If you love a good Chinese stir fry, there’s nothing like a homemade version you can make from the comfort of your own home! Say yes to this Cabbage Noodle Stir Fry made with an abundance of sweet green cabbage, savory minced pork, and a simple soy dressing. Made with sweet potato starch noodles, which have a unique slippery, chewy texture, it’s a weeknight dish that’s anything but boring!
This simple dish is a great homemade option to amazing take-out flavors in a single pan. Made in just 30 minutes, these springy noodles are smothered in an umami-laden sauce, with bold hits of garlic and ginger, and they’re jam-packed with shredded cabbage and bits of ground pork.
It’s a twist on a classic Chinese noodle dish, which is typically served without the ground pork and makes an appearance as part of a multi-course, homestyle spread. (It makes a great side dish.) I still make it this way occasionally, but more often than not, weeknight dinners demand simple dishes I know the whole family will love. This is that.
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Cabbage Noodle Stir Fry Ingredients
- Sweet potato starch noodles: Aka sweet potato glass noodles. And in some cases you may also see them referred to as sweet potato noodles, cellophane noodles or vermicelli. If you like Korean japchae, you may already be familiar with the noodle. At my local Asian grocery store, Korean sweet potato glass noodles are what is readily available.
- Ground pork: Half a pound works for this recipe. Use a spatula to break it up into the smallest bits possible when you are cooking it.
- Shredded cabbage: Napa cabbage or green cabbage work really well here, but if you need a reason to use up half a head of red cabbage, you can use that too. And when I say ‘shredded’ I really mean you’re giving it the coleslaw treatment – the thinner the better. You can increase the amount of cabbage in this dish if you buy a head that’s too small. There aren’t a lot of core ingredients to this stir fry, so can you ever really have too much cabbage!
- Whole Dried Sichuan Chilies: You can sometimes find them with that name, but otherwise, look for Facing Heaven Chilies (Xiao Tian Jiao). You can leave these whole for minimum heat or cut in half with seeds included for more heat. These are not the same as Thai chilies, which pack way more heat and if you had to swap for this, I’d be very conservative (maybe 2 whole Thai chiles)
- Red Sichuan Peppercorn: Sichuan chiles and sichuan peppercorn combine to create the signature Sichuan flavor known as MaLa, or spicy and numbing. I like to grind my Sichuan peppercorn
- Garlic cloves: Fresh, minced garlic adds a nice garlicky flavor to this dish.
- Minced ginger: Provides fresh zing, subtle spice, and slightly sweet flavor.
- Light soy sauce: Adds a salty, umami flavor.
- Dark soy sauce: Dark soy sauce is thicker, darker, and a little sweeter than light soy sauce. Here it also helps enhance the color of the final dish.
- Black Vinegar: Although it comes in many varieties, I use a Chinese made one known as Chinkiang Vinegar. Black vinegar is often compared to balsamic vinegar, but really the two are quite different with black vinegar being less viscous, more aromatic, and less vinegary overall. We keep a bottle on hand to make dumpling sauce, but the more Chinese dishes you make, the more you’ll see it crop up. If you can’t find it or don’t want another bottle in your pantry, you can substitute it with rice vinegar in this recipe. If you want to read more about this fun Asian ingredient, Bon Appetit has you covered!
- Sugar, salt, and ground white pepper: The sugar and salt will be used sparingly. Not more than a teaspoon of sugar – just to help balance the dish – and a pinch of salt to taste.
- To serve: Add more black vinegar to taste and/or chili crisp, maybe a sprinkle of sesame seeds. Optionally, you can also toss the noodles a few drops of sesame oil.
Optional Add-In Veggies
Honestly, I love this stir-fry recipe as is — the humble cabbage is so often overlooked, but I get the appeal of adding in extra veggies to give your meal a nutrient boost! When I’m doing a stir-fry, I like to try to keep the ingredients to 2 or 3 max unless my real aim to clean out my fridge of course, and then anything is game.
Here are a few veggies that would be a great addition to this meal:
- Carrots
- Red Bell Pepper
- Green Bell Pepper
- Shiitake Mushrooms
- Sugar snap peas (thinly sliced)
- Snow peas
- Red onion
5 Tips For The Tastiest Sauce
This sauce hits all the right notes – savory, a hint of sweet, and utterly delicious. Here’s how to make sure your stir fry sauce is AMAZING:
- Use fresh ingredients. Fresh garlic, ginger, and other aromatics make a big difference in flavor.
- Always taste your sauce as you prepare it and adjust the seasoning as needed to suit your preferences.
- On that note, sugar may seem like an odd addition, but you’ll find a small amount of sugar in many Chinese sauces. Even a teaspoon can really round out a dish.
