Stir-Fried Cabbage and Pork in Fish Sauce Butter

Stir-Fried Cabbage and Pork in Fish Sauce Butter is a winner! At first glance it’s a simple, almost humble dish—but don’t let that fool you. The combination of savory pork, tender cabbage, and that deeply flavorful fish sauce butter comes together in a way that’s far greater than the sum of its parts.

The real magic happens when you serve it over rice. As the dish hits the plate, the sauce seeps down into the rice, coating each grain with that rich, salty, slightly funky butter. It transforms the rice into something you’ll keep going back to, long after the pork and cabbage are gone. It’s one of those dishes where every bite seems better than the last.
We also love how quickly this comes together. It feels like comfort food, but without the heaviness—bright, satisfying, and incredibly easy to pull off on a weeknight.

We highly recommend this dish. It’s simple, a little unexpected, and absolutely delicious.

Stir-Fried Cabbage and Pork in Fish Sauce Butter
New York Times
 
This quick, weeknight cabbage and pork stir-fry is humble in ingredients yet packed with flavor, thanks to briny fish sauce, rich brown butter and potent aromatics (ginger, garlic and red-pepper flakes). Chopped cabbage gets a nice char in butter that browns as it cooks, adding richness to the lean vegetable. Fast-cooking ground pork is infused with garlic, ginger and scallions, and the final addition of salty fish sauce, bright lime juice and chopped fresh cilantro creates a punchy sauce. If you like a jolt of heat, use a thinly sliced bird’s-eye chile in place of the crushed red pepper.
 
INGREDIENTS
Yield:4 servings
 
1       tablespoon neutral oil, such as canola or safflower
1       pound ground pork
Salt and pepper 
3       scallions, thinly sliced
3       garlic cloves, minced
1       tablespoon minced fresh ginger
3tablespoons unsalted butter
1       pound green or red cabbage, chopped into 1-inch pieces (about 5 cups)
1       tablespoon fish sauce
1       tablespoon lime juice, plus wedges for serving
¼      teaspoon crushed red pepper
½      cup coarsely chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish
Cooked rice (such as short-grain white or brown rice), for serving
 
 
PREPARATION
 
1.            In a 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add pork, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally and breaking up the meat until no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
2.            Add scallions, garlic and ginger, and stir until fragrant, 30 seconds. Transfer the pork mixture to a plate.
3.            Add 2 tablespoons of the butter to the skillet and stir until melted. Add cabbage, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender and golden in spots, 5 minutes.
4.            Stir in the pork mixture (and any accumulated juices), then add fish sauce, lime juice, crushed red pepper and the remaining 1 tablespoon butter, and mix well. Turn off the heat. Season with salt and pepper and stir in cilantro.
5.            Divide pork and cabbage mixture over rice in bowls. Top with more cilantro and serve with lime wedges for squeezing over.