Garlic Sauteed Cabbage, We Have Din Tai Fung at Home and It's Better

This recipe for Garlic Sauteed Cabbage is a near exact dupe (with the serecet that no one else has mentioned!) of the Taiwanese Cabbage with Garlic at Din Tai Fung and just way too easy not to make at home. By the way, use the same base ingredients and technique with broccoli and kale! Shall we?

Explore More

• What is the Cabbage from Din Tai Fung?
• The Secret to Making the Din Tai Fung Cabbage at Home
• Ingredients You Need for Garlic Sauteed Cabbage
• What Kind of Cabbage Should I Use for Sauteeing?
• How Many Pounds is a Head of Cabbage?
• Instructions How to Make Garlic Sauteed Cabbage
• Garlic Sautéed Cabbage Recipe

What is the Cabbage from Din Tai Fung?

At the restaurant Din Tai Fung, the Taiwanese Cabbage with Garlic is one of the dishes in the Vegetables section of the menu. It's just tender-crisp cabbage, gently wilted, glossy with oil, and flavor-punched with garlic. It's so simple, but it has an addictive depth of flavor that tastes more complex than it looks.

I am here to tell you that the cabbage sauteed with garlic is one of THE MOST underrated dishes at Din Tai Fung. So of course, I had to try making it at home.

The Secret to Making the Din Tai Fung Cabbage at Home

The secret ingredient in the Din Tai Fung cabbage is mushroom bouillon.

I figured this out a LONG time ago, when we would occasionally order Din Tai Fung for take-out. If you look at the online ordering form today, you have options to remove certain ingredients like salt and garlic (why you would order the garlic cabbage dish without garlic is beyond me). But waaay back, "no mushroom bouillon" was also one of the options! There was mushroom bouillon in the dish!

Mushroom bouillon makes sense. Any bouillon powder adds a savory, umami element to a dish, and since the vegetable dishes at Din Tai Fung are vegan, they use mushroom over chicken bouillon.

Of course, if you don't have access to mushroom bouillon and aren't looking to make the dish plant-based, use chicken bouillon.

Ingredients You Need for Garlic Sauteed Cabbage

You wouldn't think it, but cabbage is fairly sweet and flavorful on its own, so you only need a few ingredients to enhance their flavor.

Fresh/refrigerator ingredients:

• Cabbage, 1 large head about 2½ pounds, chopped
• Garlic, 10 cloves, ⅛-inch wide sliced

Dry/pantry ingredients:

• Avocado oil, or other neutral flavored cooking oil, about 2 tablespoons for cooking
• Sea salt, 1 teaspoon
• Shao xing wine, 2 tablespoons
• Mushroom bouillon powder, ½ teaspoon

The original version of the dish uses Taiwanese cabbage, which look like a green cabbage head that has been flattened, pictured above Taiwanese cabbage leaves are lighter in color, almost all white, milder in flavor, and some say juicier. Though the variety is available in Asian grocery stores, it'l still not super widely available.

If you have access to Taiwanese cabbage, use it for this recipe! However, regular round green cabbage is good enough for me. In fact, any type of green or light-colored cabbage, Napa cabbage, ruffly savoy, and the cone-shaped hispi cabbage, works for this recipe. The nutritional profiles across the types are generally fairly similar. Some varieties are milder in flavor than others, but in this recipe, the differences are not noticeable because of the flavors of the other ingredients, namely the miso.

How Many Pounds is a Head of Cabbage?

Because cabbages come in different types, sizes, and density (how tightly packed the leaves are), it's better to "measure" cabbage by actual pounds, not by number of heads.

According to the USDA, an "average" cabbage weighs between 2 and 3 pounds, but what is this? The 1800s? Have you seen cabbages in grocery stores? They have gotten MUCH bigger, and the average green cabbage based on my own experience weighs more like 4-5 pounds.

Additional Ingredients Notes and Resources

Shaoxing Wine is a traditional Chinese rice wine made from fermented glutinous rice known for its light brown color and rich umami flavor. It is used primarily for cooking. (I have never heard of anyone ever drinking shaoxing wine.) If you can't find shaoxing wine, you can substitute in dry sherry. Japanese rice wine aka sake will work, though the flavor will be pretty different. If you don't mind sweeteness, mirin is also an ok substitute. If you don't want to use alcohol, substitute with an unsalted very rich stock, or water and double the mushroom bouillon

Mushroom Bouillon is a powdered mushroom stock base that also includes salt, flavor enhancers like msg, and sometimes sugar. You can use chicken bouillon, but I highly recommend investing in mushroom bouillon because you can use it for so many future recipes!

Avocado oil is a neutral flavored oil appropriate for high-heat cooking that I always have on hand. You can use any neutral flavored oil. My guess is that Din Tai Fung uses soybean oil because their allergen list for the dish includes soy, but there's no soy sauce in the dish.

All other fresh herbs and produce from either the Santa Monica Farmers' Market on Wednesday, or Whole Foods Market.

Instructions How to Make Garlic Sauteed Cabbage

If you haven't already, remove any bruised or wilted outer leaves, and slice off the dried end of the core. Cut the cabbage in half lengthwise through the core, then cut into 1½-inch pieces.

Remove cabbage from heat, stir in reserved fried garlic.

Best Dishes to Serve with Garlic Sautéed Cabbage

Look, you could make an entire meal out of eating half a head of this Garlic Sauteed Cabbage with a bowl of steaming rice, but if you want to go family style, try these dishes, too:

• Spicy Cucumbers, Din Tai Fung Dupe
• Homemade Wontons

Best Side Dish Recipes with Cabbage

• Green Cabbage Kimchi
• Cabbage Apple Salad with Miso Mustard Dressing
• Crunchy Asian Cabbage Salad with Sesame Dressing
• Miso Butter Braised Cabbage
• Roasted Cabbage Wedges with Gochujang Glaze
• Japanese "Addictive" Cabbage salad
• Vietnamese Chicken Cabbage Salad