A Tested Recipe
Hand-Torn Cabbage Stir-Fry (Shou Si Bao Cai).
A spicy, tangy Hunan-style cabbage stir-fry with crisp-tender torn cabbage and fragrant pork belly. The key is high heat, quick cooking, and returning the cabbage to the wok only at the end.
By jackTao · Jul 17, 2026
Hands in the dough?
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The Mise en Place
Ingredients
Adjust portions
Main Ingredients
- 1 head green cabbage
- 200 g pork belly, thinly sliced
- 2 bird's eye chilies
Aromatics
- 2 slices ginger
- 2 cloves garlic
- 0.5 garlic sprout
Seasonings
- 60 ml cooking oil, divided
- 5 ml Shaoxing wine or cooking wine
- 5 ml light soy sauce
- 5 ml Chinese black vinegar or fragrant vinegar
- 2 g chicken bouillon powder
- 5 g salt, divided
The Method
Instructions
- Step 1
- Step 2
- Step 3
- Step 4
- Step 5
- Step 6
- Step 7
- Step 8
Trim the Cabbage
- Cut the cabbage in half and remove the thick white core from the middle.
- 01
Trim the Cabbage
- Cut the cabbage in half and remove the thick white core from the middle.
- 02
Tear, Wash, and Drain
- Tear the cabbage leaves into large bite-size pieces by hand.
- Add 2g salt to a bowl of water, wash the cabbage well, then drain thoroughly and set aside.
- 03
Prepare the Aromatics
- Slice the ginger, smash or slice the garlic cloves, cut the bird's eye chilies, and cut the garlic sprout into short sections.
- 04
Slice the Pork Belly
- Slice the pork belly thinly, rinse it briefly with clean water, then drain well.
- 05
Pre-Stir-Fry the Cabbage
- Heat 30ml cooking oil in a wok over high heat.
- Add the drained cabbage and stir-fry over high heat for .
- Add 3g salt and continue stir-frying for about , until the cabbage softens and is about 70% cooked.
- Transfer the cabbage out of the wok and set aside.
- 06
Stir-Fry the Pork Belly
- Add the remaining 30ml cooking oil to the wok.
- Add the pork belly and stir-fry over high heat for , until the pork begins to firm up and release aroma.
- 07
Add Aromatics
- Add the ginger, garlic, bird's eye chilies, and garlic sprout to the wok.
- Stir-fry for until fragrant.
- 08
Return Cabbage and Season
- Return the cabbage to the wok and toss everything together.
- Add the black vinegar, Shaoxing wine, light soy sauce, and chicken bouillon.
- Stir-fry over high heat for about , then serve immediately.
Cook's Notes
Notes
This recipe makes one full wok-style batch, usually enough for 2 people as a main dish with rice or 3 people as a shared side dish.
Note Nº 01
Estimated calories: about 1663 kcal for the full batch, depending on the pork belly fat content and how much oil remains in the wok.
Note Nº 02
For Step 5, adjust the stir-frying time based on the cabbage. Stop when the cabbage has released a little moisture and softened, but is not fully cooked.
Note Nº 03
Adding salt while pre-stir-frying the cabbage helps season it and draw out just enough moisture for a crisp-tender texture.
Note Nº 04
In the final step, the original notes repeat cooking wine; this version uses the full seasoning set from the ingredients: vinegar, cooking wine, light soy sauce, and chicken bouillon.
Note Nº 05
High heat is important. If the wok is crowded or the heat is too low, the cabbage may steam instead of stir-fry.
Note Nº 06
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