Cabbage and Pork Shreds

Regular round cabbage is a Chinese vegetable, too, and, as in Europe, it is associated with real peasant cooking. Probably for the same reason, too — it’s cheap and easy to grow. According to Mrs. Chiang, it was by far the cheapest vegetable available in Szechwan. As far as growing it went, each head could grow very large without taking up much space or requiring very much effort on the part of the cultivator.

Because its robust flavor was considered unrefined, it w