Lots of Chinese families cook this several times a month at home, even though you almost never see it on a restaurant menu. The recipe pairs two of the most everyday pantry items in China, pork and cabbage, with a basic marinade and a quick stir fry sauce. The end result lands somewhere between tomato and egg stir fry and Mom’s pork dumplings on the homestyle Chinese spectrum, simple ingredients pulling more weight than they look like they should.
When I want a warm Chinese dinner on a slow weeknight, this is the dish I love making first because it cooks faster than rice. My husband and I will eat it as a one bowl meal over steamed rice, and my son picks out the cabbage slices because they are sweet enough that he treats them like a separate snack. I started picking up Taiwanese flat cabbage on weekend grocery trips once I tasted the difference it makes here.
Making this pork and cabbage stir fry recipe in stages is easy: marinating the pork while I slice the cabbage and aromatics, searing the pork over high heat in a hot pan, stir-frying the cabbage in the same pan with the garlic and ginger, then returning the pork and finishing everything with a soy-based sauce and a small cornstarch slurry. I enjoy serving this to my family and friends, and I always get compliments. It is so delicious, but don’t take my word for it. Try it yourself!
Ingredients
These are the ingredients I use to make this pork and cabbage stir fry recipe, along with a few swaps I have tested that work well too.
Meat
I use thinly sliced pork tenderloin because it stays tender even at high heat and slices easily once it is partially frozen. Other lean cuts work too, like pork loin or sirloin, as long as I slice them thin across the grain. The marinade is Shaoxing wine, grated ginger, dark soy sauce for color, and cornstarch for a velvety surface.
Cabbage
Taiwanese flat cabbage, 高丽菜 in Chinese, is the ideal here. It is shorter and less dense than the round green cabbage Western shoppers know, with curly inner leaves that go sweet and buttery when stir fried. I look for a head that is light for its size, which usually means more of the loose curly leaves inside. Regular green cabbage works too and is what I default to when flat cabbage is not at the store, but the leaves are tougher so they take a longer cook over slightly lower heat.
Aromatics
A couple of cloves of sliced garlic and a thumb of julienned ginger flavor the oil before the cabbage goes in. The ginger here is julienned rather than grated so the strands stay visible in the final dish, which gives a different aromatic note from the grated ginger in the marinade.
Sauce
Light soy sauce for salt and savor, a small amount of dark soy sauce for deeper color, and a teaspoon of sugar to round out the soy. A separate cornstarch slurry, just cornstarch whisked into water, goes in at the very end to bring the sauce together.
Oil
Peanut oil is my default because it carries the garlic and ginger well and has a high enough smoke point for the searing step. Plain vegetable oil works the same way if peanut oil is not in the pantry.
How to Make
1. Marinate the pork: Add the sliced pork to a medium bowl with the Shaoxing wine, grated ginger, dark soy sauce, and cornstarch. Mix with your hands until every piece is coated evenly. Let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes while I prep everything else.
2. Mix the sauce: Combine the light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and sugar in a small bowl and stir to dissolve.
3. Make the cornstarch slurry: In a separate small bowl, whisk the cornstarch with a tablespoon of water until smooth. Set it next to the stove because it needs another quick stir right before it goes into the pan.
4. Sear the pork: Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium to high heat until shimmering. Add the marinated pork in a single layer with minimal overlap. Let it cook for 1 minute without touching so the bottom lightly chars, then flip and finish the other side until the pork is just cooked through. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
5. Cook the aromatics: Add the remaining tablespoon of oil, the sliced garlic, and the julienned ginger to the same pan. Stir for a few seconds until the garlic smells toasty.
6. Stir fry the cabbage: Add the cabbage and stir fry for about 3 minutes, until the leaves just begin to turn tender but still have crunch.
7. Build the sauce: Pour in the sauce mixture and stir to coat. Return the seared pork to the pan and toss everything together.
8. Taste and serve: Drop the heat to low and taste a piece of cabbage. Adjust with a pinch of salt if needed. Transfer everything to a serving plate and serve hot over steamed rice.
My Cooking Tips
Slice the pork while it is partially frozen: Pork tenderloin is much easier to cut thin and even when it has spent 20 minutes in the freezer. Thin even slices cook in seconds and stay tender, which is the whole point of the high heat sear.
Pull the cabbage off a touch early: The cabbage continues to cook once the sauce goes into the pan and the cornstarch slurry brings everything to a simmer. I aim for cabbage that still has clear crunch when I add the sauce, knowing it will land at al dente by the time I plate.
