The first step when making this dish is to tear the cabbage leaves by hand. It may seem a bit tedious compared to the efficiency of a knife, but the gracefully curved, uneven edges are a key characteristic of the dish, and give it a softer overall texture than sharply angled pieces would.

Next, you'll want to prepare the aromatics for the flavor base, in this case garlic, scallions, and red chilies. Fresh chilies are more common in Hunan cooking, and therefore are what I use here. I also like to stay true to Hunan's spicy flavor profile, and include the chilies' seeds to make sure I don't lose any of the heat they pack (for those sensitive to spicy foods, discarding the seeds is an option, though the dish will lose some of its impact).

The bacon adds a smoky, porky flavor that I really enjoy: Plus, it provides all the fat this dish requires for stir-frying.

Because cabbage can take a while to cook, I blanch it first in boiling water before proceeding to the stir-frying stage. This makes the stir-frying an incredibly fast process, and also reduces the chances that the aromatics will scorch and burn, which would be a bigger concern if you were stir-frying the cabbage from raw.

Then, I cook the sliced bacon over high heat until it's crisp and golden and much of the fat has rendered out. I transfer the bacon to a plate to drain, and discard all but one tablespoon of the rendered fat, which I keep in the wok for stir-frying.

Now for the fun part: My aromatic flavor base of scallions garlic, and chilies go in, and I cook them just long enough to lightly brown the garlic and release their flavors into the cooking fat.

Then I toss in the blanched cabbage, and cook it until warmed through.

For the final touch, I add a splash of vinegar and soy sauce, along with the crisped bacon. As soon as the cabbage is tender, it's ready to serve.