Learn how to make simple but very yummy pork and cabbage stir fry, named as Chinese cabbage dry pot in China.

One week ago, I visited a very famous Hubei style restaurants which is featured by the Chairman Mao’s red braised pork belly. We have some very impressing dishes including steamed fish head, shredded red bean pancakes and this dry pot cabbage.  You can find it in the left corner of the image below. I am sure that the chef use a lot of oil, which is an universal phenomenon in China. There is an old saying describing this principle, as “礼多人不怪，油多不坏菜” meaning no people complains too many gifts and no dish is destroyed by too much oil. The former part might be right, but I hold a slightly different option about the later one. Too much oil sometimes do make dishes as a failure. 

Dry pot (100% avoid water) in Hunan and Hubei is slightly different from the versions from Sichuan cuisine.  In Sichuan area, we usually mix lots of ingredients, usually meat (fish, shrimp, chicken wings and ribs), all types of vegetables with lots of spices and seasonings. I will introduce a real Sichuan version and teach you how to customize your own homemade version base on a regular formula very soon. In Hubei area, most of the dishes can be made as dry pot. Dry pot vegetable, dry pot pig’s large intestines, dry pot chicken.   It use very simple ingredients but the fresh chili red peppers (I believe is Facing Heaven) brings a very strong freshness and hotness, and for this dish, comparing very good with the faint sweet taste of the cabbage itself.

A fact is that when you eat this in restaurant, the cabbage leaves are not well washed in order to keep it dry. Sound horrible right? But that’s almost the fact in China. I cannot accept raw cabbage anyway. So I still wash the large leaves carefully and then drain the shredded smaller pieces with a salad drainer.  The key step of this dish is to make sure there is no water attached. Water spoils the flavors. 

Ingredients

• 100g pork belly, skin removed and sliced
• 5 large leaves of cabbage, washed, hand shredded and completely drained
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 small chunk of ginger, sliced
• 4 fresh Thai peppers, cut into small circles
• 3 green onions, cut into small sections and separate green parts and white part

Seasonings

• 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tbsp. sesame oil

Steps

Spread a very little amount of oil in wok and fry the pork belly until cured and browned. Move them to one side of the wok.

Place garlic, ginger, scallion white and Thai peppers. Fry for half minutes until aromatic.

Add cabbage in, make a quick stir fry, then add light soy sauce, salt and sugar. Mix in sesame oil too. Serve hot.

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Pork and Cabbage Stir Fry

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

5 mins

Total Time

15 mins

 

Amazing pork and cabbage stir fry with a dry pot method

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Chinese

Keyword: Cabbage, Drypot, pork

Servings: 3

Calories: 224 kcal

Ingredients

• 100 g pork belly skin removed and sliced
• 5 large leaves of cabbage washed, hand shredded and completely drained
• 4 garlic cloves sliced
• 1 small chunk of ginger sliced
• 4 fresh Thai peppers cut into small circles
• 3 green onions cut into small sections and separate green parts and white part

Seasonings

• 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tbsp. sesame oil

Instructions

1. Spread a very little amount of oil in wok and fry the pork belly until cured and browned. Move them to one side of the wok.
2. Place garlic, ginger, scallion white and Thai peppers. Fry for half minutes until aromatic.
3. Add cabbage in, make a quick stir fry, then add light soy sauce, salt and sugar. Mix in sesame oil too. Serve hot.

Nutrition Facts

Pork and Cabbage Stir Fry

Amount Per Serving

Calories 224 Calories from Fat 180

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 20g 31%

Saturated Fat 7g 35%

Cholesterol 24mg 8%

Sodium 455mg 19%

Potassium 192mg 5%

Total Carbohydrates 6g 2%

Dietary Fiber 1g 4%

Sugars 3g

Protein 5g 10%

Vitamin A 4.1%

Vitamin C 33.8%

Calcium 3.2%

Iron 4%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.