Suan La Bai Cai (Sour and Hot Napa Cabbage)
By Steve DunnPublished on February 6, 2023
Time
45 minutes
Yield
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients
Before You Begin
We developed this recipe in a 14-inch wok, but you can use a 12-inch nonstick or carbon-steel skillet instead. If using a skillet, preheat the oil and skillet together, use tongs to toss the cabbage greens, and increase their cooking time by 1 minute. Sichuan Facing Heaven chiles are traditional, but you can use any small, dried hot chile such as arbol. For a spicier dish, use the larger amount of chiles. Serve with white rice.
Instructions
- Discard any outer leaves from cabbage that are bruised or torn. Peel away enough leaves to yield 1½ pounds (16 to 20 leaves). Reserve smaller leaves near core for other use. Stack three similar-size leaves and, using sharp knife, remove white portion from center. Keeping pieces stacked, cut cabbage whites crosswise at 45-degree angle into 1-inch-thick slices and place in medium bowl. Cut cabbage greens into 2-inch pieces and place in second medium bowl. Repeat with remaining leaves.
- Whisk soy sauce, vinegar, oyster sauce, cornstarch, and sugar together in small bowl.
- Heat empty 14-inch flat-bottomed wok over medium heat until just beginning to smoke. Drizzle oil around perimeter of wok and heat until just smoking. Add chiles and cook, stirring constantly with wok spatula or wooden spoon, until they begin to brown, about 30 seconds. Add scallion whites, ginger, and garlic, and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Increase heat to high and add sliced cabbage whites. Cook, stirring constantly, until cabbage begins to turn translucent at edges, about 2 minutes. Add chopped cabbage greens, and cook, stirring constantly, until greens begin to collapse and wilt, about 1½ minutes longer.
- Whisk soy sauce mixture to recombine and pour over cabbage. Cook, stirring constantly, until cabbage is evenly coated and sauce has thickened, about 30 seconds. Immediately transfer cabbage to large serving bowl. Garnish with scallion greens and serve.
Time
45 minutesYield
Serves 4 to 6Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
Suan la bai cai, the napa cabbage stir-fry prepared in the sour-hot style (suan means sour; “la,” spicy) that is iconic in Sichuan and northern Chinese cuisines, is fast to make, economical, and glossed with an aromatic, vinegary, gently spicy, savory-sweet sauce. Separating the stiff white ribs from the more tender greens and staggering their additions to the wok ensured that both components cooked as quickly and evenly as possible—critical factors that prevented the cabbage from shedding too much of its abundant water and diluting the sauce. Slicing the cabbage ribs on a sharp bias exposed their capillary structure, allowing them to soak up the sauce. Malty black vinegar, combined with soy and oyster sauces, sugar, dried chiles, and plenty of aromatics (garlic, ginger, scallions) added up to an umami-packed, acid-forward sauce with undercurrents of heat and sweetness.
Want more? Read the whole storyBefore You Begin
We developed this recipe in a 14-inch wok, but you can use a 12-inch nonstick or carbon-steel skillet instead. If using a skillet, preheat the oil and skillet together, use tongs to toss the cabbage greens, and increase their cooking time by 1 minute. Sichuan Facing Heaven chiles are traditional, but you can use any small, dried hot chile such as arbol. For a spicier dish, use the larger amount of chiles. Serve with white rice.
Instructions
- Discard any outer leaves from cabbage that are bruised or torn. Peel away enough leaves to yield 1½ pounds (16 to 20 leaves). Reserve smaller leaves near core for other use. Stack three similar-size leaves and, using sharp knife, remove white portion from center. Keeping pieces stacked, cut cabbage whites crosswise at 45-degree angle into 1-inch-thick slices and place in medium bowl. Cut cabbage greens into 2-inch pieces and place in second medium bowl. Repeat with remaining leaves.
- Whisk soy sauce, vinegar, oyster sauce, cornstarch, and sugar together in small bowl.
- Heat empty 14-inch flat-bottomed wok over medium heat until just beginning to smoke. Drizzle oil around perimeter of wok and heat until just smoking. Add chiles and cook, stirring constantly with wok spatula or wooden spoon, until they begin to brown, about 30 seconds. Add scallion whites, ginger, and garlic, and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Increase heat to high and add sliced cabbage whites. Cook, stirring constantly, until cabbage begins to turn translucent at edges, about 2 minutes. Add chopped cabbage greens, and cook, stirring constantly, until greens begin to collapse and wilt, about 1½ minutes longer.
- Whisk soy sauce mixture to recombine and pour over cabbage. Cook, stirring constantly, until cabbage is evenly coated and sauce has thickened, about 30 seconds. Immediately transfer cabbage to large serving bowl. Garnish with scallion greens and serve.
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