamed Rice. For me, they serve the best steamed rice in Cebu! They also serve the best dimsum I’ve had in my life. Seriously!

Dimsum Break's Original Steamed Fried Rice

We’ve actually tried finding a place here in Manila where they serve Steamed Rice cooked just like in Cebu. But, so far, we haven’t found any Chinese restaurant that serves it (if you know of one, let me know at the comments section!). (UPDATE: Dimsum Break finally opened in Metro Manila in 2012! Woot!)

So, just like with any other dish I crave for, I decided to make it at home and serve it the same way Harbour City Dimsum does. And, I’m sharing my homestyle recipe with you.

Cebu Style Steamed Rice Recipe

INGREDIENTS:
(Apologies if there are no measurements. We’ll try to improve on that next time! But, we usually just taste, adjust or add more, ’til we get the desired taste — We added the measurements.)

Servings: 3-4 bowls

  • 1/4 to 1/2 kg Pork Tenderloin – depends on how much pork you want in there
  • 5-8 pieces Shrimp
  • 1/4 cup Green Peas (not the canned ones please!)
  • 1 small Onion,  chopped
  • 2-3 pieces Garlic, crushed/pressed
  • 2-4 tablespoons Soy Sauce – adjust based on your preference. We used Kikkoman.
  • 2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
  • 2 tbsps. Cornstarch
  • 1 cup Pork Broth
  • Rice

Note: Please read the comments as one of the posters mentioned that adding rice wine and clam juice, plus a different soy sauce, made a difference.

Note 2: There’s another recipe shared by one of the comment posters (Ann), and you can see it at the bottom of this post.

 

PROCEDURE:

1. Pour oil in a hot pan and sauté onions and garlic for about 1 to 2 minutes.

2. Add pork and mix until the pork’s fat starts to ooze out. Then, add shrimp and stir for about 3 to 4 minutes. Then, add 3 tablespoons of soy sauce.

3. Adjust heat to medium and stir. Add a cup of pork broth (you can use pork cubes dissolved in a cup of warm water) and let the mixture boil for 5 minutes. Then, add 2 teaspooons of Worcestershire sauce.

4. Dissolve cornstarch in a half cup of cold water, then, add it to the pan, just enough to thicken the sauce. Stir continuously, then, add the fresh green peas.

Note: Please do not use the ones in can.

Cebu Style Steamed Rice Recipe - CertifiedFoodies.com

 

5. Let it boil for about 3 to 5 more minutes and, then, serve it on top of rice.

I served ours in our soufflé bowls so they’ll look a bit closer to how Harbour City Dimsum serves their Steamed Rice.

Cebu Style Steamed Rice - CertifiedFoodies.com

 

Cebu Style Steamed Rice in Manila - CertifiedFoodies.com

I wasn’t really able to get the exact taste from Harbour City Dimsum, but, the result of this recipe really tastes good. Michelle and I both enjoyed it. It sure did help satisfy my craving and how much I miss Cebu Style Steamed Rice.

Update: We’re sooooo happy to know that Dimsum Break finally opened here in Manila!! Check out our review (branch: SM North Edsa).

This recipe is from our previous contributor, Mai who is a Cebuana and now a chef.

 

Steamed Rice Version II

UPDATE 2: We received a ton of suggestions on how to make this taste closer to Dimsum Break or Harbour City. Here’s one of the recipes shared by Ann (see comment below this post) that you might want to try. Many have mentioned that the actual recipe calls for sesame oil, which is included in the recipe below.

1. Fry the rice with garlic and oyster sauce, then set that aside.

2. In another pan, sauté garlic until brown.

3. Add the cubed pork with some fat (tastes better than just lean pork) and sauté.

4. Add chicken stock or if using chicken Knorr cubes, add water.

5. Let it boil until pork is tender, then add chopped shrimps (you can use the cooked salad shrimps too), then the frozen peas.

6. Add soy sauce per your taste, a tsp. of rice wine to enhance the taste, and sesame oil.

7. Then add cornstarch, diluted in cold water, gradually, to your topping mixture, while stirring until it reaches a thicker consistency.

8. Sprinkle chopped green onions. Place the fried rice in individual bowls, and pour your gravy/topping over the rice.

139 thoughts on “Cebu Style Pork Steamed Rice Recipe”

  1. This is much like my Yang chow rice sans the sauce and I use ham bits….this looks really yummy, I’ll try it.

    Thanks for your kind comments on my blog and for sharing this too. Happy weekend!

