Eating vegetables should never be boring. It was never boring for me growing up as we always had vegetable stir-fries, usually with garlic or in an umami broth, or sometimes jazzing it up with shrimp paste, sambal, etc. The point is that we make it tasty and incorporate fun flavours to make eating vegetables enjoyable. This Miso Garlic Butter Chinese Cabbage recipe is exactly that – fun and lip-smackingly delicious!
This whole flavoured-butter idea was inspired by Thomas Straker’s All Things Butter series. After seeing a video of his Chilli Butter Roasted Cabbage, it immediately piqued my interest and started experimenting with different flavoured butters on my vegetable dishes. A number of experiments later, I settled with this Miso Garlic Butter Chinese Cabbage recipe. The flavour combo worked well with many other vegetables but I especially love how the water released from the Chinese cabbage forms a rich umami sauce that’s perfect to mix with rice. It just takes every flavour to another level!
What is Chinese Cabbage
If you’re not familiar with Chinese cabbage, here’s a quick little introduction for you. Chinese cabbage, also known as Napa cabbage, is one of the four main varieties of cabbage (along with green, red and savoy). Instead of a round shape, Chinese cabbage grows into an oblong shape, with light green leaves that come with a yellowish tint. Flavour-wise, it’s a lot sweeter than other cabbages and vegetables. I suppose that’s why we love it so much growing up!
I grew up more often eating Chinese cabbage during a hot pot but also had it in a simple stir-fry, which usually turns quite brothy as Chinese cabbage releases a lot of water during the cooking process and is perfect to drizzle over rice. You can also find Chinese cabbage commonly used in Korean kimchi.
Why You’ll Love This Miso Garlic Butter Chinese Cabbage Recipe
Miso equals flavour bomb, say no more. It’s certainly not traditional but the flavours are so alluring that you’d want to start using it on every dish! I suppose it’s a good thing then that this miso garlic butter flavour combo is very versatile. If you can’t get your hands on Chinese cabbage, you can just use regular green cabbage, sweet gem lettuce, or any other leafy greens. In terms of steps, the recipe is ridiculously easy as well. Anyone, and I do mean anyone, can whip this up effortlessly.
How to Make Miso Garlic Butter Chinese Cabbage
Ingredients You Need
- Chinese Cabbage
- Butter
- Red Chilli Flakes
- Red Miso Paste
- Garlic
- Salt – to taste
Recommended Kitchenware
- A flat stainless steel pan. Normally I’d recommend a wok for Asian cooking but, for this one, a flat pan would work better to give the cabbage a nice even char and for the butter to distribute evenly.
Recipe Tips & Notes
- I used red miso for this recipe, which is my preference. But you are free to swap it with yellow miso as well. In a nutshell, the darker the colour, the deeper & richer the flavour. It’s entirely up to your taste preference but I think red miso gives more oomph in this recipe.
Looking for more Asian recipe inspo? Check these out too:
Miso Garlic Butter Chinese Cabbage
Ingredients
- 1 Chinese Cabbage (around 600g) washed & cut into halves
- 4-5 tbsp Butter
- 1 tsp Red Chilli Flakes adjust accordingly to your taste
- 1 heaped tbsp Red Miso Paste
- 3 cloves Garlic
- A pinch of Salt to taste
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients together, except the Chinese Cabbage, until combined.4-5 tbsp Butter, 1 tsp Red Chilli Flakes, 1 heaped tbsp Red Miso Paste, 3 cloves Garlic, A pinch of Salt
- Spread ⅔ of the butter mixture in between the cabbage leaves.1 Chinese Cabbage (around 600g)
- Melt the remaining ⅓ butter in the pan over medium high heat.
- Place cabbage into the pan, cut-side down. Let cook for a few minutes.
- Flip the cabbage and cook the other side for a few minutes.
- Turn the heat down to medium. Flip the cabbage again so the cut-side is facing down the pan.
- Put the lid on and let cook covered for 5 minutes until softened and lightly charred. Serve immediately.
Notes
- If you don’t have Chinese cabbage, feel free to swap it with regular green cabbage or even sweet gem lettuce.
- I used red miso for this recipe, which is my preference. But you are free to swap it with yellow miso as well. In a nutshell, the darker the colour, the deeper & richer the flavour. It’s entirely up to your taste preference but I think red miso gives more oomph in this recipe.
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