One pot Chinese steamed school lunch

This is one of my favorite weekday lunch hacks—Yi Guo Zheng, or “one-pot steam meal.” Everything—meat, veggies, and egg custard—cooks together in one steamer, no frying, no mess. It’s perfect for school lunch prep, and if you marinate the pork the night before, the whole thing comes together while you’re making coffee.

I pack this for my kids in stainless steel lunch boxes inside insulated lunch bags, and by lunchtime, it’s still warm, juicy, and full of flavor. Real food, fast. Many of you asked about the products in this video, I attached a link in end of this post. 

Steamed Pork Over Cabbage (Zheng Rou Fen | 蒸肉粉)

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lb pork tenderloin, thinly sliced

• 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine

• 3 tbsp soy sauce

• 1 green onion, finely chopped (use half for marinade, half for garnish)

• 10g ginger, finely chopped

• 1 pack seasoned rice powder for steaming meat
  (Look for “Zheng Rou Fen” 蒸肉粉 in Asian grocery stores—it’s rice flour with spices)

• Napa cabbage, chopped (enough to line your steaming bowl)

Instructions:

1. In a bowl, combine pork, cooking wine, soy sauce, half the green onions, ginger, and the full pack of rice powder. Mix well until every piece is coated.

2. You can prep this the night before and keep it in the fridge—makes morning cooking much easier.

3. In a heat-safe steaming bowl, layer the bottom with chopped Napa cabbage.

4. Place the marinated pork on top of the cabbage.

5. Steam for 15 minutes first before adding the egg custard.

Steamed Egg Custard with Tofu (蒸蛋)

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs

• 200 ml water

• Pinch of salt

• 2–4 slices of silken or soft tofu

Instructions:

1. Whisk eggs, water, and salt together until smooth.

2. Pour the mixture into a small heat-safe bowl.

3. Add tofu slices on top.

4. Place the egg custard into the steamer after the pork has steamed for 10 minutes, so both will finish around the same time.

5. Steam the custard for 15 minutes.

Total Steaming Time:

• Pork: 25 minutes

• Egg custard: 15 minutes (added in after pork steams for 10 minutes)

Tips:

• Layer pork, cabbage, and custard into a stainless lunch box.

• Keep rice separate or underneath the cabbage for extra flavor.

• Seal inside an insulated lunch bag to keep everything warm until lunch.

• You can add sliced mushrooms, carrots, or lotus root under the pork if you want more vegetables.

• Don’t over-steam the egg custard—15 minutes is perfect for a silky texture.

• This whole meal is soft, warm, and full of umami—easy to digest and so comforting.

• Find all the products I used in this video on my Amazon shop : https://amzn.to/46nsQTl