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Napa Cabbage Recipes
What is Napa cabbage?
Napa cabbage is a variety of Chinese cabbage originating from China. The Chinese name is 大白菜 da bai cai) or 紹菜. In western countries, it’s called Chinese cabbage.
Napa cabbage is a very common vegetable in Asian cooking and widely consumed in many Asian countries, for example: Greater China (Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau), Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia.
This is one of the easiest Napa cabbage recipes. It’s an authentic Napa cabbage stir fry with mushroom and garlic that is better than Chinese takeout.
This versatile vegetable is also used in many other Asian recipes, for examples: dumplings, Shabu Shabu, Nabe, and Asian slaw.
How to Cook Napa Cabbage?
Napa cabbage has very mild flavors, with white stems and some leafy parts at the end of the white stems.
The vegetable has a crisp texture, with a nice crunch and bite on the white stems.
As a result, the best way of cooking is an easy Chinese stir fry with simple ingredients:
- Garlic
- Mushroom, for example: shiitake mushroom, buna shimeji mushroom, white mushroom, or brown mushroom.
- Oyster sauce
For the best result, use a wok for the stir fry. If you don’t have a wok, you may use a skillet.
First, heat up the wok or skillet on high heat with cooking oil. Stir fry the garlic until aromatic before adding the Chinese cabbage and mushroom.
Next, add oyster sauce, stir well and you’re done!
Napa Cabbage Nutrition
Raw Napa cabbage is packed of nutrition and health benefits. Here are the nutrition facts, provided by USDA.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Make Napa Cabbage Salad?
Yes, you sure can.
Due to the mild flavor and crisp texture, this cabbage is great as a salad.
To make salad, cut the vegetables into small pieces and serve it raw with your favorite dressing as a slaw.
You may add pine nuts as a topping to the slaw, if you like.
Can I Make Kimchi?
Absolutely yes! The most popular Kimchi is made of Napa cabbage.
Can I Make Napa Cabbage Soup?
Yes. You can certainly make soup. In fact, one of my favorite recipes is Shabu Shabu and the main vegetable in the soup is Napa cabbage.
How Many Calories per Serving?
This recipe is only 60 calories per serving.
What Dishes to Serve with Napa Cabbage?
Serve this dish with other Chinese recipes. For a Chinese weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
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Napa Cabbage Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 3 cups chopped Napa cabbage
- 4 oz (125g) mushroom
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
Instructions
- Prepare the ingredients. Trim off the bottom part of the white stems and cut the Napa cabbage into pieces horizontally. Trim off the bottom part of the mushroom.
- Heat up a wok or skillet on high heat. Add the cooking oil and stir fry the garlic until aromatic or light brown. Remove half of the garlic from the wok or skillet, set aside.
- Add the napa cabbage and mushroom, stir fry for about 1 minute. Add the oyster sauce, stir to combine well.
- DO NOT overcook Napa cabbage. The white stems should retain a "crunchy" texture. Dish out and top the fried garlic on top of the dish. Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Can you substitute Napa Cabbage for regular green Cabbage?
Hi Jill. Yes, you can use green cabbage as a substitute.
For additional flavor and a pleasant kick you can stir fry with a teaspoon of Sichuan pepper oil and Sichuan pepper kernels. These are available in most Asian grocery stores.
Welllllllllllllll I think I am ready to tackle buying one. Lovvvvvve cabbage and when we go out to eat Chinese, love it in those dishes also.
Because of the larger head size, I expect to use some and then the rest in about a week. So how to keep it in the fridg please?
Much thanks!
Amazing and here is what you can do. Either wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, in a large plastic bag, or in an air-tight container in your crisper. This will help to lock in your cabbage’s natural moisture and reduce oxidation.
Cut cabbage should be used in 2-3 days.
1
Tastes like the way mommy makes it :)
Tastes like the way mommy makes it :)
Yes, thanks for trying this napa cabbage recipe. :)
Thank you for all your
Hard work and sharing your wonderful recipes