The aptly titled Ugly Cabbage in Fish Sauce ($13++) paralleled the old tale of the ugly duckling. Rejected by society during before its metamorphosis, it transcends into something ethereal in its final form. Nobody could believe that a lowly cabbage stir fried in a wok with some fish sauce & crispy shallots could ever attain this level of piquancy. Even I can scarcely believe it myself. ⠀
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The fish sauce provides most of the ambrosia, but the wok hei sends it straight into the stratosphere. Every leaf of tender cabbage is indecently smoky and sports an alluring char, and it had us all jockeying to get the last vestiges of veg. You read that right: the Ugly Cabbage, a vegetable dish, had us battling over it. It’s so mind bogglingly majestic that I would happily trade up a meat dish for a serving of Ugly Cabbage.⠀
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Thanks for inviting us, @enjoyeatinghouse & @burpple!