Braised Red Cabbage with Bacon

My family loves shredded red (purple) cabbage in salads for the crunch and colour. Since I’m personally not too fond of raw cabbage, I have been cooking them for myself instead. In this recipe, the red cabbage is simmered in bacon fats, chicken stock and red wine vinegar. The resultant braised red cabbage tastes almost like pickled cabbage.

Related Recipe:

• Smoked Duck with Braised Red Cabbage Grain Bowl

More Veg+Bacon Combo:

• Stir-fried Kale with Bacon Recipe
• Bacon Wrapped Asparagus Recipe
• Roasted Brussels’ Sprouts with Bacon Recipe

This braised red cabbage can be served as a side-dish to any meal. Yes, even a Chinese meal because it goes well with rice. I also love to use them as a salad topping in my grain bowl (pictured above). The leftover cooked cabbage keeps very well in the fridge and reheats easily in the microwave, making it perfect for meal prepping.

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Braised Red Cabbage with Bacon Recipe

This dish keeps well in the fridge, covered, for up to 5 days. Reheat on the microwave to warm it up before serving.

Serves: 3-4

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

• 1/4 head (about 350 grams) red cabbage
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 100g streaky bacon diced
• 1 small red or yellow onion diced
• 300 ml rich chicken stock
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar to taste; add 1 more tbsp if a more sour taste is preferred
  
• 1/2 tbsp sugar
• sea salt to taste; only if needed
• freshly cracked black pepper

Directions:

1. Prep cabbage. Cut and discard the cabbage core. Slice cabbage leaves to uniform thin long strips.
2. Cook bacon. Spread out diced bacon in a wide frying pan. Drizzle olive oil over them. Fry the bacon in medium high heat until the bacon is starting to crisp and most of its fats rendered out.
3. Cook onions. Add onions and fry them on medium low heat in the bacon oil until softened, about 3-4 minutes.
4. Simmer cabbage. Add cut cabbage and stir-fry briefly until slightly softened. Add chicken stock, red wine vinegar and sugar. Bring to a boil, cover with lid and simmer for about 20 minutes. Top up with more chicken stock or water if the liquid dries out during simmering. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Ingredients Used: bacon • cabbage • chicken stock • onion • red cabbage • red wine vinegar • steaky bacon • sugar