Beijing's savory cabbage and shrimp dish

Most evenings when we got off of work in Taipei, I would be way too tired to cook. Fortunately for us, the little mom-and-pop restaurants that dotted the city offered an amazing variety of foods from all over China. One of our favorites was a little place that served up northern-style dishes.

            

The dad there was from Shandong, and so jiaozi were always on the menu. But for dinner we usually wanted something more substantial, and we therefore would order one of the set meals. 

These were called 客飯 kèfàn, and this way we could pick and choose two or three entrees from a short list of cheap and good favorites. They would be served up with small bowls of the house soup, as well as some white rice. At the time, this would usually set us back about four dollars, which made eating out even more of a pleasure.

           

An inspired combination

 On the permanent column of that list was this simple dish, and it is one that we returned to again and again. It is little more than shredded napa cabbage flavored with chopped dried shrimps and some aromatics. 

I know, this does not sound at all exciting, but something marvelous happens when this gang of seasonings gets together, as it turns a boring pile of cabbage into a sensuous delight.

Napa cabbage with dried shrimp

Kāiyáng báicài 開洋白菜 

Beijing
Serves 4 to 6

2 tablespoons dried shrimp

Boiling filtered water

1 head napa cabbage (about 2 pounds)

4 green onions, trimmed and finely chopped

4 teaspoons finely minced fresh ginger

6 tablespoons fresh peanut or vegetable oil

1 tablespoon regular soy sauce

1 tablespoon vinegar

1. Place the shrimps in a small, heatproof bowl and cover them with boiling water. Let them soak there until the water has cooled off. Strain the water into a small cup, and then clean the shrimps individually, removing any sandy veins or foreign matter. Chop them finely.

2. Rinse the cabbage, shake it dry, and cut it lengthwise in half. Finely shred the white bottom half of the leaves across the grain and discard the core. Then, shred the greener leaves; keep these two piles separate.

 

Kaiyang baicai

3. Heat a wok over high heat and add the oil when the wok begins to smoke. Toss in the chopped shrimp, green onions, and ginger. Fry these for about a minute until they are just beginning to brown, and then add the white parts of the cabbage leaves to the wok. Stir-fry the cabbage over high heat until it just begins to brown on the edges, and then scoot everything up the side of the wok. Add the greener parts of the leaves and toss these over high heat until they begin to wilt. Finally, mix everything together and pour the soy sauce and vinegar over the vegetables. Toss until the seasonings are well distributed. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve hot.

Golden-edged cabbage from Xi'an

Cabbage has such a lousy reputation here in the States, but in China it is prepared with reverence and served with delight. 

Part of this has to do with the willingness by Chinese cooks to find luscious aspects to every level of doneness: from raw shreds tossed in a spicy vinaigrette to crisp torn leaves in a stir-fry to the mellowest of squares in a braise. No matter how it is prepared, though, it is done with care.

To the Chinese, cabbage (báicài 白菜, literally “white vegetable”) means one thing and one thing only: napa cabbage, those football-shaped and -sized veggies that reveal just the palest green on their leaves. And it is precisely that light jade or even yellow coloration that tells you the cabbage’s flatulent aromas will be sufficiently tamed. Since the inner leaves of the plant are shielded from the sun, their flavor ends up sweet and grassy.

Another unique aspect to this vegetable is that the main parts of the plant are its wide, white stalks, the leaves serving more as frilly decorations than anything else. These stems are crisp and juicy, and they are what really lend this “white vegetable” both its name and its popularity.

Napa cabbage

Grown and beloved throughout all of northern, western, and central China, this is a cold-weather vegetable, but also one that stores well when the temperature dips down below freezing. And so, along with root vegetables, this is what has served people well when little else has been available.

Perhaps because of this, or even in spite of it, napa cabbage has become a permanent part of dining tables in these regions. One of the best renditions is this one from Xi'an in Shaanxi province, which contrasts the inherent sweetness of the vegetable with dried chilies and tart vinegar to make a refreshing and positively addictive cool weather dish.

A Xi'an specialty

Golden-edged cabbage  
Jīnbiān báicài 金邊白菜
Shaanxi

Serves 4 

1½ pounds napa cabbage (about ½ large head or 1 small head)

5 dried Thai chilies

2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil

1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled fresh ginger

1½ tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1½ teaspoons regular soy sauce

½ teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1. Rinse the cabbage carefully, removing any damaged leaves. Shake the cabbage dry and then cut out the core. Separate the leaves into stacks of 3 or 4 and place them curved-side down on a cutting board. Use the side of a cleaver to lightly whack the stems; this will serve to gently break them open (see Tips), and then cut them into pieces approximately 2 x 1 inches in size.

2. Break the chilies open and discard both the seeds and the stem ends. Cut them into smallish pieces. Heat a wok over high heat and then pour in the oil. Immediately add the chilies and fry them quickly until they have crisped up. Toss in the ginger and the cabbage and stir-fry the cabbage over high heat. As soon as the cabbage has wilted, add the vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, and sesame oil. Taste and adjust seasoning. Continue to toss the cabbage until all of the edges are a golden brown. Serve hot.

Tips

Fry the dried chilies til crispy

As noted above, select a cabbage that is as pale as possible, as this will help ensure its sweetness and delicate flavors.

Slightly whacking the cabbage gives it the opportunity to soak up flavors that otherwise would just slide off the slick stems. Be careful not to mash the cabbage, but rather open up the stiff stems.

The cabbage is then cut into what Chinese chefs call a “domino” (gŭpáipiàn 骨牌片) shape, one that is very common for stir-fries, as it is large enough to retain its character as a vegetable, but is small enough to be cooked quickly and evenly.

Add more chilies to this, if you like, and adjust the sweet and sour notes to fit your own taste.

