On a Chinese dinner table, there are always a few vegetable dishes along with the main. A quick stir fry is one of the best ways to create a healthy and delicious side dish for dinner.
This 4-ingredient fried cabbage is a family recipe. My mom cooks it all the time because it requires minimum preparation and chopping but it yields a very flavorful dish. She kept telling me, right before I moved to the US, that this is the kind of recipe I need to learn. And putting green vegetables on the dinner table is one of the most important tasks, more important than cooking with meat!
So here is it, the 4-ingredient fried cabbage that only requires 3 minutes to prepare and 5 minutes to cook.
Secret ingredients for the best fried cabbage
The secret ingredients of making addictive fried cabbage are Sichuan peppercorns and dried chili peppers.
Sichuan peppercorns
Sichuan peppercorn (花椒, Huā Jiāo) is also known as Szechuan pepper, a key ingredient in Sichuan cuisine. Sichuan peppercorn has a pungent aroma, slightly lemony overtones, and numbing properties. If you bite into one of these small peppercorns, you’ll immediately feel the tongue-tingling, buzzing, party-in-your-mouth sensation otherwise known as ‘málà’ – numbing spice. In Northern Chinese cooking, we usually use the ingredients to infuse oil or sauces, to add extra savory aroma to a dish.
Chinese dried chili peppers
Not only is it a key ingredient in authentic Sichuan food, it’s commonly used in braising and stir-frying to infuse fragrance into the oil. There are a few types of commonly used Chinese chili peppers and I highly recommend to at least have Facing Heaven Chili (medium-hot and very fragrant) in your pantry.
Use Sichuan peppercorns and dried chili pepper to infuse the hot oil with smokiness and adds a numbing spicy hint to the sweet fried cabbage. The cabbage will be seared with high heat and lightly charred, tender and meaty in texture without losing its crunchiness. Finish up with just a drizzle of soy sauce, you’d be surprised how flavorful the result is. I can finish eating half a head of cabbage in 2 minutes.
Cooking process
- Cut the cabbage to bite-size pieces. (See the video below my recipe to learn how I cut the cabbage)
- Fry the Sichuan peppercorns in the hot oil until turning dark.
- Scoop out the Sichuan peppercorns.
- Add the dried chili pepper and cabbage. Cook until turning tender but still crunchy.
- Drizzle with soy sauce.
That’s it! Use this quick and easy fried cabbage recipe to add nutrition to your dinner table.
More easy side dish recipes
- Cantonese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce
- Napa Cabbage Stir Fry with Vinegar Sauce
- Vegetable Lo Mein
- 4-Ingredient Baby Bok Choy Stir Fry
- Garlic Spinach in Chicken Broth
If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @omnivorescookbook on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.
Chinese Cooking Made Easy
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Chinese 4-Ingredient Fried Cabbage
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tablespoon peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
- 1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
- 2 dried chili peppers
- 1/2 small head cabbage , chopped
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce (or tamari for gluten free)
Instructions
- Heat a wok or large skillet over medium high heat until hot. Add oil and peppercorns. Stir until the peppercorns become fragrant and turn dark brown. Turn the heat right down and scoop the peppercorns out with a spatula and put aside for later. (*footnote 1).
- Turn the heat back to medium high and add the chili peppers and cabbage. Immediately stir with spatula for 30 seconds. You should hear a vibrant sizzle. Add the salt. Keep stirring until the the edges are lightly charred and the leaves turn soft, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Turn to medium low heat, drizzle soy sauce over the cabbage and stir a few times to mix everything well.
- Serve warm.
Video
Notes
- When the Sichuan peppercorns cool down, grind them in a coffee grinder and store in an airtight container in the fridge. The peppercorn powder is very fragrant and can be used in making marinade or sauce, such as sesame noodles.
Nutrition
Have a question or feedback? Add a Comment
Did you make this? I want to see! Tag @OmnivoresCookbook on Instagram, and rate the recipe below.
Bob Taliaferro+
Quick. Easy. Tastes great. As a retired male, cooking has been my ‘therapy.’ I do most of the cooking and this recipe is better than 5 stars! My wife and I can eat a whole head of cabbage as the entree. The flavors are amazing, the crunch satisfying, the total time makes this a go-to, and the nutrition is great. I got my chilies and pepper corns from the Market. Thanks for sharing this family recipe. I love your recipes and explanations and cooking tips.
Chandra L
Very flavorful- I’ve been craving a taste like this, and the instructions were spot- on.
Jessica
Quick & easy! Loved that it used some staples in my fridge/pantry. Tasted just as good (if not better) as a restaurant.
Prepped & cooked & eaten in less than 10 min
Elizabeth
So, I just made this recipe and bought the peppercorns and dried chili peppers from the Mala Market. Both my boyfriend and I have a very strange tingling sensation and almost numbing sensation on our tongues (I worried this was an allergic reaction but we seem to be fine). Do you know what this is due to? Did I heat the peppercorns or chilies too long? Our mouth isn’t burning just a super weird sensation (almost metal like). I can’t say I taste the cabbage because this experience is overriding my taste buds. All the recipes I have cooked from here are AMAZING. This is my first dish w/the Sichuan peppercorns and chilies.
Maggie Zhu
Hi Elizabeth, the numbing tingling sensation is a part of the Sichuan peppercorns flavor profile. If you do not like it or if it’s too strong, you can reduce the amount and only use a tiny bit to add aroma to the oil. The Sichuan peppercorns from the Mala Market is VERY fresh, so they are quite potent. If you decide to give this one a try again, I would only use maybe 3 to 4 of them in this dish, to make it less intense.
Thanks for your kind words! I hope you can give Sichuan peppercorn another try because it’s a wonderful ingredient. Just make sure do not bite into one, which will numb your mouth for quite a while.
Mel
Never knew this dish is so easy to make..And the bonus of grinding and keeping for later..Thanks a lot Maggie..😘
Lauren
I will make this an absolute go-to now. The cabbage sold here is always huge so I try to find new recipes to use it up. This was INCREDIBLE 🙂 I am so happy I found this!!
Chef Mimi
Fabulous! Cabbage is so good. Last time I cooked it was with black vinegar. I made a Korean chile/chili oil a while back and that comes in handy. Plus, I always have pepper salt around, made with Szechuan peppercorns. Love that stuff! I even use it on my husband’s steaks! Great recipe!
Jordan
I came across this while looking for a tasty way to cook cabbage, In the past I’ve stir fried it in soy sauce, but I never thought of using Sichuan peppercorns to get that numbing taste from Mala Xiang Guo! Just ordered some Sichuan peppercorns on Amazon 🙂
Eric Toft
Simple, quick, and tasty. Go easy on the salt; probably want to under-salt it in step 2 and add more at the end if needed.
DB
Your Mom is very wise. Good, reliable are invaluable to your culinary repertoire! You always offer information we can use. Love your site.
DJ
I’ve done similarly with cabbage (maybe a snuck-in onion) for years! How do you feel about adding doubanjiang to this? I never thought to use peppercorns, the taste is wonderful. Learning when cabbage is finished by eye is a priceless skill.
Maggie
I’m pretty sure doubanjiang would work and the dish will taste great 🙂
Fiona
Super quick, super yummy … although I did get a little heavy handed with extra chili. Peppercorns were a lovely surprise. Served as a side with bbq snapper and steamed rice. A hit for all.