Wok hei (breath of the wok) is abundant, with the cabbage remaining crisp, refreshing, and savory.
When you're too tired to even lift a finger, a simple yet satisfying dish becomes essential—this one won't let you down, with its crisp texture and rich vinegar aroma, making it the perfect accompaniment to rice!
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
Cabbage, to taste
Seasonings
Scallions, garlic, dried chili peppers, salt, and aged vinegar - each to taste
The best cabbage for this dish is a loose, airy head where the layers have some space between them, yielding easily when gently squeezed, with soft, tender leaves—this type stir-fries up deliciously.
Instructions
Instructions
Preparation
Step 1: Tear the cabbage into large pieces by hand, discarding the tough stems (Image 2). Finely chop the scallions and garlic, and break the dried chili peppers into small segments. Set aside.
*You can blanch the cabbage before stir-frying; it's a bit more work, but it prevents wasting the thicker stems.
Sauté the seasonings until fragrant.
② Heat oil in a wok over medium-high heat until it reaches about 70% hot (just beginning to smoke), add dried chili peppers and fry over high heat until they turn brown and fragrant, then immediately add minced scallion and garlic to sizzle and release their aroma (Figure 3).
*Be careful not to burn the chili peppers when frying them!
Stir-fried Cabbage
When the minced scallion and garlic turn slightly golden, add the cabbage and immediately drizzle in the vinegar.
*The term "flash-cook" (烹) means adding liquid seasonings to a hot wok to release their aroma at high heat. Therefore, keep the heat on high throughout the entire stir-frying process to maintain a high temperature. After adding the cabbage to the wok, do not stir it immediately; you must add the vinegar first to create the aromatic burst. If you stir-fry the cabbage first and let the wok cool down before adding the vinegar, you won't achieve that fragrant effect. Pour the vinegar in a circular motion, dispersing it evenly, rather than dumping it all in one spot.
4. Quickly stir-fry a few more times, add salt, and continue stir-frying for about half a minute until the leaves become soft and turn green, then add a splash of vinegar and remove from the heat (Figure 4).
When taking it out of the wok, drizzle a little more vinegar along the edge of the pan—not directly onto the vegetables—since the sides are the hottest and will better release the vinegar's aroma, replenishing what evaporated during stir-frying.