Stir-Fried Cabbage and Pork in Fish Sauce Butter

Stir-Fried Cabbage and Pork in Fish Sauce Butter

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.

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

3 tablespoons 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

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.

Add scallions, garlic and ginger, and stir until fragrant, 30 seconds. Transfer the pork mixture to a plate.

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.

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.

Divide pork and cabbage mixture over rice in bowls. Top with more cilantro and serve with lime wedges for squeezing over.