This is a flavorful dish, with many colors and quite a bit of crunch!  Great recipe for a cold evening with hungry kids.

Steamed and sauteed cabbage has incredible flavors, no smell, retain vibrant color and crunchy texture. The perfect way to make kids love healthy foods! I made this dish last night and it was, as always, a hit.

A quick meal

I don’t usually do meal prep for this meal, since cabbage is sliced so fast with a mandoline slicer. It takes 5 minutes to prep it, which is the time the steamer and sauté pan need to be hot enough. 

A cabbage recipe 

Nutrition:  

Cabbage is loaded in vitamin C and calcium and anti cancer compounds called  sulforaphane.

Want to use the healthiest cabbage? Look at this nutrition table that contrasts varieties different health benefits. Actually, cabbage is a nutrient-dense vegetable in general, but each variety of cabbage has complementary health benefits.

They are most famous for: vitamin C ( winner: red cabbage)  vitamin K  (winner: green cabbge), folate (winner: napa cabbage) and potassium ( winners: green and napa)

Cabbage: good or bad for digestion?

Cabbage doen’t have the best reputation “for a night out” because it would cause flatulence and diarrhea if you have too much. The reason it happens depends on several factors.

Firstly, how much vegetables are you used to eating? If you eat little vegetables, go slow when adding more fibers containing vegetables in your diet; i.e. thoroughly chewed spoonfuls first and increase from there.

Secondly, cabbage does cause flatulence mainly if it is cooked too long and becomes an avenue for stomach fermentation and bloating. That’s mainly because cooking breaks down the fibers, thereby transforming the cabbage into sugar, which ferments in your digestive system. Cook it a short time and it may not at all have that effect on you !

With the right food steamer, Cabbage Cooking time is 5 min

What Kind of cabbage do I use:  

Always fresh cabbage. In this meal, i use two kinds among napa cabbage, green cabbage and red cabbage. I use two kinds for color and texture. The more color the better ! Kids love colors.

A carrot recipe :

I like to use two to three julienned carrots because It gives more crunch and color, especially if you use different colored carrots.

To cook them, I usually steam then sauté the carrots & onions with the shrimps, also at low temperature, so as to preserve nutrition and crunch.

Other Ingredients ;

• Green onion,
• diced bell pepper,
• olive oil
• fresh cilantro,
• Fresh garlic
• sesame seeds – yellow or black (link)
• raw cashews 
• sea salt (link)
• Optional, a different crunch from orange lentils, soaked and lightly cooked.
• Dressing: nut butter, olive oil, fresh garlic, powdered ginger, I recommend this organic toasted sesame oil.

Equipment: 

• Good food steamer. for a Health Based Ranking of the Best Food Steamers in 2025 read my article. 
• A large skillet or sauté pan ( cast iron or stainless steel preferably). 
• If you use a food steamer regularly, an electric kettle can help speeding cooking on the daily.
• frother or immersion blender to blend the dressing. ( see equipment)

Cooking process

1. Thaw your shrimps. 

2. Heat up the pans:

Fill up the tank with hot water ( with your electric kettle) and Turn on steam cooker and fill up the tank, heat up until the vapor is visibly abundant. Meanwhile, turn on sauté pan on low heat, add one teaspoon salt, olive oil, garlic clove. Then heat up some water to cook the rice noodles in a separate pot. 

3. Steam the shrimps, then sauté in the pan

Open the steamer top and place the shrimps in the basket. cover. Depending on their size and whether they were precooked or not, shrimps should need two to 3 minutes to cook. Cook alongside with carrots. Once the shrimps are cooked, transfer them to sauté pan with the carrots and sliced raw green onions. Keep the heat low or up to medium heat. Medium-high heat would burn the oil which makes it toxic. 

4. Steam the first batch of cabbage 5 min. 

Note: Cabbage is voluminous: it’s better to cook different cabbages in two batches. If the steamer basket is too full, it will not leave room for vapor to flow around and cook efficiently. Make sure enough holes are free to let vapor flow. 

5. Transfer the first batch, then second batch of cooked cabbage into the pan and mix with shrimps. 

Note: Whatever the Cabbage you choose to use, after steaming, its color should remain vibrant, its texture remains very crunchy although the texture is slightly softer. The flavor of the cabbage should remain unchanged, and the smell should not have turned bad ( sulfur). Steam the second batch of cabbage with diced pepper, then transfer all ingredients to the pan.  Mix all ingredients together with a spatula or tongues. 

6. Cook the rice noodles the recommended amount of time.

Once cooked, rinse with cold water. Transfer to the pan. Dress, then Mix noodles, shrimps and veggies with tongs. Add chopped cilantro, sesame seeds and cashews on at the end, for deco.

Note: If you want to sauté the shrimps , steam them first and sauté on low heat in the sauté pan while the cabbage cook as I described. Most times, I steam the shrimps at the end and add them to the top of my meal.

7. Make the Dressing and dress 5 minutes before serving.

Pour sesame oil, rice vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, fresh garlic, tbsp of nut butter ( to thicken) , ginger powder, black pepper. and blend it. For omega 3, I sometimes replace a few tbsp of olive oil with cold pressed canola oil or walnut oil ( neutral taste), but i have to dress at the last minute when the pan no longer heats, so it does not destroy the omega 3 fats.

f.A.Q.:

Shrimps: 

Can I replace shrimps? Yes, with tofu, which you can also sauté, or steamed chicken.

Are steamed shrimps healthy? They are no less healthy than roasted shrimps. Actually healthier. Steaming preserves nutrients and detox from toxins. (check article).

How long do steamed shrimps keep in the fridge? Since they are cooked, I would keep them as long as any cooked shrimps. Usually about 4 days.

How to reheat steamed shrimps? If alone, Steam them 3 minutes in the steam cooker. If in a dish, steam the whole together for 5-7 minutes in a pyrex or stainless steel dish.

Can I use savoy cabbage? Yes. However, I am not used to savoy cabbage in asian dishes, so I never tried.

Oils:

What oil do you use? I use extra virgin olive oil as a base and toasted sesame oil to give the flavors. You can also use coconut oil as well, as a base on the pan.

Reheating: Warm up in open the pyrex container in your food steamer (5-10 min) or on the pan on low heat for 5. It is also delicious cold.

​Leftovers:

How to store leftovers? in an airtight container – preferably pyrex or stainless steel – in the fridge, up to 4 days. Nutrient keep better a short time, so I would eat it ASAP.

What can I do with my leftover cabbage? Use it for another steamed and sauteed  meal. For example, seasoned or not, a great choice is to add it fried rice or Miso soup, If not seasoned, add it to a simple medley of steamed lentils and ham with thyme dressing (coming up!)

Food ideas with this recipe

• Use the steamed and sauteed vegetables as a healthy side dish to steamed dumplings ! 
• Serve the sauteed vegetables alonside whole or white rice.
• Low carb option: skip the rice noodles and add either more shrimp, or sliced steamed chicken. It can be an easy side dish to pan roasted scallops too.
• want it spicy? simply add 1/4 to 1/2 tsp red peppers to the oil on the pan or in the dressing and mix 5 minutes before serving. 
• Replace orange lentils with frozen edamame, which you can steam about 7 minutes.

more healthy recipes ?

Try the summer version of this recipe: Summer Salad : Shrimp, Crunch and Noodles