Stir fried cabbage with pork. It’s a meal we have frequently at home, generally a meal that’s served after the cook of the moment looks in a very sparse needing-groceries-badly kind of fridge, rummages around a bit and eventually gives up and grabs for a little cabbage to pull this easy dish off.

Now, this seems to happen to us often, so we end up lunching on stir fried cabbage with pork pretty regularly, but as often as I eat it, and as easy as it is to whip up – I never get tired of this classic quick cooking Thai meal.

It really tastes good.

So here it is; our family rendition. I hope you enjoy it as we do and I hope that if you’re like us, and often have a head of white cabbage lurking in the depths of the crisper, that this meal will come in handy for you too, one of these days.

Thai Stir Fried Cabbage with Pork

• 4 cups of white cabbage, cut into roughly one inch chunks
• 1 clove of garlic, smashed flat
  
• About ¼ pound of pork, cut into thin slices. Any kind of pork will do nicely in this recipe, whether it is loin, shoulder, tenderloin or what-have you, even ground pork will work here.
• 1 Tbls of oyster sauce
• ¾ tsp of fish sauce
• 1 and ½ tsps of soy sauce
• ½ tsp of sugar
• ½ tsp of MSG
• A little vegetable oil for frying

1. Heat a wok or frying pan over medium high and add in a generous Tbls or so of vegetable oil. When preheated, toss in the garlic and stir fry until fragrant and golden, about 20 seconds and then toss in the pork slices and cook, stirring, until just browned.
2. Toss in all of the cabbage leaves and continue stir frying as you also add in the remaining sauces and seasoning.
3. Continue stirring until the cabbage has softened to your liking, about 3-5 minutes. If things start looking too dry, you can add in a couple of spoonfuls of water, no problemo.
4. Taste for salt/sweetness and add more soy sauce or sugar as necessary.
5. Serve with steamed jasmine rice for a very quick and easy Thai style meal.

I find that having a little pork in the fridge or freezer at all times a must for days when I’m just too lazy to peddle over to the fresh market. When cooking Thai style, you often only need a small quantity of meat, so what I do is buy a couple of pounds of pork when it’s on sale, and then just carve off hunks of it as needed from the freezer. It saves my bacon when the kids are hungry and it’s a very cost effective and healthy way to eat.