The Echo Chamber Blog

For the past few months I’ve eaten at Fortune House (1800 Mendon in Cumberland) quite a bit.  I could talk and/or write about how much I love the place for days, but, in short, Fortune House is a hidden treasure amongst the slew of Chinese restaurants in Rhode Island.  The food is fresh, clean, and authentic, and the service is beyond comparison.

Usually I try to order something new, but that’s not to say I don’t have a few trusty-dusties throughout their extensive and delicious menu.  As simple and plain as it sounds, the “Steamed Fish” is absolutely amazing; the “Honey Walnut Chicken” is so good you may start giving the crooked-eye to people who endlessly order General Tso’s; and the “Shrimp & Cabbage” has turned Marion Cotillard (tweet) and myself down a road of cabbage worship.

Really, there’s no reason not to love cabbage.  It’s cheap, filling, and can be used in at least one-thousand more dishes than you can think of off the top of the skull-cap.  The following is my best culinary stab at the Shrimp & Cabbage I’ve eaten at Fortune House.

Their recipe is probably better, but, what the hell, mine is pretty good too.  Trust me.  Here’s the ingredients:

1 head cabbage
1 lb. raw, cleaned, and shelled shrimp (whatever size you prefer)
1 medium onion
3-5 cloves garlic
olive oil (I use the Light Extra Virgin)
butter (I use Smart Balance)
1/4 cup seasoned rice wine vinegar
kosher salt, ground black pepper, and red pepper flakes

In a large pan, bring 4 quarts water to a boil.  Core the cabbage (I sometimes peel off the outside layer, too, depending on how it looks), then cut into 1 inch pieces and rinse in a colander.  Once water is at a boil, put the colander — with the cabbage in it, of course — over the pan, and steam for 20 minutes, stirring once at the half-way point.

Heat olive oil/butter (<— use enough so that when you add the garlic it won’t stick to the pan, burn, and get bitter) in a large saute pan over medium heat.  Cut onion into 1/2 inch pieces and put into pan.  Cook onion for a couple of minutes before you throw in the garlic.  Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper, and continue cooking until onions become translucent.

Once cabbage has steamed, put it in the saute pan with the onions and garlic.  Season again — to taste — with salt, pepper, and red pepper, and add rice wine vinegar.  Continue cooking over medium heat for another 5 minutes, stirring frequently to coat cabbage evenly.

Season shrimp with salt and pepper.  Turn heat to low and mix the shrimp into the pan with the cabbage then cover for about another 3-5 minutes, or until shrimp is opaque.

Eat it.  Tell me “how you” like it.  And go to Fortune House.