Napa Cabbage Recipes

After a little bit of research we've learned a little bit about all the good qualities associated with this vegetable we are flooded with right now.  Also known as Chinese cabbage, it is in so many Asian recipes that if you've eaten much Asian food, you've probably eaten Napa cabbage.  It's a pretty vegetable with sort of an elongated head, not the compact ball we associate most cabbage with.  It looks very similar to boc choi and I've seen several references to it being somewhere in between cabbage and boc choi with a milder flavor than both.

Since we've been eating the fire out of this cabbage for the last few nights, I thought I'd share a few links that I'm pulling recipes off of for our customers that feel like trying something new but don't know what to do with it.

The best article I've found with easy recipes that I'm working our way through is "8 Things to do with Napa Cabbage".  We started super easy with braised napa cabbage and cabbage stir-fry.  I'm working my way up to kimchi.  Not only will it require me getting a little out of my comfort zone in the kitchen, it will require a trip to the grocery store.  I could get a little stuck just on the braised cabbage though which was pretty easy and with only the addition of ginger made it seem like III knew a little bit about Asian cooking.

For those about to place their weekly online order or those close to a grocery store or with a well-stocked pantry, I'd recommend going straight to the Food Network site and checking out a few of their 208 recipes for Napa Cabbage.  For that matter, CLG customers, check out the Slow Smoked Pork Shoulder recipe and pick up a pork shoulder roast from one of your local meat farmers like Falling Sky Farm or Freckle Face Farm.

I personally would like to try the Sweet Napa Cabbage with Pasta, but it would require me breaking one of my own rules.  We try really hard to only eat seasonal vegetables and I don't even hit the veggie aisle at the store.  We work entirely out of the garden or the freezer.  I just don't know any time in Arkansas when I'll have eggplant and cabbage ready to harvest at the same time.  Hmmm.  Maybe braised cabbage again tonight?