hot and sour cabbage (suan la bai cai)

My friend Renée made homemade barbecue sauce last weekend from a recipe she got from Giada De Laurentiis, the food network cook. Renée is a big fan of Giada, she's always making something she saw on her TV show, and lucky me I get to try it out when she invites me over. When I got to Renée and Adam's apartment,  the barbeque sauce was simmering in a pan on the stove and the whole place was filled with the wonderful sweet fruity smell of balsamic vinegar and brown sugar, the main ingredients in the sauce.  Everybody invited over brought things to grill on their rooftop barbecue. There was chicken with rosemary sprigs, fresh sausage links from Whole Foods, and veggie burgers.  I brought Shrimp with a Chili-Soy Dipping Sauce. (See tomorrow's post for that recipe.) We slathered the barbecue sauce over all the meats and licked our fingers clean-- it was good!

Chinese cooking doesn't use balsamic vinegar but it does use black rice vinegar which is similar.  Balsamic vinegar is made from aged grape juice and black rice vinegar is made from fermented glutinous or sweet rice.  They both are dark in color and sweet and fruity in flavor. I love black rice vinegar on almost everything.  Dumplings, noodles, vegetables, salad-- it's all good. I was inspired by Renée's barbeque sauce to make Hot and Sour Cabbage (Suan La Bai Cai, 酸辣白菜) today for lunch today. Napa cabbage is a really popular vegetable in northern China and this is one of my favorite ways to eat it.  I was actually out of black rice vinegar so I used some balsamic instead and it turned out well but I still recommend making it with black rice vinegar if you have it.  I put in some szechuan peppercorns because I'm a fiend for spicy things but you can leave those out if you want it milder. 

-Nate

Hot and Sour Cabbage

1 medium napa cabbage

3 tablespoons Chinese black rice vinegar

3 tablespoons light soy sauce

2 teaspoons sesame oil

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

3 dried red chilies, finely chopped

1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger

1/2 teaspoon szechuan  peppercorns (optional)

1 red bell pepper, diced

Separate the cabbage leaves and cut them lengthwise.  In a small bowl combine the vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and salt, then set aside.  Heat up the vegetable oil in a wok over high heat until it is very hot.  Add the chilies, ginger, and szechuan peppercorns and stir-fry for 10 seconds.  Add the bell pepper and stir-fry for 30 seconds.  Add the cabbage and stir-fry for two minutes, or until all the leaves are wilted.  Pour the vinegar mixture into the wok and let simmer for 1 minute, then serve.

Comments

[Sam Rice]

Oh This looks smoking hot! It is a very simple recipe but strong! I mean, I can actually determine what it will taste like because of the strong ingredients. LOL. plus this is really healthy!

[fake christian louboutin]

I can not believe that your opinions on this topic are so close to mine. Thank you for sharing it which make me more confidence on my stand.

[coach factory outlet]

Bless your friend forever! Also bless myself!*

[juicy couture store]

Because people can't use their eyes or mouth, they must show their feelings with their hands and bodies!

[Theo 陆毅]

AHH, this is great, I've been looking for a good cabbage recipe in English, this is the one! Made it just now, used more like 6 chillies because mine are old, flavor was on POINT!

[XNXX]

Nice information, thanks to the author. It’s helpful to me now, but generally, the usefulness and also significance is overpowering. Thanks again and all the best!