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1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry

1 tablespoon sugar

1 pound boneless pork, beef, or chicken, cut into matchsticks

¼ cup peanut, sunflower, or canola oil, plus more as needed

2 carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks

¼ head green cabbage or ½ head napa or Chinese cabbage, thinly sliced

1 (4-inch) piece daikon radish or 1 small turnip, peeled and cut into matchsticks

¼ cup Chinese oyster sauce

1 Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the noodles and boil until al dente. Drain well.

2 Combine the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, chili paste, rice wine, and sugar in a small bowl. Mix well, stir in the pork, and set aside.

3 Heat a large wok or frying pan over high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil and swirl in the hot wok. When the oil is very hot, add the pork mixture and stir-fry until the meat is cooked through, about 5 minutes. (While the meat cooks, wash and dry the bowl.) Scrape the meat and juices back into the bowl.

4 Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in the wok. Add the carrots and stir-fry until just barely tender, about 3 minutes. Add the cabbage and daikon radish and stir-fry until wilted, about 3 minutes. At any point, if the vegetables don’t seem to be cooking, add a little soy sauce to encourage them to steam.

5 Return the meat mixture to the wok and add the noodles. Pour in the oyster sauce and toss to coat well and combine all the ingredients.

6 Taste and add additional soy sauce, if needed. Serve hot.

Five-Spice Pork and Cabbage Stir-Fry

Serves 4–6

Shanghai cuisine is bold — sweet and hot — like this simple stir-fry of pork, cabbage, and carrots. The heat of the chili is balanced by the sweetness, but if you don’t like your food hot, use a level tablespoon of chili paste rather than a heaping one. The stir-fry is equally delicious made with chicken or beef.

PORK AND MARINADE

2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 pound boneless pork loin, cut into matchsticks

SAUCE

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup sugar

3 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry

1 heaping tablespoon Chinese chili paste with garlic

1 (1½-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced

1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil

1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder

STIR-FRY

3 tablespoons peanut, sunflower, or canola oil

2 carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks

8 cups thinly sliced green cabbage or Chinese cabbage

Hot cooked white rice, for serving

1 Combine the rice wine, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt, sugar, and cornstarch in a small bowl. Mix well, stir in the pork, and set aside.

2 To prepare the sauce, combine the soy sauce, sugar, rice wine, chili paste, ginger, sesame oil, and five-spice powder in a small bowl. Set aside.

3 Heat a large wok over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the peanut oil and swirl in the hot wok. Add the pork mixture and stir-fry until the pork is cooked through, about 8 minutes. Scrape out of the wok and keep warm.

4 Wipe the wok clean. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons peanut oil in the wok. Add the carrots and stir-fry until limp, about 2 minutes. Add the cabbage and stir-fry until barely tender, about 4 minutes. Return the pork to the wok. Pour in the sauce. Stir-fry until the cabbage is tender crisp and the sauce is thick, about 3 minutes. Serve at once over hot rice.

Kitchen Note: Chinese five-spice powder is sold wherever Chinese foods are sold. It is a mixture of equal parts ground cinnamon, cloves, fennel seeds, star anise, and Sichuan pepper-corns. It is essential to the flavor of this dish.

Sowe Carrets in your Gardens, and humbly praise God for them, as for a singular and great blessing.

— Richard Gardiner, Profitable Instructions for the Manuring, Sowing and Planting of Kitchen Gardens (1599)

Stir-Fried Pork With Hearty Greens

Serves 4 as a main dish

Kale or mustard greens? Some prefer kale and find mustard greens too spicy or bitter. I love them both and make this stir-fry with whichever green needs using up.

¼ cup soy sauce

3 tablespoons