Bap Cai Luoc- Vietnamese Boiled Green Cabbage With Boiled Egg & Fish Sauce Dip
This basic countryside dish that’s a popular dish in many Vietnamese households and it’s making its way into younger generations.
This simple dish is a common Vietnamese dish of just boiled cabbage paired with a rich egg/fish sauce dip. The richness of the egg & salty fish sauce beautifully pairs with the sweet crisp green cabbage. My parents always used the boiled cabbage water and turned it into a simple soup (aka “Canh”) with the addition of just some slices of raw tomato and a little salt and pepper.
Growing up my parents cooked a lot of cabbage and boiled cabbage was definitely something that was frequented on the dinner table. As a kid, I didn’t really eat boiled cabbage much.
The boiled cabbage was made mostly for my parents to enjoy. Looking back it was like a very asian thing to do, give your kids the best dishes (like Thit Kho, caramelized pork belly as photographed above), while the parents ate their cabbage & eggs and picked on whatever us kids didn’t finish. lol
Now as I’m older I can truly enjoy these very nostalgic dishes- dishes that I remember my parents eating when I thought they were OLD (I’m now that age back now, eeek!).
INGREDIENTS
1/2 head cabbage (leaves separated from stalk, then cut into smaller sections)
Water
BOILED EGG DIPPING SAUCE
1 boiled egg
Fish sauce
Lime juice (optional, to taste)
1 garlic clove (optional, minced)
1 Thai red chili pepper (optional for a little heat)
PREPARATION
Remove outer dirty leaves and discard.
Cut cabbage in half and separate leaves from the core stalk. Break or cut into small sections/pieces of cabbage (about 2x3 sections or so).
Bring a medium pot of water to boil. Add cabbage and boil 2-4 minutes until cabbage softens. Don’t overcook the cabbage, you still want a little crisp to them and color. Remove from heat and transfer cabbage onto a serving plate.
OPTIONAL SOUP: Save the boiled water for a simple soup- just add a half of a tomato, cook until tender, then add salt/pepper/fish sauce to taste).
Boil egg for about 8 minutes (you want it almost hard boiled). Peel under running water. Place whole egg into a small bowl and lightly smash or cut the egg into half or quarters. Add a couple tablespoons of fish sauce (enough that the egg is sitting and partly covered in fish sauce). Optional, you can also add a little lime juice (like 1/8 of a lime), and minced garlic and/or optional Thai pepper slices.