Shandong Cuisine · FFET10242
Napa cabbage stir-fried in vinegar sauce
Slanted slices of napa cabbage stalk, stir-fried fast with chili, ginger and garlic, finished with a vinegar-led sweet-and-sour sauce.
A round white porcelain plate has slant-cut white napa stalks and pale green leaves in glossy tan vinegar sauce, with dried red chilies, ginger slices, garlic and scallion, with wooden chopsticks resting beside the plate.
Represented by the cooking of Jinan and the Jiaodong coast, strong in quick-fire and braising methods, with stock-making as its hallmark.
Vinegar-sauce napa cabbage is the white stalk of napa cabbage cut on the slant, stir-fried fast over high heat and finished with a sweet-and-sour sauce led by vinegar, an example of the vinegar-sauce form of liu. It is a northern Chinese dish; the available sources do not establish its origin in a particular province, and no dated record was found.
What
Vinegar-sauce napa cabbage is napa cabbage (usually the white stalk, sliced on the slant) stir-fried fast over high heat with dried chilies, ginger and garlic, then finished with a sweet-and-sour sauce led by vinegar and often thickened with starch. A vinegar-sauce dish is a kind of liu dish whose sauce contains vinegar or sweet-and-sour seasoning, with this dish as an example.1,3,4
When
Napa cabbage was bred in China and eaten since at least the Northern and Southern Dynasties. By the mid-18th century, the large-headed type had replaced small cabbage in the north and was shipped south along the Grand Canal. These records concern the vegetable and do not mention vinegar-sauce napa cabbage; no dated record of the dish was found.2
Where
Vinegar-sauce napa cabbage is a northern Chinese dish, with a Sichuan hot-and-sour version as well. The available sources do not establish its origin in a particular province.3,4
How
The general liu method is to fry or stir-fry the main item, make a thickened sauce in a fresh pan and combine the two. One version slices the white stalks on the slant into pieces about 2.5 cm long, fries dried chilies, ginger, garlic and scallion in hot oil for about 1 minute, adds the cabbage over high heat for about 2.5 minutes, then pours in a sauce of vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and starch and cooks until thick. Another fries garlic, chilies and scallion, adds the stalks for about 2 minutes, then a sauce of vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and oyster sauce, and finishes with a starch slurry.1,3,4
Why
The available sources do not explain why cabbage is cooked with vinegar; no explanation is inferred.1,2,3,4
Impact and influence
Sichuan hot-and-sour napa cabbage is very popular in China.4
No tale about this food has been found.
Grandma Li
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
This is the simpler way I make it at home, closer to the first recipe: a northern-style version by a named author that uses only the white stalks, with dried chilies, ginger, garlic and a soy-and-vinegar sauce. The second, also by a named author, is a Sichuan hot-and-sour cabbage with oyster sauce and black vinegar, hotter and sourer, and I did not follow it. The amounts mostly follow the first, with pounds converted to grams and vegetable oil in place of its peanut oil. The ginger, garlic and scallion amounts and the water for dissolving the starch are my own choices at home.
Ingredients
- Napa cabbage, white stalks only (a small head weighs about 900 to 1,400 g) 1 small head
- Vegetable oil 1 1/2 tablespoons
- Dried chilies 4
- Ginger slices 3
- Garlic, minced 2 cloves
- Scallions, cut into sections 2
- Chinkiang vinegar 2 tablespoons
- Light soy sauce 2 tablespoons
- Sugar 2 teaspoons
- Cornstarch 1 tablespoon
- Water (my addition, to dissolve the starch) 3 tablespoons
Steps
- Slice the white stalks on the slant into pieces about 2.5 cm long, the cut the first recipe uses.
- Stir the vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, cornstarch and water together until the starch dissolves.
- Heat the oil in the wok and fry the chilies, ginger, garlic and scallion for about 1 minute, the first recipe's timing.
- Add the cabbage stalks and stir-fry over high heat. The first recipe takes about 2.5 minutes and the second about 2; I cook until the edges turn slightly translucent and the stalks are still crisp to the bite.
- Stir the sauce again, pour it in, and toss until it thickens and coats the cabbage.
- Serve at once.
Tips
- The starch sinks to the bottom of the bowl, so I always stir the sauce again before pouring it in.
- I use only the white stalks and keep the leaves for soup.
Allergens: soy, wheat