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The Braised Napa Cabbage and Mushrooms, or more commonly known as “白菜滷” in Chinese word, is a Taiwanese style vegetable stew. I learned this dish from my Taiwanese coworker as she always likes to cook it. I think it is so much different to our style of cooking and I decided to give it a try. The main ingredient of the dish is the napa cabbage. You can add other ingredients to the pot, some common ones are carrots and all sorts of mushrooms. You can also add pork strips for a more complete pot dish to your meal, or opt out for a vegetarian style.

Eric did not get used to eat this dish the first time when I cooked it, because he didn’t like the cabbage being cooked to that soft texture. But after a couple of tryouts and changes to the recipe, now we enjoy this dish very much. Sometimes we will cook a pot and just goes with white rice, that’s how good it is. I used some dried shrimps and lots of garlic to sauteed the vegetables, that will add more flavors and also a nice fragrant to the dish. Seasoning is also very important to create a tasty sweet broth. Do not overcook the napa or it will turn out too mushy, so be watchful of the time and heat.

Ingredients:

1 1-11/2lb whole Napa Cabbage
1 handful dried shrimps (soaked in water to soft, coarsely chopped)
1tbsp  + 1 tbsp minced garlic
3 stalks scallions (cut into 2″ slices)
3 carrots (cut horizontally into 2″ slices)
3 Korean King Oyster Mushrooms “杏鲍菇” (cut into slices)
2 pack Golden Needle Mushrooms “金针菇” (trimmed the bottom part, rinse)
1 cup water

For the seasoning:
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sugar
Few dashes salt and pepper

Cooking Method:

1. To prepare the Napa Cabbage, cut and separate the leaves from the stems, chopped leaves and stems into 1 1/2 – 2″ big pieces, divide them into separate bowl. Cut the carrots, oyster mushroom into smaller slices. Prepare the others as above.
2. Heat up a wok or pot on medium high heat with 2 tbsp oil, add 1 tbsp minced garlic and stir fry till slight golden, follow by dried shrimps and scallions, stir fry till fragrant.
3. Add in the cabbage stems and carrots, stir fry and combine, cover with lit for about 2-3 minutes till slightly soft, stir or sightly toss occasionally to prevent burn.
4. Add in the rest of cabbage leaves to the pot, combine and cover for another 2 minutes till slightly reduce.
5. Add in 1 cup of water or till the half level of the vegetables, add in mushrooms, bring to boil. Turn heat to low, cover and simmer for another 5-10 minutes till cabbage is soft but not mushy.
6. Add in seasoning, combine and bring to boil.
7. Optional: Heat up a saucepan on medium high with some oil, add in remaining minced garlic, stir fry till golden. Top the fried garlic oil on Napa cabbage when serving.