      1. Hi, I just want to share with you that the steam fried rice you’re all talking about originated from Ding How which was started by Henry Uytengsu in the early 1960’s. Ding Qua Qua, Dimsum Break, Harbour City and the newly opened Tsim Sha Tsui are spin offs (still using the same recipes with new additions to the menu). These other restaurants are still owned and operated by members of the Uytengsu clan.

        1. Henry had a partner who are the Koksengs when Henry passed away Glendon the only son got very active and was in charge of Operations and commissary sad to say Glen had a freak accident last OCt 2013. From Uytengsu’s side now its both mother and daughter Helen and Hope. ALthough Henry had siblings form his First Wife but were not interested in the resbusiness. Glenndon left 1 daugther and 1 son who are now in AUstralia…

  2. I totally agree with Harbour City Dimsum the best ever. I have been dining there when I worked in Cebu for years. And never forgot to get a real taste of it again when I visited this year. Oh, real heaven for me. I do love their chicken feet which I never get the real secret to cooking as close as theirs. Thanks, this will be an addition on my to do’s…

  3. yum lami kaayo =P~~~~~

    i havent dine in to “makansutra” in Manila Ocean Park (go to the left corridor, take the escalator near zoocology/jellies) but i guess they have steamed rice too

  4. hala wala ko kablo na pure cebuana diay ka. apir! parehas diay tang bisdak. hehehe. sus gilaway ko sa imong pic! everytime na mouli pd ko cebu, dra jd dayon ko harbor city dimsum modiretso. mingawon jd ko sa ilang steamed rice. wala jud kapares. hehehe

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  6. im form cebu.. almost everyday we are in dimsum coz my hubby love that stramed rice.. kaso lang its a waste money if we go there everyday, thanks i pass by in your blog.. so i have idea na how to make it.

  7. what you need to do to make it a little more like the one that is like harbour city is to add mace to your seasoning, just add to taste, and the flavor and taste would be very much like the one that you have been looking for

  8. to ed: i cook but what is mace? that ingredient doesn’t sound familiar to me…

    to mai: wala pako katry sa harbour city but is it any better than DING HOW chinese restaurant along beside fairmart before?…sa may colon man cguro na dapita and have you heard of YOK PIK chinese restaurant in mandaue hi-way way back several years ago??? is harbour city better than these two restaurants? coz if yes, I’LL HAVE TO TRY HARBOUR CITY THEN! im a cebuano but i grew up here in mindanao and i always drop by ding how everytime i visit and before i leave cebu.

    1. to wyn: i’ve been to where you’ve tried eating cebu steamed rice DING HOW and YOK PIK on the same place anyway to answer your question it’s the same taste they have HARBOUR CITY, DING QUA QUA and DIM SUM and you can also taste this in DIMSUM BREAK its everywhere in CEBU MALLS, Ayala, SM, Elizabeth Mall and even in Metro Gaisano food court. as long as you’re in CEBU and you ask for steamed rice? i’m very sure they will serve you the same as what you have in mind because when you say steamed rice in other place like here in Dubai? it sucks for you to explain what steamed rice we really want coz what they think is steamed rice = fried rice^^

    2. Substitute the mace called for in your recipe with an equal amount of nutmeg. Since mace is the membrane that surrounds nutmeg, the flavor will be similar.

  9. im cebuano still stuck in KSA. How i miss my favorite childhood food…. hehehehehehe ive tried all of them… harbour city, ding how, ding qua qua…. i even remember the old one in mango street before…. cant wait to get home in 2011…

  10. there is a similar one in manila chinese restaurants called fookien/hookien fried rice. im also pure cebuano but i was in manila for 4 years for college and my roommates ordered fookien fried rice. its not exactly the same as cebu steamed rice but this is the closest one you will get in manila. i’m in the states now for about 7 years and i am so glad i came across this recipe because i am dying for some steamed rice!

  11. i love this food since i was a child..i grow up here at manila but when we are having our vacation in cebu..i always want to eat at harbour city..i tried finding it here in manila but still i cant find any..