Some people like to thicken the sauce with a final cornstarch slurry. If you are in this camp, mix a teaspoon of cornstarch with a tablespoon of filtered water and add it a few minutes before the cabbage is done so that the cornstarch has a chance to fully cook and lose its starchy texture.

Mustardy cabbage mounds from Beijing

Once in a while you come across a dish that is so different from anything you've ever seen before that it might throw you for a loop. And something like this is even more surprising if it turns out to be really good. Mustardy cabbage mounds (baicai jiemo dun), a traditional Beijing favorite, especially during the cold months, is one such creation.

This is a particularly striking dish, not just visually, but also because of its cool temperature and gentle tartness, which act as a sort of palate cleanser. I recently served this at a dinner alongside some Muslim style lamb, and the vibrant sauce seemed to make the meat even brighter tasting, like an excellent pickle or a really good glass of wine.

Relatively easy to put together, this mainly calls for cutting some long napa cabbage into sections and steaming them with a simple topping of powdered mustard, sugar, and salt. To say that they are steamed, though, really doesn't tell you how utterly cooked these become, for the little "mounds" are steamed mercilessly for four hours until they are as soft as pillows. To keep them from dissolving, the cabbage sections are tied with twine. Then, if you really want to get fancy, you replace the twine with some blanched green onions, which act as pretty ribbons.

This uses a type of Chinese cabbage that is long and thin, not the barrel-shaped heads that are more commonly seen in markets. Each head should be about 16 inches long and around 3 inches wide near the center; whatever the length and diameter, try to select cabbages that are of similar size so that each serving is approximately the same amount.

Veggie bondage

Use only the tender leaves, which means that the bottom half of the cabbages should be cut off if they are at all thick, although you can keep the upper half of the leaves. What I like to do is to first tie the top half of the cabbage with lengths of kitchen twine as shown to the right, and then cut off the bottom half. After removing the thick outer leaves until the more delectable ones appear, I then continue to tie and cut the rest of the cabbage, for a total of 5 or 6 equal sections per head.

Usually served in spring and winter when these cabbages are at their best, this is something that can be made days ahead of a party and stored in the refrigerator until needed, although I would probably wait until the day they are to be served before tying on the green onions in order to keep their vibrant green hue.

One thing I have done which really isn't completely Chinese is to stir some Dijon mustard and rice vinegar into the sauce. I found that the flavors weren't zippy enough for my taste in the original versions I've seen, and the addition of these two ingredients made the flavors sing. But taste the sauce and season it as you see fit.

Ready for steaming

Mustard cabbage mounds 
Baicai jiemo dun 白菜芥末墩  
Beijing
Serves 10 to 12 as a side dish

2 long, thin heads of napa cabbage (around 3 pounds)
7 tablespoons Colman's dry mustard
8 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, optional
2 tablespoons white rice vinegar, optional
12 or so thin whole green onions

1. Tie the upper half of a head of cabbage with kitchen twine at 2-inch intervals; trim off and remove the very tip, which is too flimsy for this dish. Cut off the bottom half and remove all of the tough leaves; you should be left with a bundle that is about as thick as the top half. Then, tie the bottom half with twine at 2-inch intervals and trim off the tough bottom part.

2. Bring a pot of water to the boil and toss in half the cabbage bundles; blanch then for a minute or so to remove some of the water and strong flavors residing in these leaves. Remove the bundles to a colander set in the sink and run cool water over them. Drain thoroughly.

3. Place the drained bundles cut side up on a large, heatproof plate with a high rim (to hold the sauce that will form during steaming). Toss the powdered mustard with the sugar and salt and sprinkle it evenly over the tops of the bundles. Set the plate in a steamer, cover, and bring the water under the steamer to a full boil. Lower the heat to a strong simmer and steam the cabbage bundles for 4 hours, adding water to the steamer as needed. Remove the plate from the steamer and allow the cabbage to come to room temperature.

Blanching green onions

4. Pour the sauce from the cabbages into a saucepan. Bring the sauce to a boil and simmer until it has reduced thickened slightly. Taste and add the Dijon mustard and vinegar, if desired, and boil it down a bit further so that there are no raw mustard or vinegar flavors. If you are not serving the cabbages that day, pour the sauce over and around the cabbages, cover, and refrigerate. If you are serving them that day, proceed to the next step.

5. If you want to make these a bit fancier, blanch the green onions in boiling water for about a  minute to soften them up; immediately remove them to a bowl of ice water to shock them and stop the cooking. Tie a softened green onion around each cabbage bundle before cutting off the string. When all of the cabbages have been decorated this way, pour the sauce around them and refrigerate until chilled. Serve cold or slightly cold in shallow little bowls with the sauce puddled around and over them.

Tips

Select long, thin napa cabbages that do not have large root sections on the bottom; the smaller the diameter of the solid white circle on the bottom, the younger the cabbage is. The big, barrel-shaped napa cabbages will need to have most of their outer leaves removed, if that is the only variety available.

Feel the cabbages to ensure that they are tightly formed; loose leaves will tend to lose their shape during the steaming.

Soft as silk

Whenever you buy cabbages toward the end of the season, try to peek into the top to see whether a flower stalk is forming, as these are tough and will have to be removed.

Use fresh powdered mustard, if at all possible, as it loses its strength and taste after a while. Take a little taste, if you are not sure. Colman's remains my perennial favorite.

Dijon mustard works wonderfully here, as does the white rice vinegar. Ballpark style mustard would be too sharp, and deli mustard might be too sweet or grainy, but use your own judgment. Darker vinegar tends to make this dish muddy looking, so use as light a vinegar as possible; Marukan makes a good light-colored rice vinegar. (Sushi vinegar is a totally different product, as it has sugar and salt added, and so would overpower this dish.)