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Best Babaocai in Sydney

“Eight treasures stir-fried together: seafood, vegetables, tofu, eggs, and leftovers kissed with soy and sesame oil.”

Babaocai

What the real thing tastes like

Babaocai (Chinese: 八寶菜; pinyin: bābǎocài) is a typical Chinese dish that is made by stir-frying various vegetables, seafood, and other leftovers. It can be eaten as a side or be used to top a bowl of rice. Babaocai is a combination of eight ingredients. "Babao" (八寶) means "eight treasures," and cai (菜) means "vegetables," "dishes," or "side dishes." Babaocai contains seafood such as sea cucumbers, shrimp, squid, and vegetables such as bamboo shoots. Meat, tofu, eggs, and other leftovers can also be added. The ingredients are chopped and stir-fried in a wok or pan, and the dish is seasoned with soy sauce and sesame oil. The dish is known as palbochae (팔보채) in Korean and as happosai in Japanese.

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Babaocai is a wok-kissed stir-fry built on the principle of eight treasures — sea cucumbers and shrimp tumbling with bamboo shoots, tofu, and whatever you have left in the kitchen. The vegetables and seafood are chopped fine, then hit hard with heat, their edges crisping while soy sauce and sesame oil bind everything into a glossy, savory whole. It's the kind of dish that works as a side or spooned over rice, flexible and forgiving by design.

Order it here when it has

  • uses varied ingredients
  • flexible with leftovers
  • aromatic with soy and sesame oil

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