It's throwback Thursday so I'm going
to throw it way back to an extremely simple two-ingredient dish tied to my
roots.
Being Hmong, most people in this
country aren't even familiar with who we are, let alone the types of food that
are really associated to our culture. Because we are an ethnic minority group
and do not have a country of our own, many of the dishes we eat are influenced
by the countries and people nearby. My family is from Laos, so growing up we
ate many Lao and Thao meals, which are full of multiple exotic ingredients and
spices that I still love and crave.
However, when thinking of the truly
Hmong kitchen, I believe there could be one word to describe it – simple. Most
dishes consist of no more than three ingredients that are lightly flavored with
salt, if even. Boiled chicken in lemongrass, boiled cabbage, boiled pork with
greens (my fave!), boiled zucchini – do you see a pattern here? I will
definitely add one of these boiled dishes to this blog eventually, but today’s
recipe is for another favorite - bacon and cabbage stir-fry.
I’m not sure whether this
stir-fry was something that was made back in Southeast Asia or whether it was
put together here in the U.S., but either way, it is simple and delicious. When
you need a quick lunch or dinner, whip this up in a matter of minutes and toss it
over some brown rice for a healthy delicious meal. This can be made with
green or purple cabbage. Baby boy has decided lately, to my dismay, that he
does not like green vegetables, so I thought I’d switch it up with purple
cabbage. I usually use green cabbage. He gobbled it right up! Why wouldn’t he –
who doesn’t love bacon?