Mix the slurry right before it goes in: Cornstarch settles to the bottom of the bowl in seconds. I give the slurry a second whisk right before pouring it into the pan.
Pre-mix the sauce in a small bowl: Stir frying moves fast once the pan is hot, so I have the sauce mixed and the slurry ready before I turn on the burner. Reaching for soy sauce bottles mid stir fry is how the cabbage ends up overcooked.
Drop the heat if the cabbage chars too fast: Regular green cabbage especially can scorch before the leaves go tender. If I see dark spots forming, I bring the heat down to medium and stir more often so the leaves cook through without burning.
Serving Suggestions
My favorite way to eat this is as a weeknight one bowl meal, the kind of dinner I serve over a generous scoop of egg fried rice and eat with my son and husband at the kitchen table.
As part of a fuller Chinese style spread, I treat this as one of two or three savory plates. It pairs naturally with stew I made beforehand, such as Chinese beef stew with potato, and a comforting soup like Chinese egg drop soup on the side. I highly recommend this combo!
Frequently Ask Questions
How do I keep the pork tender instead of tough?
The combination of slicing thin across the grain, marinating with cornstarch and Shaoxing wine, and searing fast over high heat is what keeps the pork tender. Cornstarch in the marinade coats the meat and protects the surface from drying out, while the quick high heat sear means the inside cooks before the outside has a chance to toughen. If the pork comes out chewy, you have cooked them too long.
Why is my cabbage watery or soggy?
Watery cabbage almost always means the pan was not hot enough, the pieces were crowded, or the cabbage spent too long in the pan after the sauce went in. Stir frying needs space and heat to work, so I do not double the cabbage in a single pan and I keep the heat at medium to high until the sauce goes in.
How to store leftovers properly?
Leftovers keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days. The cabbage softens further as it sits in the sauce, so the texture leans tender on day two and three. I reheat in a skillet over medium heat with a splash of water to loosen the sauce, which works better than the microwave for keeping the pork from turning rubbery.
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Pork and Cabbage Stir Fry
Ingredients
Marinating
- 4 oz pork tenderloin , thinly sliced (or other lean cuts)
- 2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine
- 1/4 teaspoon grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
Sauce
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
Stir fry
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil , divided (or vegetable oil)
- 2 cloves garlic , sliced
- 1/2 thumb ginger , julienned
- 1/4 head (12 oz) regular cabbage (or 1/2 head Taiwanese flat cabbage) , sliced to bite-size pieces (yield about 4 cups once cut) (*Footnote 1)
Instructions
- Add the pork and the rest of the marinating ingredients into a medium-size bowl. Mix thoroughly with your hands to coat evenly. Let marinate for 10 to 15 minutes while preparing the rest of the ingredients.
- Mix the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Add the 1 teaspoon cornstarch into a small bowl with 1 tablespoon of water. Stir to mix well.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium high heat until hot. Add the pork with minimal overlapping. Let cook for 1 minute without touching, or until the bottom is lightly charred. Flip to cook the other side until the pork is just cooked through. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
- Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil, garlic and ginger. Stir a few times to release the fragrance.
- Add the cabbage. Stir and cook until the cabbage just begins to turn tender, 3 minutes or so. If the cabbage starts to char too quickly, turn to medium heat.
- Pour in the sauce and stir a few times to mix well. Add back the pork. Stir to mix everything together. Stir the cornstarch slurry again and pour into the pan. Cook and stir until the sauce thickens.
- Turn to low heat and carefully try the cabbage. Adjust seasoning by adding a pinch of salt if needed. Transfer everything to a plate and serve hot as a main dish.
Notes
- If using Taiwanese flat cabbage, you will need to use 1/2 small heads because these cabbages have loose leaves and are smaller in general. I highly recommend using flat cabbage for this dish if you can find them.
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?
I’d love to hear how it turned out for you! Please take a moment to leave a 5-star rating ⭐️ and share your thoughts in the comments further down the page. It really helps others discover the recipe too.
Michael
I love both pork & cabbage. Together, a great combination. Making this for the 3rd time tonight. Great recipe!
Linda
We had to try this recipe because we loved the pork and peppers it is delicious my husband loves cabbage so big hit for him. We have loved both thanks for sharing
Natalie
Incredibly delicious! The flavor is indeed light, but still very addictive.
Mike G
Delicious! Not really strong flavor (the Tawainese cabbage is a nice change from typical green cabbage). Might be nice to add a little spice in the form of some dried chili’s