mtnbkr, use some kind of pork (hog jowl, fatback, sidemeat) for flavor and grease. Bacon would be ok, but might taste too bacony or sweet. Basically, you need a fatty meat that will give a smoked flavor instead of a salty or sweet flavor. Anything salt cured will need to be rinsed heavily first. Fry out your meat and as that's happening just chop your cabbage into bite-size pices or thereabouts. Go ahead and put it in a LARGE frying pan and drizzle the grease on it as the pork cooks. I recovered about the bottom quarter of a small sized coffee cup (not the modern mug) of grease from my jowl. That would be just enough for one head of cabbage. As it's cooking, season with just a little salt (to taste) and lots of pepper, both black and red. I like my fried cabbage quite spicy, so I will go easy while cooking for the sake of others, and then have either crushed red or cayenne pepper on the table for myself. Taste the cabbage often, both for a "MMMM GOOD" quality and also in order to keep an eye on the tenderness of the cabbage. Don't let the cabbage go too soft, or it will be unappealing...a tiny bit of crunch is nice.
As far as pig's feet, I ate them a LONG time ago as a child, but now I am really grossed out by them. I can't choke them down anymore.
Oh, one more thing. If you decide to use jowl, get it cut by the butcher. Have him to cut it somewhere around 1/8" or a little thicker, to 3/16" No thicker. I have some THICK stuff here and I don't know what to do with it other than just use it for grease (to keep for seasoning). You can't use it like bacon (on the side of eggs or your cabbage) if it's too thick. Also, jowl takes a long time to cook in comparision to bacon. Just keep turning it and don't let it burn. It won't crisp in the pan, so just take it out when it's cooked and brown, then let it drain onto a paper towel.
