What is Bái Cài Tāng?
Bái Cài means napa cabbage, Tāng means soup. In China, a clear vegetable broth like this sits on the everyday table next to rice and two or three dishes, and everyone ladles a small bowl now and then. The soup tastes mild, salty and of ginger. You eat it as a starter, with rice, or with tofu as dinner. You can find all the ingredients for the basic version at the supermarket.
The right ingredients
- Napa cabbage: A whole head often weighs more than a kilo and fills the pot on its own. For four servings, 500 g is enough, about half a head. Cut the thick white ribs into narrow strips and the green leaves wider, so both cook in the same time.
- Broth: With vegetable broth the soup stays vegetarian, and with chicken broth it tastes stronger. Use a lightly salted broth, since the soy sauce brings enough salt.
- Soy sauce: Light soy sauce seasons without coloring the broth dark. You can read about the difference between types under light and dark soy sauce.
- Oil: Toasted sesame oil burns in a hot pot and then tastes bitter. Sweat the ginger and garlic in neutral oil and drizzle the sesame oil over the finished soup.
How to make napa cabbage soup
Sweat the ginger and garlic over medium heat until fragrant. If the garlic browns, the broth tastes bitter later. Add the white cabbage strips to the pot first, and the green leaves after two minutes. While sweating, the cabbage shrinks to about a third, so the pot can be full to the brim at the start.
After 20 minutes of simmering, the cabbage is soft and has given its sweetness to the broth. If you like it with some bite, take the pot off the heat after 10 minutes. Add salt only at the end. The broth and soy sauce add salt too, and liquid evaporates while simmering.
Common mistakes
- Salted too early: The soup reduces and ends up too salty.
- Dark soy sauce: It colors the clear broth brown and tastes of molasses.
- Stirring the tofu: Soft tofu falls apart when stirred. Lay the cubes on the soup and swirl the pot instead of going in with a spoon.
Variations
- With tofu: 200 g firm tofu in cubes makes the soup filling, and it stays vegetarian.
- With glass noodles: Soak 50 g glass noodles in warm water and add them to the pot for the last 3 minutes.
- With mushrooms: Dried shiitake give the vegetable broth umami. Soak them and add the soaking water too. You can read more under preparing shiitake.
- With egg: Beat an egg and let it run in a thin stream into the simmering soup. It sets in fine threads.
- With meat: Small balls of ground pork poach in the broth for 8 to 10 minutes. Cooked chicken you only warm through in it.
What goes with it
For a Chinese meal, serve the soup with rice and a wok dish, such as scrambled eggs with tomatoes or stir-fried bok choy. The other half of the cabbage you can fry as napa cabbage with vinegar sauce. A tangy tofu soup with pickled vegetables is in the recipe for Xian Cai Doufu Tang.
