Braised Glass Noodles with Pork & Napa Cabbage, or 白菜猪肉炖粉条, is a traditional dish from Northern China, and I’m pretty certain that most northerners have their own creative ways of cooking it. Some like to use sour cabbage instead of fresh cabbage, and some like to add chili. Some prefer it saucy, and others prefer an almost soup-like consistency. Of course, everyone claims that their own mother or grandmother makes the best version.
I am certainly not here to compete with the mothers of the North, but I do want to shed some light on this delightful dish, and this is how I like to prepare it. Plus, I know you guys love noodles! If you’re a fan of our Ants Climbing a Tree recipe (another famous glass noodle dish), you’ll love these braised glass noodles with pork and napa cabbage.
The most common glass noodle in Chinese cooking is generally the mung bean noodle. It’s super absorbent, and soaks up liquid a little too quickly. So for this recipe, I decided to use Korean sweet potato noodles (commonly used for Japchae). I like the texture of these noodles, and they work great in this dish!
Recipe Instructions
Pre-cook the sweet potato noodles, following the instructions on the package. Drain and toss in a teaspoon of oil to prevent sticking. Set aside.
Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a wok over high heat until just starting to smoke. Brown the pork belly for about a minute, and then turn the heat down to medium. Remove the pork belly from the wok and set aside.
Add the ginger, star anise, and rehydrated dried shiitake mushrooms. Cook for a minute.
Turn the heat back up to high, and add the napa cabbage.
Stir-fry for a minute, and then add the salt, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce and chicken stock (or water).
Mix everything well, cover, and simmer for 3 minutes. Mix in the cooked glass noodles and pork belly, cover, and simmer for another 2 minutes.
Stir in the chopped scallion (if using) and serve!
Braised Glass Noodles with Pork & Napa Cabbage
Ingredients
- 3 oz. dried sweet potato noodles (85g)
- 1 teaspoon oil (plus 3 tablespoons)
- 8 oz. pork belly (225g, thinly sliced)
- 3 slices ginger
- 1 to 2 star anise
- 6 shiitake mushrooms (fresh or rehydrated dried)
- 1 pound napa cabbage (450g, cut into large pieces)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 1/2 cup chicken stock (or water)
- 1 scallion (chopped, optional)
Instructions
- Pre-cook the sweet potato noodles, following the instructions on the package. Drain and toss in a teaspoon of oil to prevent sticking. Set aside.
- Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a wok over high heat until just starting to smoke. Brown the pork belly for about a minute, and then turn the heat down to medium. Remove the pork belly from the wok and set aside. Add the ginger, star anise, and mushrooms, and cook for 1 minute.
- Turn the heat back up to high, and add the napa cabbage. Stir-fry for a minute, and then add the salt, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce and chicken stock (or water). Mix everything well, cover, and simmer for 3 minutes. Mix in the cooked glass noodles and pork belly, cover, and simmer for another 2 minutes. Stir in the chopped scallion (if using) and serve!
nutrition facts
I never tried these noodles before and loved them! Great sauce. I used seitan instead of pork.
What a great use of seitan in this recipe! Nice.
I think this is my favorite woks of life recipe I’ve ever made! So easy and good. However, it would only be 4 portions if you had very, very small appetites. I doubled it when cooking for three hungry people and we only had a bit left over.
Hahaha…love it!
Wow! Great flavors and a wonderful variety of textures. A true adventure in every bite. And the sweet potato noodles were a great substitute for the mung bean thread.
Thanks for linking to this recipe in the weekly email. Yet another keeper.
Yayyyy! Super! So glad you tried and enjoyed this recipe.
Hey Judy! I made this and it is seriously delicious and easy! It has a wonderful texture and so much flavor, I will definitely make this again. And was super quick to make.
Thank you for trying the recipe, Jessie, we have so many yummy recipes for you to try :-) Happy wokking.
I love this recipe!! it’s so quick and easy to throw together on weeknights and tastes great as leftovers the next few days. and it’s so flexible, I’ve changed it up a few times and added my own twists and it never fails. it works well with white pepper, black cardamom, clove, cinnamon, coriander, thai basil, and probably many other spices and herbs. can’t recommend this enougn as an easy, delicious weeknight meal.
Glad you enjoyed the recipe, Daniel.
Will this recipe work with regular green or purple cabbage? I have a surplus in my fridge and would love to try this with them instead!
Sure, you can.
Delicious and easy to make. I couldn’t find dried sweet potato so substituted regular wheat noodles and it worked just fine. Being a vegetarian, I substituted several types of mushrooms for the pork and veg bouillion. Worked great!
That’s so great, thank you for adapting it to be vegetarian.
Hi there! I’m trying to eat less meat, but I love this combination (it’s one I grew up with!). I was wondering if substituting firm tofu for the pork shoulder would do the trick- also lightly frying the tofu?
I’d use (fried) soy puffs instead of firm tofu, Kate.
Thank you so much for replying Judy! are there any vegetable / fish alternatives you’d consider a good replacement?
No fish, Kate. I’d also consider fried gluten balls or fried seitan if you can tolerate gluten, because I love them :-)
Very easy to follow, and very tasty. Thanks!
Glad to hear that, Isabelle.
Have made this a few times now & it’s a pretty forgiving recipe, being equally good with pork shoulder or chicken thighs. Tried adding 2 Tbsp michiu wine & some garlic which were very good additions. Forgot to soak dried shiitakes the other night & used canned button mushrooms & it still turned out really good. Have used both sweet potato noodles & mung bean noodles & there’s not a lot of difference. Out of noodles? Then served over hot rice is just as good!
But we did find out sweet potato noodles will absorb all the sauce, so now I serve & store any leftovers separately.
Thanks for a great recipe we’ll be enjoying from now on :-)
Hi Trish, if you really enjoyed this dish, then you must try: https://thewoksoflife.com/northern-chinese-sour-cabbage-stew/, it’s so good and addictive ;-)