Among some of us afficionados, cabbage is a mainstay, tasty, healthy and easy to prepare.  There’s so much you can do with it: Cabbage Soup, Stuffed Cabbage; I even I had a post on 06/19/20 offering Cabbage with Sour Cream. But my favorite way to prepare it has been a simple Cabbage Stir-Fry. The beauty of this dish is that you can make it either spicy or not so spicy, your choice. As given in the recipe below, you can add seeded dry red chili peppers. Or you can use sweet peppers, what we call aji dulce, and which you can find in Asian or Caribbean food stores (like your local bodega), or even in some supermarkets. They are sold by the handful or in packets of ½ to ¾ pound. A ¾ packet contains about 28 peppers. If you can’t find aji dulce, you can omit it and cook the dish as it. It will stay taste delicious.

This time around we liven up the vegetable by giving it an Asian flavor. To the stir-fry we added soy sauce and sesame oil. We also included sugar to give it a hint of sweetness. Again, you can modify this dish any way you want. That’s what gives it a unique taste or, as some would say, “oomph!” So, today, make the lowly cabbage sparkle again.

Another advantage of this vegetable is that you can pair it with almost any grain be it rice, couscous, kasha or pasta. This time around we paired it with quinoa, and it was grand.

BASIC CABBAGE STIR-FRY

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons olive oil
5 dried red chili peppers, washed, seeded and chopped (optional); or 3 aji dulce, washed, seeded and chopped
1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced
1 medium head cabbage, cored, washed and shredded
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon dry sherry
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Instructions:

  1. Heat oil in a large skillet or frypan over medium -high heat.
  2. If you want the dish really spicy, add the red peppers and cook until browned, about i minute then remove the peppers. If you don’t want it spicy, skip this part and just add the ginger to the pan and cook for a few seconds. Stir in the cabbage and aji dulce,
  3.  In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch, soy sauce and sherry, and add to the skillet. Cook until thicken slightly.
  4.  Season with the sugar, vinegar and sesame oil and serve, |
    Yield: 6 or more servings.