Bameng Stewed Vegetables with Pork

Bameng stewed vegetables is a traditional dish of the Hetao region of Inner Mongolia (around Bayannur), built on pork, pickled cabbage and glass noodles—preferably wide ones—sautéed in scallion and garlic, then slow-stewed with the cabbage and noodles until the meat is meltingly tender, the cabbage silky and the noodles deeply flavoured, sour and savoury, rich but not heavy.

The dish comes from the Hetao region and spread to Baotou through migration and trade. It draws its flavour from pickled cabbage naturally frozen and cured through the winter, embodying the food wisdom of northern winter stores and the meeting of farming and herding, and today it is the headline dish of family tables and restaurants across Baotou and the central-west of Inner Mongolia.

Served in large bowls, meat, cabbage and broth together, it is most satisfying with rice or steamed buns, the most common stew at Baotou family meals and gatherings.

The sour fragrance of pickled cabbage and pork fat, the soft chew of wide noodles soaked in broth, and the tender-meat, silky-cabbage texture are the marks of Bameng stewed vegetables.