Braised Cabbage with Smokey Bacon

I can't remember my exact age when I cooked my first family dinner. I would have been around 14 or 15 then. However, I remember vividly the dish I cooked that evening. It was a stir fry of Chinese cabbage with pork.

For the very first time, I took over the wok from my mom. I was very proud of it. My mom had to go somewhere that afternoon and she gave me all the instructions I needed in advance. I took charge of the kitchen. I can recall so clearly all the steps I did that day. I chopped the garlic, sliced the pork, shredded the cabbage. Then I marinated the pork in corn flour, oil and soy sauce (This process tenderizes the meat). Heat the wok, add peanut oil and stir fry 1/2 portion of the chopped garlic, add pork and stir fry until browned and just cooked through. Remove from wok. Add the remaining chopped garlic and stir fry until fragrant, add cabbage and continue to stir fry until the cabbage is wilted a little. Add water and oyster sauce and cover the wok and let it simmer for a few minutes. Add pork and stir fry for another minute or so, and thicken the sauce with cornflour water.

There are many precious moments in life that I cherish. This is one of them.

This braised cabbage with smokey bacon is another cabbage dish that I love. I stumbled upon it while flipping through the MEAT cookbook by Adrian Richardson. I have since made this dish many times. It goes very well with pork dishes especially this Twice-cooked Pork Belly with Toffee-Crisp Cracking (will post recipe soon!).

Braised Savoy Cabbage with Smoky Bacon Recipe

(Adapted from Adrian Richardson's Meat: Delicious Dinners for Every Night of the Week)

Serves 8

Ingredients

3 tbsp olive oil

150 g thick-cut rashers smoky bacon or pancetta, cut into batons

100 g butter

1 onion, sliced

4 garlic cloves, sliced

2 stick celery, sliced

1 large carrot, sliced

1/2 tbsp caraway seeds

600 g Savoy cabbage, thickly sliced

1/4 cup chopped parsley leaves

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-based saucepan and fry the bacon until crisp. Lift the bacon out of the pan onto paper towels to drain.
2. Lower the heat and add the butter to the pan. Add the onion, garlic, celery, carrot and caraway seeds and sweat for 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft, but not coloured. Add the cabbage to the pan and season generously. Stir well and sweat for 2 minutes until the cabbage begins to soften, then increase the heat and cook, stirring frequently, until the pan juices have evaporated.
3. Stir in the fried bacon and parsely and serve straight away.