  12. this is my favorite since i was a kid..i’m a pure cebuana but i grow up here in manila..whenever we get back to cebu..i always stop buy at harbour city in ayala or in SM Cebu..i tried also finding it in manila but still i cant find any…

  13.  im a cebuan to, i love to eat steamed rice also since i was a kid, before harbour city, dimsum express, there are many chines restaurant in colon before, the first time i eat steamed rice is in VISAYAN that the name of the restaurant but its was owned by a chines, another is the 369 dimsum dool sa GAISANO METRO,DING QUA QUA, but when SM CITY OPENED and AYALA, this restaurant suddenly was gone. But was one restaurant still serve authentic chines foods other than HARBOUR city, its the WHITE GOLD HOUSE RESTAURANT, near the old WHITE GOLD that was burned down before, this restaurant is still cooking GREAT FOODS you cannot find in the menu list in harbour city and dimsum express in SM CEBU, if you really want CHINESE AUTHENTIC FOODS AND FOODS you havent tasted in your life, FIND the WHITE GOLD HOUSE RESTAURANT..

  14. I have a friend who knows someone here in Manila who sells them. Brings them from Cebu in frozen packs. So love them!!! 🙂 Will surely try your recipe.

  15. try sa may harisson plaza. nkakaon ko some time b4.  dool2 ra sa taste sa dimsum sa cebu..   hahaiz. i crave for steamed rice.. wla dri sa UAE oist. way sama sa Cebu!!   newez. ako ni i try inyo recipe guyz. thanks.   

  16. i’ve been looking for a recipe on how to make that awesome dish, finally found one, definitely will try this for sure!!! thanks!

  17. looking at your recipe, try adding a dash of sesame oil…. that will bring the taste closer to dimsum’s steamed rice.. ^_^ 

  18. Nice recipe. I think I know why you couldn’t make it taste the same as what Harbour City (Ding Hao) had. Chinese cooking uses rice wine (xiao xing). I also see that the ingredients are similar to making lobster sauce. They don’t use worcestershire sauce, instead two types of soy sauce, light and dark. Also maybe the rice was cooked with hoisin.

    I’m gonna try and tweak your recipe and see where it leads.

      1. I tried two things and one definitely produced the desired product. I added two tsp. of Cooking rice wine and clam juice. Its exactly the same taste as I remember it.

        Though I used a different kind of soy sauce (its a korean soy sauce with Kelp). I am feasting on it right now as I type this 🙂

  19. hi! i know how to make it taste more like dimsum harbor city.  first, i marinate my meat (pork or chicken) with a little cornstarch, salt, sugar and pepper, and 1 tbsp sesame oil for 30 minutes. set aside. Then, i  deep fry in oil till halfway cooked. drain meat. In a separate pant i stry fry chopped onions, mushrooms. Mix in the cooked pork/chicken. once stir-fried, add in about 5 cups water, then add in 2 buillion knorr chicken cubes. Let it boil, once boiling add in cornstarch to add thickness. add  soy sauce to tast.

  20. thanks blankPixels for sharing this. you don’t know how delighted i am to see the recipe of my all time favorite. just want to ask, have you tried bryan jason’s tweaks to your recipe? if yes, when do you add the rice wine and clam juice? i am not really a good cook that’s why i am so dependent on a step by step instruction :(… thanks again

  21. this is perfect…just had to tweak a few types of soy sauce but lots and lots of thanx cz iv been living here in hong kong for 3 years now and so far i couldn’t find this cebu style steamed rice here…..thanx…

  22. Don’t worry, a branch in SM North Edsa will soon be open, it operates by the name of Dimsum Break, a sister company of Harbour City Dimsum, the secret of their steamed rice is the ground dried fish and soy sauce available only in Cebu.

    1. any alternative if we can’t buy ground dried fish? I live in a country that has none–can we substitute it with the Japanese “Bonito ” ?

  23. ngita kog lami na recipe sa steamed rice, kay ganahan gyud ko mo negosyo ani….steamed rice sa Kalye…Salamat i’ll try this lami na recipe….daghang salamat…….

  24. Hi! thanx so much for the recipe. I’m also a Cebuana now living here in Canada and I really missed the pork steam rice at Harbour City Dimsum. I loved it more with ginger sauce on the side which they will just give for free plus the siomai and spring rolls. My hubby loves their chicken feet too. OMG it’s yummy!. Now I can try it myself from ur recipe for sure to ease my craving. Again thank u so much, ur great!

