Hot and Sour Cabbage (Suan La Bai Cai)
Napa cabbage flash-fried in a scorching wok with dried chilies and Sichuan peppercorns, then splashed with black vinegar so it's smoky, tangy and still crunchy. Ready in under 20 minutes.
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Start your free weekContinue with free accessCut the cabbage
Separate the leaves. Cut the thick white stems on a slant into thin pieces and tear the green leafy tops into large pieces, keeping stems and leaves apart — the stems need longer.
Mix the sauce
Stir together the soy sauce, black vinegar, sugar, salt and cornstarch mixture.
Infuse the oil
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Stir-fry
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Finish
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Cut the cabbage
Separate the leaves. Cut the thick white stems on a slant into thin pieces and tear the green leafy tops into large pieces, keeping stems and leaves apart — the stems need longer.
Mix the sauce
Stir together the soy sauce, black vinegar, sugar, salt and cornstarch mixture.
Infuse the oil
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Stir-fry
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Finish
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The Story Behind the Dish
Suan la bai cai is one of the most common home-style vegetable dishes in western and central China — cheap, quick and full of flavour. Napa cabbage was historically stored through the northern winter, making it one of China's most important vegetables.
The technique of splashing vinegar into a very hot wok gives the dish its signature smoky tang.
⭐ Why It's Famous
It proves a humble cabbage can be thrilling: smoky, sour, spicy and crunchy all at once.
💡 Fun Fact
In Beijing, residents once stockpiled napa cabbage by the cartload every autumn — it was called the 'patriotic cabbage' because everyone relied on it through winter.
Sichuan & Hunan
30.57°N, 104.07°E
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