Taiwanese Cabbage Rice with Sun-Dried Cabbage

Recipe by Lisa Cheng Smith

This recipe details how to make Cabbage Rice, an addictive, simple, old-school Taiwanese dish, with the pantry ingredients provided in our cabbage bundle. All you’ll need in addition is pork belly or slab bacon, a carrot, dried shrimp and some Taiwanese rice wine or cooking sake. Carrot and dried shrimp are optional, so don’t sweat it if you’re out.

Cabbage Rice
高麗菜飯

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 cup of our Sun-Dried Taiwanese Cabbage, soaked in boiling water for 2-5 minutes, or cold soaked for 30 minutes
• 5 dried shiitake mushrooms, cold-soaked overnight or hot-soaked for 30 minutes
• 1 carrot
• 1 Tbsp shallot oil
• 1 tbsp dried paper shrimp, soaked for a few minutes or overnight
• 1/2 lb pork belly or slab bacon, optionally chilled for 30 minutes in the freezer to make it easier to slice
• 1 Tbsp peanut oil
• 1 1/2 tsp frost salt, roughly
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 3 tbsp Soy Paste with Glutinous Rice Grains
• 1/4 cup Taiwanese rice wine or cooking sake
• 2 rice cups Taiwanese short-grain penglai rice

For the Garnish

• 1 handful cilantro, chopped

Equipment

• Wok
• Tatung Electric Steamer (6-cup or 11-cup size; I use the 11-cup for this recipe)

Instructions

1. Squeeze the water out of the reconstituted shiitake mushrooms, and reserve. Slice the mushrooms into thin strips.
2. Drain the water out of the soaked cabbage leaves, and reserve. Squeeze the water out of the cabbage leaves, reserving that too.
3. Peel and julienne the carrot.
4. Cut the pork belly or slab bacon into bite-sized pieces, about 1/4” thick  and up to 2” across.
5. In a heated wok over high heat, pour 1 tbsp of peanut oil. Once the oil is hot, add the shrimp and the shiitake mushrooms. Toss and cook until the ingredients have caramelized just a touch.
6. Push the shallots and mushrooms to the edges of the wok, then add the pork belly or bacon to the center. Stir-fry the pork until it begins to brown.
7. Push the pork belly to the edges of the wok, and stir fry the dried cabbage for a couple minutes.
8. Deglaze the wok with about 1/4 cup Taiwanese rice wine.
9. Add the carrots then toss
10. Pour in the Soy Paste with Glutinous Rice. Mix.
11. Sprinkle in the white pepper then mix.
12. Stir in the shallot oil.
13.  Turn off the what and salt to taste—you want the mixture to taste just a bit too salty, as we will mix it with rice. Set aside.
14. Wash and drain 2 rice cups of short-grain rice into the Tatung inner pot. Add the stir-fried cabbage mixture into the inner pot, on top of the rice. Add two and a half rice cups of water into the inner pot, more than for typical rice preparation because the dried cabbage will absorb a bit of the water.
15. Place the inner pot into the Tatung, then pour 1 rice cup of water into the outer pot. Steam away. In a stovetop steamer, this would equate to about 25 minutes of steaming time.
16. Once the switch pops, let rest for 15 minutes. If working on the stove, turn off the heat and let the rice rest, covered. Test for doneness. If the rice is too al dente, sprinkle a bit more water and and steam for another 5 minutes.
17. Scoop into a bowl and serve garnished with cilantro.