  25. the last time i tasted the best steamed rice in Cebu was on 1987…at Ding Hao Restaurant colon st..i never knew it that it is Harbour city now…

  26. I live in Norway and ihave been craving for some of this. I Followed the original recipe but i marinated it first. Tastes great. 🙂 you can tweak the sugar or soy sauceaccording to your preference. I used oyster sauce too. 🙂 thank you!

  27. instead of worcestershire sauce… use Oyster sauce and sesame oil… then you’ll get that authentic Cebu dimsum taste

  28. i’ll it at home and let my friends taste it if it’s good, i will add it for my

    stuff on my food stall. thank you for sharing your recipe. hope more recipes to come. hehehe

  29. Thank you for sharing your recipe. I had kept one in my recipe collections of the steamed fried rice, from my Chinese cooking class at USC, Cebu City. I would like to share this recipe with everyone who is interested…it tastes so much like Ding How’s steamed fried rice…so enjoy! We fried the rice with garlic and oyster sauce and set that aside. Then in another pan, sauté garlic until brown, add the cubed pork with some fat(tastes better than just lean pork) and sauté, then add the chicken stock or if using chicken knorr cubes, add water. Let it boil until pork is tender, then add chopped shrimps (you can use the cooked salad shrimps too), then the frozen peas. Add soy sauce per your taste, a tsp. of rice wine to enhance the taste, and sesame oil. Then add cornstarch, diluted in cold water, gradually, to your topping mixture, while stirring until it reaches a thicker consistency. Then sprinkle chopped green onions. Place the fried rice in individual bowls, and pour your gravy/topping over the rice..lami kayo gyud!

      1. Sure…go ahead. I can truly identify with you all, in your craving for this dish. I had all the dimsum dishes I could eat, when I went to Cebu, at Harbor city and later, at JY Square, which happened to serve a buffet of dimsum dishes. Enjoy!

  30. Thank you for all your info and suggestions. I do cook steam fried rice and I have been trying out different ingredients. So far not close to but almost. I also add oyster sauce and sesame oil to taste after pork is cooked.

  31. You can also try nido oriental style without the egg. Use it as your broth. Its good too. Then you dont have to use cornstarch to make it thicker.

  32. you can add quail eggs too, this is just optional. I tried making it yesterday since a big snow storm hit Pennsylvania and my kids had no school and our office was closed too. So I had the time to cook. My kids loves it! I used basmati rice instead of jasmine and it turned out good and very healthy pa. Thank you so much for sharing your recipes!

  33. ive worked in harbour city before i saw how they cooked the sauce, i saw a different kind/brand of soy sauce i didnt see it in the grocert shelves.

  34. Thanks for the recipe, as you can see a lot of people are happy with this, myself included. My question is: What happened to Ding How Dimsum or Ding Qua Qua? sakpan atong edad!

    1. The old owner died. His children Å¥ook over and decided to xpand…
      1. Fast food themed dimsum break
      2. Original style/aura in
      Harbor city. Eat all you can at Ding qua qua 3. High end Tsim tsa chui,

  35. the smell is similar. the taste is almost there. yes the souffle bowls will add also to make it close to the original. thanks for sharing.

  36. honestly, now that I am residing in CDO my hubby and daughter are really longing to eat steam rice. If only they have it here. Even if we eat steam rice for our 2 weeks stay they don’t care, I remember it was in Mango Ave. pa (near Rustan’s) their first outlet, they steam pa Including the bowl with rice.

      1. correction what im talking about is Mandarin Restaurant in Robinson”s Mall and Gaisano City. and the DImsum restaurant is lin SM mall..

  37. Thank you for this post! I’m craving for this for a loooooooong time. Everytime i visited cebu, i make sure to eat the Pork Steam Rice. By the way, im from Davao. I tried lots of Dimsum restaurant in Davao but i haven’t found yet same as good as the taste of Steam Rice from Harbour City Dimsum…I can’t wait to try this tomorrow. First thing in the morning tomorrow, i’ll be going to the grocery to buy some ingredients.. Wooot! Woo! Thank you once again for this….

