New Use For Bagels

Posted on by 43 comments

I’ve toasted them.

I’ve smeared them with cream cheese and jam.

I’ve piled slices of silky smoked salmon on them.

But until now, I had never stir-fried a bagel.

Yes, you read that right.

Of all the recipes in award-winning cookbook writer Grace Young’s new book, “Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge” (Simon & Schuster) that had me running to grab my wok — and there are many — the one that most intrigued me was this unusual one for “Stir-Fried Bagels with Cabbage and Bacon.”

Young discovered this dish in Beijing, where a creative group of homecooks apparently do indeed enjoy bagels in a stir-fry. This inspired use was prompted by the establishment of a bagel company in Beijing in the mid-1990s, begun by a Chinese-American woman who was born in Taiwan and raised in Brooklyn.

Two plain bagels get cubed and tossed into a hot wok with bacon, green cabbage, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, chili pepper and Sichuan peppercorns.

This rustic, rather country-like dish reminds me a little of Thanksgiving stuffing  done Chinese-style. The bagel pieces remain soft, yet soak up all the lovely rendered bacon fat, giving the dish a rather salty richness with a subtle, tingling heat from the Sichuan peppercorns.

It’s a dish that will definitely make you look at bagels in a whole new light.

Stir-Fried Bagels with Cabbage and Bacon

(Serves 4 as part of a multi-course meal)

Grace Young writes that if you use day-old bagels, sprinkle a tablespoon of water over the bagel-cabbage mixture before covering the wok.

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil

1 dried red chili pepper, snipped on one end

2 slices ginger, smashed

1/2 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns

5 slices bacon, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-wide pieces (about 4 ounces)

1 tablespoon coarsely chopped garlic

6 cups cubed green cabbage (about 1 pound)

2 large plain bagels, cut into 1/8-inch cubes (about 6 cups)

1/2 teaspoon salt

In a small bowl, combine soy sauce and vinegar.

Heat a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes within 1 to 2 seconds of contact. Swirl in the oil, add chili, ginger, and peppercorns, then, using a metal spatula, stir-fry 10 seconds until aromatics are fragrant. Add bacon, reduce heat to medium, and stir-fry 3 minutes or until bacon is slightly crisp on the edges. Add garlic and stir-fry 10 seconds or until garlic is just fragrant. Add cabbage, increase heat to high, and stir-fry 1 minute or until cabbage leaves just begin to wilt. Swirl soy sauce mixture into the wok, add bagels, and stir-fry 1 minute or until well combined. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 1 minute or until bagels have softened. Uncover, sprinkle on the salt, and stir-fry until well-combined.

From “Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge” by Grace Young


More Unusual Recipes: Shortcut Steamed Baos From Pillsbury Biscuit Dough

And More: Crispy Potato Chips Made in the Microwave

Print This Post

43 comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *