In most cases I plan what I am going to prepare for dinner and shop accordingly in advance, but for tonight I wanted to finish some leftovers I had in my fridge and created this dish. I had some Chinese cabbage (also known as Napa cabbage), shrimp stock, shrimp and shiitake mushrooms. I thought this would go nicely with some rice noodles and some Asian style seasoning: fresh chile pepper, shallot, garlic, ginger, and lemongrass. I took photos just in case it turned out well, and it did! It only needed a bit of lime juice and a bit of soy sauce, then it was delicious. The shrimp stock provides great depth of flavor and the combination of ingredients works well. Here’s what I did…
Ingredients
400 grams (.9 lb) Chinese cabbage/Napa cabbage
200 grams (.44 lb) shiitake mushrooms
500 ml (2 cups) shrimp stock*
10 jumbo shrimp
125 grams (4.5 oz) rice stick noodles
1 Tbsp sliced shallot
1 Tbsp sliced ginger
1 Tbsp sliced lemongrass
1 Tbsp sliced garlic
1 Tbsp sliced red chile pepper
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
4 Tbsp vegetable oil
*If you don’t have leftover shrimp stock in your freezer, you can make it by buying shrimp with heads and shell still on, peeling them, sauteing the heads and shells in a bit of oil and then simmering them in 500 ml (2 cups) of water for 20 minutes.
Preparation
Put the shrimp stock in a saucepan and bring to a boil, then turn off the heat.
Add the rice stick noodles and allow them to soften in the hot shrimp stock.
Slice the ingredients for the seasoning paste.
…and blend until smooth, adding a bit of vegetable oil if needed.
Cut the cabbage into ribbons and slice the shiitake mushrooms, removing the stems first.
Heat the vegetable oil in a wok. Add the shrimp, cook them briefly on both sides, and remove them with a slotted spoon. Reserve.
Add the seasoning paste to the oil and cook for a minute or so.
Add the shiitake and stir-fry for a minute or so.
Add the cabbage and stir-fry for a minute or so.
Add a few ladles of the shrimp stock and cook until the mushrooms are tender.
By now, the noodles should have softened.
Add the noodles and the stock to the wok.
Add the soy sauce and lime juice. Toss to mix. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your preference.
Add the shrimp just to heat them through.
Serve immediately on warm plates.
Flashback
Linguine with scampi, scallops, zucchini, and fresh tomatoes is a great summer dish when zucchini and tomatoes are at their best. Just like todays dish, it gets a lot of its flavor from the scampi stock.
This looks outstanding! I bet it smelled divine too.
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It absolutely did, if you like shrimp that is 🙂
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Absolutely my kind of dish tho’ both the mushrooms and noodles may vary according to what is in my fridge! We call this cabbage ‘wombok’ by the way and it is indeed very popular . . .
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That sounds Indonesian. I don’t think using shrimp stock is very authentic, but it sure does boost the flavor.
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Yes, I agree it sounds Indonesian, but it is actually brassica pekinensis [if I remember correctly], does originate in China and was little known in the West until about 1970s . . .
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Yes that’s the one — which basically means Peking (Beijing) Cabbage. I just looked up the Indonesian name for it, which is “sawi putih” and does not sound like wombok at all.
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Wow, this is exactly the kind of food I crave for. Fabulous!
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Thanks, Fae!
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I could eat this for lunch every single day.
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Thanks, Mimi 🙂
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Very nice Stefan. Nice attention to detail.
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Great creativity, but as always, you have a wonderful handle on restraint when it comes to strong flavors. The lemongrass and shallot sound terrific, and the shitakes look gorgeous! Cabbage is something my kids love; I’ll have to try it in your Asian dish.
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Thanks, Shanna. The amount of spice paste I used was just enough to give the dish a nice flavor without overpowering it.
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A great dish, Stefan. I can almost smell its aroma and need to follow your lead. I rarely cook Asian dishes and that has to change.
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