Thai cabbage fish sauce stir fry กะหล่ำปลีผัดน้ำปลา is an incredibly simple 4-ingredient dish has gained much popularity in Thailand, and it's easy to see why! The flavour is almost magical given how simple it is. I probably make this recipe the most often of all the recipes on my website. It has become my go-to because it is so simple, so quick, yet so delicious, and cabbage lasts months in the fridge so I never need to plan ahead. If I ever need a side vegetable to go with any Thai meal, this dish is always the right answer.
The humble cabbage transforms into a garlicky, umami dish with just one seasoning: fish sauce. Hard to believe how good this is given how few ingredients there are, but it's such a useful dish to have in your repertoire, trust me on this!
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Garlicky Cabbage and Fish Sauce Stir Fry
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 3 mins
- Total Time: 13 minutes
- Yield: Serves 2
- Category: Side dish
- Method: Stir-Fry
Description
You only need 4 ingredients for the vegetable side dish, but it'll be a workhorse in your home because it's so simple yet so delicious. Comes together in minutes, and it'll go with any Thai or Asian meal!
Ingredients
- 200 g green cabbage, preferably Asian, cut into 2-inch pieces (see note 1)
- 1 Tbsp (15 ml) good quality fish sauce, see fish sauce I recommend in this "Fish Sauce Tasting" video
- 8-10 cloves garlic
- ¼ tsp ground white or black pepper (optional)
- Neutral flavoured cooking oil
- Jasmine rice for serving.
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Instructions
- Pound the garlic in a mortar and pestle until they are broken into large pieces. Alternatively, use the side of your knife to smash the cloves until they are broken and bruised, then roughly chop.
- Heat a wok over medium heat and add just a little oil to coat the bottom.
- Add the garlic right away (no need to wait for the oil to get hot) and keep stirring the garlic until the garlic turns light golden - don't let them brown or the garlic will become bitter.
- Turn the heat up to high then immediately add the cabbage and toss to get the leaves coated in oil.
- Drizzle the fish sauce over the cabbage then keep tossing for 1-2 more minutes, or until the cabbage is done to your liking. Turn off the heat and add the pepper, if using, and stir to mix.
- Plate and garnish with an extra sprinkling of pepper if desired.
- Serve immediately with jasmine rice. Enjoy!
Notes
- While regular green cabbage will work, I prefer Asian style cabbage as they have more delicate leaves that are less bitter and slightly sweeter. These are the cabbage that look more squat and are flat on the top and bottom, and you can find them at most Asian grocery stores.
Fei says
I just want to say thank you so much for satisfying a craving for this simple, but comforting plate of cabbage/lettuce. It reminds me of my many visits to Thailand. I had to hold myself back from finishing the whole plate in one sitting.
DrMarkJ says
So simple, but so good. Great as a side-but I love this quick meal for lunch. I’ve seen similar recipes that add sugar, but since the cabbage is already sweet (and if you are serving with Jasmine rice), the sugar seems unnecessary. This recipe offers the perfect balance. Highly recommend trying this recipe.
Aluma says
I made these with napa cabbage and the effort to payout ratio here is unbelievable. So delicious! thank you for this recipe it's a keeper 🙂
Daniel says
I made this tonight to go with Pailin's Vietnamese Caramel Chicken. OMG, it's so good.
Anthony Weekley aka bianchiveloce says
I made the recipe early this morning for my upcoming lunches this week at work. I did deviate from the recipe in that I added a pack of Baby Portobello mushrooms. I've been on a serious mushroom kick now for a couple of months, just couldn't help myself to add them to the cabbage recipe. The finished dish is so very delicious. To complete my lunches for the week, I whipped up a Cuban side dish of Arroz Congri ( Black Beans with rice) to go along with the Thai Cabbage with Fish sauce to make it an international pairing.
Maddy says
Made this yesterday with green cabbage and it was great! Does anyone know the name of the "asian style" cabbage or have a picture of it when it is intact and whole? I want to see if I can find it. Thanks! 🙂
Amanda says
I see it routinely at my Asian market, it's really noticeable- they look like a round green cabbage that someone smooshed down 🙂
Le Wang says
It's called "Korean cabbage" at my Chinese supermarket. It's a flattened sphere instead of a full sphere of the Western cabbage. It's less fiberous and ribby than the Western.
Mercedes says
Absolutely brilliant recipe. I made this last night with cabbage but since i am using my cabbage to make kimchee I used kale today and it was still good. I still prefer the cabbage but sacrifices had to be made since I had no idea I would be craving more today. It is really that good!
Tim Doughty says
It’s terrific! This will be a standard go-to when I want a side dish but don’t feel like working hard.
Mark says
I first had this almost 2 years ago at a small seaside restaurant on Ko Sichang (the main dish was Tamarind shrimp) but they added bits of bacon to it! It's now a favorite of mine because it's so easy to make.
Frank says
Hi. Really appreciate your recipes and enjoy your channel.
Totally irrelevant to the recipe: I just want to mention that if you are standing maybe two or three inches taller when you stir fry, would your cooking be more comfortable?
flash gordon MD says
I previously tried making this with some pre minced garlic from a jar. Worthless. This time I did it the right way and it was wonderful! I used a lot more pepper than I did let the previous time: I used the red boat fish sauce unlike the cheap stuff from before, and I am so glad I did!
The only downside is that I'll have to take a lot more Beano, so the cats will continue to sleep in the bed.
It's worth it!
Jai says
I love this technique with every vegetable I've tried so far - it's even good with cucumbers instead of cabbage. It's often served with scrambled eggs as the protein, too. One of my absolute favorite vegetable dishes here in Thailand.
Tina says
Barely a recipe, but stupid good as advertised.
This is essentially just how asian people cook food at home. Stirfry with soy sauce + garlic, done. In this case it happens to be fish sauce, white pepper, and garlic.
I like the suggestion of leaving large chunks of garlic to soften. Not only does it save a ton of work, it tastes great, just as described.
Ella says
Amazing how a dish can be so good when it is so fast and has so few ingredients!
Scott Pringle says
By far the easiest recipe to make with the most flavor!