Every season longs to step through
Not many people know about cabbage or how to eat cabbage because this is the kind of “internal publish and circulation” only in the provinces in the Central region such as Nam Dinh, Thai Binh. Even in Hanoi – the biggest market and stomach in Vietnam – cabbage is not too “popular” even though Hanoi cuisine has recognized cabbage as a delicious dish of winter for a long time.
“Beautiful lady’s thigh”
Therefore, when it comes to cabbage, at famous markets such as Hang Be, Thanh Ha, Hang Da, Hom market there are still a few stalls selling cabbage but not many people know what it is and how to eat it. Only the “18 distant village people” are happy as if meeting someone in a dream when seeing cabbage.
The person in the dream is always beautiful and beautiful dreams are often short. Short like a sigh. Short like cabbage season. Cabbage is a seasonal vegetable, appearing very briefly in late autumn to early winter, lasting for about a month, from mid-October to mid-November of the lunar calendar.
The cabbage looks like a water yam but belongs to the grass family, also known as millet, medicinal rice. Cabbage grows well in the rice paddy fields and muddy areas, swampy areas, and sandy soil. The cabbage grown in Hải Hậu, Giao Thuỷ, Nam Định is considered the best and highest quality.
Stuffed cheese cabbage
Don’t let the appearance and possibly difficult name of cabbage deceive you. In its original form, cabbage looks like a lemongrass tree, with a large root and tapering towards the tail, the outer skin is purple-brown, quite rustic and lumpy. Indeed, at a glance, cabbage is not attractive at all.
However, when you peel off that modest layer of skin, we can see the true nature of cabbage: round, white as ivory, smooth, and slim. In Japan, this shape has created a name that is more interesting and attractive: “beautiful lady’s thigh”. The Japanese also highly appreciate this kind of cabbage, considering it to have the effect of enhancing beauty, turning Diem Chung into Tay Thi, so it is very expensive and revered by women.
Sautéed cabbage with eggs revealing many spots to create a stronger aroma
“White as winter fat” looks really graceful, but the value of cabbage lies in the black-scented pouches in the meat part. That is the edible parasitic mushroom called Ustilago esculentum Hennings. This type of mushroom makes dishes from cabbage become rich and fatty.
These pouches (mushroom buds) can also make those who have never eaten cabbage think that it is a sign of decay and spoilage. The author himself once cried out in disappointment when he heard a Haiphong friend tell a story of throwing a basket of cabbage that had just been given away because when it was sliced, “it looked rotten and black”.
But no, oh those who do not know the beauty, the more spots cabbage has, the thicker the aroma of cabbage, the more fatty and rich the taste. Only the soil of Nam Định land creates this premium cabbage, while other places, cabbage has less or no mushroom buds.
The fragrance of a delicious piece
Before eating the “beauty’s thigh,” the Japanese have a ritual of admiring it. The cabbage is perfectly peeled off, then placed on a lacquered tray, red like blood or black for guests to admire or can be picked up with both hands to appreciate.
Looking at it, they pour a little sauce on the cabbage and eat it. Raw, without any frying, grilling, boiling, or frying because the Japanese believe that “the beautiful thigh” is so precious that it needs to be enjoyed in the freshest, coolest way to preserve the flavor, nutrients, and functions of whitening, moisturizing the skin, and nourishing the face.
You can eat the intact crispness of it, but definitely not enjoy it as much as the ecstasy, happiness in the Vietnamese dish of sautéed cabbage. It has to be heated to make the cabbage transform, molt once again, to emanate a fragrant smell that completely awakens the taste and cravings.
It smells so good that just by seeing the bunch of cabbage, you can smell the steaming scent of fried cabbage and the faint smell of coriander and pepper. Cabbage can be sautéed with pork belly or beef or shrimp, but nothing is more suitable than sautéing it simply with fresh chicken eggs.
It’s not difficult to prepare this dish. The cabbage is peeled, cleaned, and cut into slices diagonally 2mm thick. Heat the pan until the pan is hot, add lard (instead of cooking oil, lard should be used for a delicious aroma), when the lard reaches boiling point, add the shallots and then the cabbage.
As soon as you touch the hot layer of fat, the smell of cabbage starts to rise from the mushroom buds, making the cabbage transform from a bland taste into a delicious and fragrant piece. Stir-frying cabbage requires a large and even heat, short heating time, so the best match for stir-frying cabbage is none other than beaten fresh chicken eggs.
After about 3 minutes, pour the beaten chicken eggs with spices into the pan, and when the eggs wrap around the cabbage, remove the pan immediately. This easy-going “beautiful lady” will soften if stir-fried for too long, losing its crispness and reducing its fragrance. Pour the cabbage onto a plate, sprinkle some fresh young coriander branches on top, and the combination of these two fragrances with the greasy, fatty taste of fresh chicken eggs constitutes a delicious dish to eat with hot white rice.
Cabbage also transforms into a very “Western” dish when combined with olive oil and cheese in the stuffed oven. Peeling off the skin of cabbage, leaving the entire cabbage intact, placing it on a baking tray, sprinkling salt and pepper and olive oil on it, then putting it in the oven to bake on the vegetable mode for about 15 minutes. When you see the surface of the cabbage a bit soft, remove the tray, pour mozzarella cheese on top, and put it back in the oven until the cheese melts to cover the cabbage and turns yellow.
That baked cabbage is guaranteed to surpass any other baked vegetable dishes, it goes well with white wine as an appetizer. The sweet taste and fragrant smell of cabbage are condensed and explode after each bite, creating an indescribable feeling of pleasure. A feeling that makes people fall in love with cabbage incessantly.
