Name: Dainty Sichuan’s wawa cabbage (chow wawa cai)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 50 ml vegetable oil; 50 gm skinless pork belly, thinly sliced; 15 gm red and green birdseye chillies, thinly sliced into rings (about 5-6); 600 gm baby Chinese cabbage, halved and cut lengthways into thin strips (see note); 1 tbsp oyster sauce; 1½ tsp soy sauce; 1½ tsp Knorr chilli liquid seasoning (see note)

Dainty Sichuan’s wawa cabbage (chow wawa cai)

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for wawa cabbage (Chow wawa cai) from Dainty Sichuan in Melbourne.

Serves 6

Prep

15M

Cook

Total

20M

Wawa in Mandarin means “baby”; in this case it refers to baby Chinese cabbage, also known as wombok or Napa cabbage. Sweet, crunchy and ultra-tender, these cabbages are barely larger than your hand and weigh 300gm-600gm each. In the hands of a Sichuan cook, this humble vegetable takes on stunning smoky-wok flavours. The trick is to toss the cabbage constantly while stir-frying, maintaining heat control, and not to add any water. Tina Li uses Knorr chilli liquid seasoning for this dish but says it’s optional.

Ingredients

50 ml vegetable oil

50 gm skinless pork belly, thinly sliced

15 gm red and green birdseye chillies, thinly sliced into rings (about 5-6)

600 gm baby Chinese cabbage, halved and cut lengthways into thin strips (see note)

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1½ tsp soy sauce

1½ tsp Knorr chilli liquid seasoning (see note)

Method

Main

1.Heat oil in a large wok over high heat. Add pork and stir-fry until meat begins to curl (15 seconds). Add chillies, stir-fry until fragrant (30 seconds), then add cabbage and stir-fry until well coated (30 seconds). Add oyster sauce, soy sauce, liquid seasoning and 1 tsp salt, stir-fry until wilted (2-3 minutes) and serve hot.