Redd Napa Cabbage Recipes

Pungent, flavourful in taste and crunchy in texture, stir-fried Napa cabbage with hot & sour sauce is one of the best ways to cook this versatile vegetable. This recipe shows you how to make it to a restaurant standard.

Known as Big White Vegetable (Dà Bái Cài/大白菜/) in Chinese, Napa cabbage (aka Chinese cabbage) plays such an important role that an old Chinese saying claims “Bǎi Chī Bú Yàn Dà Bái Cài/百吃不厌大白菜”, meaning “One can never get tired of eating Napa cabbage”. It used to be one of the few vegetables available during winter in Northern regions of the country. So most home cooks, like my parents, master skills for cooking it in various ways. You can find it in salads, stir-fries, soups, dumplings, steamed & braised dishes, etc.

Although I love them all, my personal favourite has always been stir-fried Napa cabbage with hot & sour sauce (酸辣白菜). It’s a simple, humble dish that calls for common ingredients and requires basic stir-frying techniques. Yet, to produce it to a high standard (well-seasoned & perfectly-cooked), you’ll need to pay attention to a few important details.

Napa Cabbage Steaks [video]

When it comes to cutting vegetables for Chinese stir-fried dishes, there are two general rules to follow: All the pieces are cut approximately the same size. This is to ensure even doneness during cooking. Cut the vegetable in a way that enables maximum surface absorption of flavours from the sauce.

Another tip: Make sure to drain/dry the cabbage leaves very well after washing as you wouldn’t want too much water going into the wok.

In the list of popular flavours of Chinese cuisine, hot & sour could make it to the top five, particularly for people from the North and West of China. Good hot & sour dishes not only excite your taste buds with their pungency but also leave a pleasing aroma on your palate.

Best Napa Cabbage Recipes • Just One Cookbook

In different dishes, this classic flavour comes from different ingredients. The famous Hot & Sour Soup uses white pepper for spiciness. Hot & Sour Glass Noodles Soup and Hot & Sour Beef Dumpling Soup call for Chinese Chili Oil instead. In today’s Hot & Sour Napa Cabbage, which shares the same seasoning formula with Hot & Sour Potato Stir-fry, you’ll find dried chili as the heat source.

Please be aware that the suggested quantity of dried chili in the recipe is for your reference. Adjust if necessary based on the heat level of your chili and your own tolerance to spicy food. The goal is to achieve a tangy kick but the dish shouldn’t be so hot that you lose the chance to sense other flavours. If you don’t have dried chili at hand, fresh chili would work too.

For the sourness, all of the hot & sour dishes mentioned above use Chinese black rice vinegar. An underrated ingredient, compared to soy sauce, it’s absolutely indispensable when it comes to making authentic Chinese cuisine. As the key seasoning for this stir-fried Napa cabbage, it creates pungency as well as a rich aroma.

Pork Belly And Napa Cabbage Mille Feuille Stew

I’m often asked what can be used to substitute Chinese black rice vinegar. Unfortunately, there isn’t a substitute. You might have heard some people suggesting balsamic vinegar. Believe me! They’re very different in taste. Since it’s the key ingredient for today’s dish, you won’t be able to produce the authentic taste without it. For best taste, I recommend you use Zhenjiang (Chinkiang) vinegar/镇江香醋, a reputable variety widely available in Chinese stores.

No doubt that this is a very simple stir-fry dish to make. A couple of minutes is all that you need. However, to achieve a restaurant standard (or the best home cook standard) in terms of taste and texture, you would need to have some basic knowledge on the concept of “Huǒ Hóu/火候” in Chinese cuisine. It refers to the control of heat and cooking time which noticeably affects the final result of a dish. It’s particularly important for stir-frying as everything is happening in just a few minutes.

Generally speaking, for this Napa cabbage stir-fry, the heat should be high and the cooking time needs to be as short as possible. This way, the white part of the cabbage remains crunchy and the dish doesn’t look too wet. Here are a few helpful tips:

Napa Cabbage And Sweet Pepper Slaw Recipe

Although everyone in our Red House enjoys eating meat/fish, we often have vegetarian dinners which include multiple dishes and plain rice. You can find other vegetarian recipes on the blog to cook healthy and delicious meals. Here is an example:

Pungent, flavourful in taste and crunchy in texture, stir-fried Napa cabbage with hot & sour sauce is delectable, yet very simple to cook.

1. There isn’t, unfortunately, a substitute for Chinese black rice vinegar. To achieve the best taste for this recipe, I recommend you use Zhenjiang (Chinkiang) vinegar/镇江香醋, a reputable variety widely available in Chinese stores.

Also, Napa Cabbage Stir Fry. American Friends Were Baffled At How Delicious Cabbage Can Be.

2. Please free feel to adjust the number of dried chilies based on their heat level and your tolerance. The finished dish should have a nice kick of spice but not so hot that it overpowers other flavours. If you don’t have dried chilies at hand, use fresh chili to substitute.

NUTRITION DISCLOSURE: Nutritional information on this website is provided as a courtesy to readers. It should be considered estimates. Please use your own brand nutritional values or your preferred nutrition calculator to double check against our estimates.

I’m often asked what can be used to substitute Chinese black rice vinegar. Unfortunately, there isn’t a substitute. You might have heard some people suggesting balsamic vinegar. Believe me! They’re very different in taste. Since it’s the key ingredient for today’s dish, you won’t be able to produce the authentic taste without it. For best taste, I recommend you use Zhenjiang (Chinkiang) vinegar/镇江香醋, a reputable variety widely available in Chinese stores.

No doubt that this is a very simple stir-fry dish to make. A couple of minutes is all that you need. However, to achieve a restaurant standard (or the best home cook standard) in terms of taste and texture, you would need to have some basic knowledge on the concept of “Huǒ Hóu/火候” in Chinese cuisine. It refers to the control of heat and cooking time which noticeably affects the final result of a dish. It’s particularly important for stir-frying as everything is happening in just a few minutes.

Generally speaking, for this Napa cabbage stir-fry, the heat should be high and the cooking time needs to be as short as possible. This way, the white part of the cabbage remains crunchy and the dish doesn’t look too wet. Here are a few helpful tips:

Napa Cabbage And Sweet Pepper Slaw Recipe

Although everyone in our Red House enjoys eating meat/fish, we often have vegetarian dinners which include multiple dishes and plain rice. You can find other vegetarian recipes on the blog to cook healthy and delicious meals. Here is an example:

Pungent, flavourful in taste and crunchy in texture, stir-fried Napa cabbage with hot & sour sauce is delectable, yet very simple to cook.

1. There isn’t, unfortunately, a substitute for Chinese black rice vinegar. To achieve the best taste for this recipe, I recommend you use Zhenjiang (Chinkiang) vinegar/镇江香醋, a reputable variety widely available in Chinese stores.

Also, Napa Cabbage Stir Fry. American Friends Were Baffled At How Delicious Cabbage Can Be.

2. Please free feel to adjust the number of dried chilies based on their heat level and your tolerance. The finished dish should have a nice kick of spice but not so hot that it overpowers other flavours. If you don’t have dried chilies at hand, use fresh chili to substitute.

NUTRITION DISCLOSURE: Nutritional information on this website is provided as a courtesy to readers. It should be considered estimates. Please use your own brand nutritional values or your preferred nutrition calculator to double check against our estimates.