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When Bob
and I sailed Topaz from Hawaii to French Polynesia,
we elected to give up our refrigeration in order to conserve power. We
never regretted that decision.
One of our
favorite dishes underway, and at anchor down in the beautiful lagoons of the
Society Isles, was stir-fried cabbage. Cabbage, onions and garlic all keep for
weeks without refrigeration, as do the other key ingredients (Spam, shoyu and
sesame oil). If you are a foodie snob
you can leave out the Spam or substitute it with the organic free-range veg-fed
animal of your choice, or keep it vegetarian, whatevahs.
Ingredients
One
small head of cabbage, coarsely chopped.
Two
or three cloves of garlic, fresh or jarred, coarsely chopped
One
small onion, sliced up lengthwise.
One
can Spam Lite (hey, we try to be healthy aboard Topaz!) Cut it into big cubes. You can also use canned ham.
Cooking
oil, plus a dash of sesame oil, for flavor, dash
of shoyu, dash of hot sauce
If you have
the fuel and you like your cabbage limp, steam the cabbage for 5 minutes, to
soften. (This step is optional and if you're hungry, it takes
longer.)
With just a
little oil, stir-fry cubes of Spam until browned. Add garlic and onion;
stir fry until onions soften and are slightly browned. Don't overcook
them. Remove and keep warm.
Add some
more oil and stir-fry the cabbage about 5 minutes. If you have an open
bottle of wine handy as we usually do, add a splash of wine. White
wine works better.
Add back
the Spam, onions and garlic, and stir thoroughly. Season with
shoyu and hot sauce, stir to blend flavors. Serve with
rice or noodles, or eat as is, right out of the pan.
Yours, aye,
Linda
Collison
Linda
Collison is the wife of Robert Russell and first mate of Topaz, a Luders
designed,
Cheoy Lee-built sloop moored on 800 row of the Ala Wai. Linda is the author of Star-Crossed,
(Knopf;2006) an historical
adventure novel that takes place during the age-of-sail.
www.lindacollison.com
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