- A few drops of sesame oil boosts the flavor with a nice nutty aroma. It’s optional, but delicious.
- Set out a bottle of black vinegar for serving. It’s a staple condiment on tables in Sichuan noodle shops and gives everyone the power to season to their own liking.
How to Cut Cabbage for Stir Fry
To make sure that the cabbage is tender and caramelizes in your stir fry, the key is to slice it thinly.
- Slice off the stem end of the cabbage head so that you have a sturdy base.
- Cut the cabbage in half starting from the top and working towards the bottom, cut end.
- Lay the cut side down on the cutting board so that its flat surface is touching the board.
- Cut each piece in half again.
- Turn each resulting quarter piece crosswise, and cut it into thin strips (about ⅛-inch thick). The strips are ready to be used in your stir fry recipe!
How to Make Cabbage Stir Fry Recipe
- Bring a large pot of water to boil. Turn off the water. Add 10-12 ounces potato starch noodles and 6 dried chili peppers and let soak until the noodles are translucent and soft. Remove chili peppers and drain.
- Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. Once hot, add ½ pound ground pork and break up. Season with ½ teaspoon salt.
- Once the pork is browned, remove and set aside.
- Then add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil to the same pan, reducing to medium heat if necessary, and add the chopped green onion, minced garlic, grated ginger, and ground sichuan peppercorn (if using). Stir fry for up to 1 minute to infuse the oil with the spices.
- Then add in the half head of shredded cabbage. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until wilted. Pour in approximately 1 teaspoon of rice vinegar and stir.
- Then add in the drained sweet potato starch noodles, the 3 tablespoons light soy sauce, the 2 teaspoons of dark soy sauce, ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper, and the 1 teaspoon of sugar. Using a pair of chopsticks or cooking tongs to toss everything until combined. Taste and season with more light soy sauce or salt to taste.
- Top with the reserve green onions and serve, letting everyone add black rice vinegar and chili crisp to taste.
Other Asian-Inspired Dishes You’ll Love
- Chinese pork and chive dumplings (+wrapper recipe)
- Yibin Burning Noodles
- Dry-Fried Green Beans
- Flaky Cod in Gochujang Broth with Zucchini and Tomatoes
- Honey Sriracha Shrimp
📖 Recipe
Cabbage Noodle Stir Fry
Say yes to this Cabbage Noodle Stir Fry made with an abundance of sweet green cabbage, savory minced pork, and a simple soy dressing. Made with sweet potato starch noodles, which have a unique slippery, chewy texture, it’s a weeknight dish that’s anything but boring!
Ingredients
- 10-12 ounces sweet potato starch noodles
- 6 dried chili peppers soaked, whole or, optionally if you like spice, cut a few in half
- optional ½ pound ground pork (if using, ½ teaspoon salt or to taste)
- 3 green onions chopped; reserve 2 tablespoons of the dark green stalks
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger
- ½ tablespoon red sichuan peppercorn ground
- Half of a green cabbage shredded
- 1 teaspoon black vinegar or rice vinegar, I’ve used both
- 3 tbsp. light soy sauce
- 2 tsp. dark soy sauce optional only for coloring
- 1 teaspoon sugar optional
- ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
- Salt to taste
To serve
- Optional Black rice vinegar
- Optional Chili crisp
- Optional Sesame oil
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to boil. Turn off the water. Add 10-12 ounces potato starch noodles and 6 dried chili peppers and let soak until the noodles are translucent and soft. Remove chili peppers and drain.
- Heat your frying pan over high heat and add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. Once hot, add ½ pound ground pork and break up. Season with ½ teaspoon salt.
- Once the pork is browned, remove and set aside.
- Then add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil to the same pan and add the chopped green onion, minced garlic, grated ginger, and ground sichuan peppercorn (if using). Stir fry for up to 1 minute to infuse the oil with the spices.
- Then add in the half head of shredded green cabbage. Cook for 2 minutes or until wilted. Pour in approximately 1 teaspoon of rice vinegar and stir.
- Then add in the drained sweet potato starch noodles, the 3 tablespoons light soy sauce, the 2 teaspoons of dark soy sauce, ¼ ground white pepper and the 1 teaspoon of sugar. Using a pair of chopsticks or cooking tongs to toss everything until combined. Taste and season with more light soy sauce or salt to taste.
- Top with the reserve green onions and serve, letting everyone add black rice vinegar and chili crisp to taste.
Notes
More Asian-Inspired Dishes For You To Try:
- Chinese pork and chive dumplings (+wrapper recipe)
- Yibin Burning Noodles
- Dry-Fried Green Beans
- Flaky Cod in Gochujang Broth with Zucchini and Tomatoes
- Honey Sriracha Shrimp
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
