Traditional Portuguese Christmas Cabbage Stir-Fry • Roupa Velha

If you don’t know it yet, Roupa Velha is an absolute classic Portuguese dish that I believe originated in the Minho region but nowadays is common throughout the entire country. It’s basically the wonderful use of leftovers from codfish with Portuguese cabbage from Christmas Eve dinner, prepared as a stir-fry for Christmas lunch or dinner. It’s an incredibly simple and delicious dish, not only because the ingredients themselves are delicious, but from one day to the next they have time to absorb more flavors, become more tender and therefore much more flavorful!

This is a classic in Portugal, especially after making boiled or roasted codfish when you’ve made a ton of boiled Portuguese cabbage and other vegetables. The next day you can make “roupa velha”, literally “old clothes”, because the dish looks like old clothes, but flavor-wise it’s absolutely fantastic! The double-cooked cabbage becomes super creamy and tender with loads of flavor.

Since this is a leftover dish, it changes a lot depending on what you have available and is made very much by eye. However, I’d say it’s not worth making roupa velha if you don’t have a good amount of Portuguese cabbage leftovers or cabbage available to cook extra, because you can make roupa velha with just one piece of codfish or with three, with just one potato or half a kilo, all without problems, but you can’t make Roupa Velha with just one stem of cabbage, the cabbage is the essential part! Let’s check the recipe!

Traditional Portuguese Christmas Cabbage Stir-Fry • Roupa Velha

Servings: 4
Time: 45mins
Difficulty: Easy
Rating: ★★★★★
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Its one of those Portuguese Christmas things, if there is no leftover cabbage to make Roupa Velha, then you boil some more cabbage, you have to have it!

Ingredients

Portuguese Cabbage – Leftovers (At Least 500g/1.1 lbs Already Cooked)
Vegetables – Leftovers (Carrots, Turnips, Onions Already Cooked)
Garlic – 4 Cloves
Onion – 1 Medium
Bay Leaves – 2 Leaves
Olive Oil – 4 Tablespoons (60ml/¼ cup)
Black Pepper – A Pinch
Salt – A Pinch

Directions

In a very wide skillet (that can accommodate everything) or in a large pan, add the garlic, onion, bay leaves and olive oil, let it sauté gently.
While they’re cooking, cut the cabbage into large cubes, especially the stems, followed by the carrots and other vegetables.
When the onion and garlic are golden, remove the bay leaves and add the vegetables with the cabbage, season with salt and pepper, mix well and let it cook thoroughly.
When everything is very hot and tender, taste and adjust seasonings, then transfer to a serving dish and it’s ready, Bom Apetite!

Notes: Beyond the traditional preparation, Roupa Velha is often served with black olives and crumbled corn bread as a topping, feel free to add these.

If you have cooked codfish available, shred it and add it to the stir-fry when you add the cabbage for another variation, this is a leftover dish, so you use what you have at hand.

The key to perfect Roupa Velha is patience, let those vegetables really absorb all the flavors from the olive oil and aromatics.

Don’t be afraid to let some parts get slightly caramelized, those golden edges add incredible depth of flavor.

Portuguese cabbage (couve portuguesa) has a unique texture, but if unavailable, use other type of green leaf cabbages, like collard greens or kale as the closest substitute.

This recipe for Traditional Portuguese Christmas Cabbage Stir-Fry • Roupa Velha was originally created on BakeAfter.com.