  38. I graduated in usc cebu and this is my favorite food big time!!Now im here in tagaytay and sad kc wlang branch na malapit dito,since im craving for steamed rice nagresearch aq ng recipe then found this one thank you so much I dont know how to cook but I’ll try this one.THANK YOU BIGTIME!!

    1. Aww hope you’ll like it. But please check the comments – maraming good suggestions on how to improve the flavors so it’ll taste closer to the Cebu-style steamed rice we love. 🙂

  39. Salamat! Ikaw gyud nakatubag sa akoa nga pangutana unsa ang pagluto sa steamed fried rice. Wa pa ko kakita niining pagkaon so far dinhi sa Manila pero morag niabot na dri ang Dimsum Break kang Harbour City.

    Thanks for this one. Gimingaw ko ani.

  40. we tried making this one with my siblings, and sobra kalami ang resulta.. even though kulang sa uban ingredients lami gihapon siya! 😀

  41. Thank you for sharing the recipe. I live in New York & been craving for Cebu-style steamed rice.

  42. The taste is almost similar to Cebu steamed rice. But I add 1tbsp of oyster sauce. Also, I marinate the meat with kokkoman, Worcester sauce, oyster sauce about an hour. And finally, when cooked, add 1 tbsp of sesame oil.

  43. I guess you have to add a tablespoon or two of sesame oil in order to have that authentic chinese taste and smell

  44. For Manila, we have 2 branches that opened since 2012, Dimsum Break SM North Edsa and Dimsum Break Recto (beside Yellow Cab).
    For those living in Cagayan de Oro, please visit Harbour City Dimsum at Centrio Mall and for Bacolod, visit Dimsum Break at the South Wing of SM. We’re NOW OPEN to serve you 🙂 Please do come visit us soon! 🙂

  45. Hi! Instead of using worchestershire sauce for your marinade, use oyster sauce instead with 2 tbsp of sesame oil & the soy sauce… Worchestershire is a western blend, is why the taste is not quite authentic 😊… I make this a lot and the family loves it… Mura jud ug Ding Hao steamed rice, yum 😋

    1. Always wondered why wala kaayo ni sa Manila ang steam rice sa cebu nga lami man gyud kaayo! If naa sa uptown sa mango luyo national, if naa sa colon katong tapad sa fairmart!

  46. if wala kaming oyster sauce tsaka worchestershire anong pwde gamitin.. wala kasing pera pang bili… yung pang bahay lang na luto sana….

    mag reply kayo kaagad. please

    1. Bradex cannot be compared to dimsum and ding how cebu..isang kusinero dati na trying to gaya but still..dry ang steam rice niya and very commercialized plis not so neat the places.

  47. Hi. Thank u big time for your personslized post re cebu-style steamed rice. I missed Dinghow’s steamed rice in the 80’s. Now it’s good that there is the internet and generous people like you who shares their recipies. Your versions look good. I shall try both tonight. Thanks again!!

    1. You’re welcome, Mona! I hope you can also take the time to read the comments since there were many who gave a few suggestions on how to tweak the recipe so it’ll be more like the steamed rice from Cebu. 🙂

  48. I heard that there is a special kind of soy sauce available in Carbon which is the “secret” ingredient.

  49. First of all, Cebu dimsum places uses hebi (dried shrimp), They don’t use tenderloins too coz that’s an expensive cut. The sauce is pretty much oyster sauce (lots of it). You got most of it right though. I’ll stop there coz I have a secret family recipe that I am keeping “secret”. Hope you can tweak your recipe to taste closer to Cebu authentic.

  50. lacking ginger extract, sesame oil and mushrooms.. they dont use kikkoman, they use mushroom soy sauce and chicken powder.. and no garlic in the authentic recipe

  51. It could be better if not for some grammatical errors – the use of prepositions, and the comma or sentence structure – ehh?

    But good one though !

  52. THE REAL THING is now available in Manila at TSIM SHA TSUI Dimsum & Tea Bar Fort Bonifacio (AFPOVAI) and NAIA Terminal 3 smile emoticon

  53. It’s not as good as Harbour City though. Nakakaumay yung lasa. Walang linamnam, unlike sa steamed rice ng Harbour super yummy

  54. Guys try Saucy Pongko sa Tisa, lami ang lomi at Php 79 good for 3 and they serve chicken with a choice of larsian bbq,korean sauce unli rice pa! Grabe ka sulit…..

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