Stir fried hand torn cabbage

Hand Torn Cabbage (手撕包菜” (shǒu sī bāo cài)) is a very popular dish from Hunan cuisine and is also sometimes called Sichuan hand torn cabbage. It is a very simple dish and there are many variations but the basics are the same.
Chinese chefs like to hand tear the cabbage as they believe that the raggedy edges
By hand tearing the cabbage to similar size pieces ensures a more even cook and makes it easier to pick up with chopsticks.
What cabbage to use for stir fry cabbage?
I tend to like using the round white cabbage but the leaves and stems are thicker and may take a bit longer to cook. On the other hand, it doesn’t need very precise cooking to get a delicious result. And it is cheap.
Other alternatives you can use are sweetheart cabbage which has thinner leaves and looks a bit greener or savoy cabbage with the darker green crumbly leaves.
You just need to adjust the cooking time for the different type of cabbage. Just judge this by eye. You just need to stir fry until the cabbage is opague (in the case of the white cabbage) or wilted in the case of the other types of cabbage.
How to prep the cabbage

Tear each leaf off the white cabbage and tear off the stem. You can use the stem in soups or Then tear each leaf into smaller pieces about 6-8 cm widths. Not too small as you want to still have enough texture per bite.
For the white cabbage, you might want to add a step by blanching the torn leaves in boiling water for 30 seconds. In Chinese cooking this is called, “cut the life” to make it not raw but not cooked through.
This not just par cooks the cabbage but also helps to clean it and also removes the chlorophyll. Remove it and place it in an ice bath to keep the crunch but you can miss this for home cooks.
Fool proof tip for stir frying cabbage

You need to use a really hot wok so that the cabbage cooks in the shortest time, about 2 minutes. Whilst stir frying, you should constantly move the vegetable around the wok with a wok spatula so that it all gets an even contact wtih the heated surface.
Having all the seasonings ready before stir frying will help you get this dish on the table in minutes.
The seasonings I have used here is a lot less than some other recipes. They might add some fermented bean paste, Chinese bacon and whole toasted Sichuan peppercorns. The seasonings are not for creating a sauce but just for additional flavour. Any sauce that is created is from the liquid that leaks out of the vegetable itself in the process of cooking.
In this recipe, I have simplified it by not using whole Sichuan peppercorns but a Chinese Salt that is flavoured with the fragrant, hot and numbing chillies already. I found that this salt gives it that lovely Sichuan flavour without having to buy yet another ingredient for your larder that you will only use once a year. This packet of salt is quite versatile and can be used as a cooking hack to add flavour to so many other Chinese dishes. Combined with the aromatics, garlic, chillies and optional ginger and spring onions, this makes for a very delicious vegetable side dish.
As I had run out of dried chillies, which are normally used in this dish, I used some fresh finger chillies instead. They added the needed spice kick to this dish.

Give this recipe a go and serve it as part of a multi course Chinese meal. It is one that you will probably return to again and again.
Stir Fried Hand Torn Cabbage
Ingredients
- 500 g or about 1/2 head white cabbage torn into small pieces
- 1 tbsp cooking oil or pork lard
- 3 garlic cloves peeled and sliced
- 2 long finger chillies cut into 3 pieces (Use dried chillies if you have them instead)
- 3 red bird’s eye chillies sliced (optional for the extra heat)
- 1 tsp Chinese Sichuan salt or 1 tsp of crushed Sichuan peppercorns
- 1 tsp light soy sauce adjust to taste
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp chicken powder or MSG
Instructions
- Tear the leaves off the cabbage and tear into smaller pieces, place aside
- Chop garlic and chiilies
- In a hot wok or a large saute pan, add a bit of cooking oil or lard, stir fry the garlic and chillies for about 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Add the hand torn cabbage and stir fry vigorously until it looks a bit wilted and opague.
- Add seasonings and sprinkle on the Chinese Salt. This adds a touch of spice and the fragrance of sichuan peppercorns to the dish.
- Taste to adjust seasonings to taste. Serve hot with steamed rice and other dishes as a multi dish Chinese meal.
Notes
