Serves: 6
Total Calories: 180

1 to 1 1/2 pound chinese cabbage
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons chicken fat
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup Stock, Chicken or favorite stock
4 tablespoons smoked ham
dash pepper

1. Cut Chinese cabbage stems diagonally in 2-inch sections. Stir cornstarch into milk to dissolve.

2. Heat chicken fat. Add Chinese cabbage and stir-fry 2 minutes.

3. Add salt and stock and bring to a boil. Then cook, covered, over medium heat until cabbage is softened (4 to 5 minutes).

4. Gradually stir in cornstarch mixture over low heat (the milk should not boil). Then simmer, covered, 3 to 5 minutes more, stirring once or twice.

5. Mince smoked ham. Sprinkle cabbage with pepper and ham. Serve hot.

NOTE: Unlike other Chinese vegetables, this one is better overcooked than undercooked. Although milk is not often used, its presence here enhances the vegetable's sweetness, freshness and delicacy.

VARIATIONS:
* For the Chinese cabbage, substitute Chinese lettuce, cut in 2-inch cubes or in strips 1/4 inch wide and 2 inches long.
* For the fresh milk, substitute 1/2 cup evaporated milk.
* For the chicken fat, substitute oil or lard.
* In step 3, add to the chicken fat 6 dried shrimp (soaked). Stir-fry 1 to 2 minutes then add cabbage.
* Omit the smoked ham. Garnish the cabbage instead with 4 fresh mushrooms, diced and stir-fried separately until cooked through.

The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook. ©1994 by Gloria Bley Miller.

Nutritional Facts:

Serves: 6
Total Calories: 180
Calories from Fat: 23

More Recipes from the Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook Cookbook:
*Vegetable Dishes
Basic Buddhist Vegetable Dish
Basic Deep-Fried Bean Curd
Basic Stir-Fried Bean Curd
Basic Stir-Fried Vegetables
Basic Stir-Fried Vegetables: Combinations
Basic Stir-Fried Vegetables: Specific Vegetable Cooking Instructions
Basic Sweet-and-Pungent Vegetables
Braised Chinese Lettuce And Chestnuts
Braised Chinese Lettuce And Dried Shrimp
Braised Eggplant
Braised Eggplant With Bacon And Tomatoes
Braised Squash With Fish
Braised Squash: Fish Mixture
Braised Stuffed Bitter Melon
Braised Turnips With Meat Sauce
Creamed Chinese Cabbage
Deep-Fried Bamboo Shoots
Deep-Fried Bamboo Shoots And Salted Cabbage
Deep-Fried Bean Curd With Dried Shrimp Sauce
Deep-Fried Carrot Balls
Deep-Fried Potatoes And Carrots
Deep-Fried Simmered Winter Melon
Deep-Fried Stuffed Lotus Root
Food of the Forest
Hard Immortal Food
Miscellaneous Bean Curd
Mixed Vegetables I
Mixed Vegetables II
Mixed Vegetables III
Mixed Vegetables IV
Mixed Vegetables V
Mustard Cabbage And Meat Sauce
Simmered Cucumbers And Shrimp
Simmered Stuffed Green Peppers
Soft Immortal Food
Spinach And Peanuts
Steamed Bamboo Shoots With Chicken And Ham
Steamed Chinese Lettuce I
Steamed Chinese Lettuce II
Steamed Dried Mushrooms
Steamed Eggplant
Steamed Stuffed Bean Curd
Steamed Stuffed Bitter Melon
Steamed Stuffed Eggplant
Stir-Fried Asparagus With Egg Sauce
Stir-Fried Bamboo Shoots And Mushrooms
Stir-Fried Bean Curd with Chinese Sausages
Stir-Fried Bean Curd with Dried Mushrooms
Stir-Fried Bean Curd with Fresh Mushrooms
Stir-Fried Bean Curd with Roast Pork
Stir-Fried Bean Curd with Shrimp
Stir-Fried Bean Sprouts And Celery
Stir-Fried Bean Sprouts And Pork
Stir-Fried Bean Sprouts with Two Kinds of Peppers
Stir-Fried Cauliflower With Mushrooms And Water Chestnuts
Stir-Fried Celery And Mushrooms
Stir-Fried Chinese Cabbage And Dried Shrimp
Stir-Fried Chinese Cabbage And White Cheese
Stir-Fried Dried Mushrooms With Snow Peas And Bamboo Shoots
Stir-Fried Fragrant Eggplant
Stir-Fried Preserved Cabbage And Peas
Stir-Fried Sesame Cucumbers
Stir-Fried Snow Peas With Mushrooms
Stir-Fried Snow Peas With Pork, Mushrooms And Bamboo Shoots
Stir-Fried Spinach And Mushrooms
Stir-Fried Spinach And White Cheese
Stir-Fried String Beans And White Cheese
Stir-Fried Sweet-and Pungent Preserved Cabbage
Stuffed Cucumbers I
Stuffed Cucumbers II
Stuffed Cucumbers: Filling I
Stuffed Cucumbers: Filling II
Stuffed Eggplant: Filling I
Stuffed Eggplant: Filling II
Stuffed Green Pepper: Fish Stuffing
Stuffed Green Pepper: Pork Stuffing
Stuffed Green Pepper: Vegetable Stuffing
Stuffed Lotus Root: Filling
Sweet-and-Pungent Mustard Cabbage
Three Winters