Winter is upon us - Cabbage

Raymond Lin said:
I tried it years ago and found it to be meh but after trying the real stuff in Korea I find it amazing. It hits the same notes as pickles in a meal, it's great cutting grease in a meal but with a spicy kick.
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It sounds like one of those foods that must be made fresh by the people that make it. I never let my bad experience with foods put me off, unless it's the real thing that can't be made any better.
 
Ryan-3 said:
It sounds like one of those foods that must be made fresh by the people that make it. I never let my bad experience with foods put me off, unless it's the real thing that can't be made any better.
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The stuff in jars sold in supermarket here is all too wet and sloppy and cut too small. Granted Kimchi has many different stages of fermented versions and some are aged longer for stronger taste and some are just a week old or anything in between. However I find the "real" stuff in Korea are generally cut bigger pieces of cabbage, less sour, less sloppy and watery and more flavour. Some people can eat it on its own but I like it mostly with other food, rice in a meal. Like in a wrap in a leaf and some meat.
 
I've been eating tonnes of Sweetheart cabbage recently. It's naturally quite sweet and I just simmer it for 3 - 4 mins, sometimes adding some butter once drained (I often drink the cabbage water too for the vitamins and what-not).
 
Cabbage is great, but it's better fried than boiled (I prefer most veg either roasted or fried rather than boiled TBH). No way I'm sprinkling sugar on it either, but then I don't tend to like anything sweet in my savoury dishes in general (raisins in red cabbage are also plain wrong).
 
I've never fried cabbage from raw, only as part of a next day fry-up with leftovers from a big meal such as Christmas dinner.

I'll give it a try one of these evenings.
 
R.P.L said:
Cabbage is great, but it's better fried than boiled (I prefer most veg either roasted or fried rather than boiled TBH). No way I'm sprinkling sugar on it either, but then I don't tend to like anything sweet in my savoury dishes in general (raisins in red cabbage are also plain wrong).
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Your missing out, one of my favourites is red cabbage par boiled, then fried in butter and at the end stir in some redcurrent jelly.

I also like cabbage done in the oven, goes crispy like a fat free version of Chinese seaweed.
 
Without delving into fermentation, I usually have cabbage one of two ways...

Creamed Cabbage:

1 Savoy Cabbage (stalk removed, sliced finely, blanched in lots of very salty water, then immediately cooled)
2 Medium Carrots (very finely diced)
8 Rashers Smoked Streaky Bacon (very finely diced)
1 Large Garlic Clove (Minced)
1/4 Cup* Fines Herbes (Finely chopped, you can forget the Chervil as it's a pain to find)
Double Cream
Nutmeg
Sea salt
Black pepper

Heat the bacon gently in a large saute pan so its fat renders, then turn up heat and brown. Add the garlic and carrot and soften, then add the cabbage, double cream a little salt and freshly ground black pepper. Reduce until thick, add fines herbes and 3 or 4 grates of nutmeg. Correct seasoning and serve. You can also layer with potatoes and cheese and bake like a tartiflette.

I also cook my sprouts like this for Xmas. It's the only way half of the folk I know will actually eat them (including myself).

Braised Cabbage:

1 Savoy Cabbage (cut into 6 wedges, leave only enough stalk to keep intact)
1 Pint Chicken Stock (you might not need all of this)
Sherry Vinegar
100g Butter (cold and cubed)
A few sprigs of Thyme
2 tbsp* Chive (finely chopped)
Sea salt
Maldon salt
Black pepper

Using the largest pan you have (all six wedges should fit on a flat side), heat a film of neutral oil until smoking. Add the cabbage wedges on their flat side and leave until thoroughly browned. Remove the cabbage and set aside, rinse out pan removing and bits of burned crap. Return to medium-high heat, add the chicken stock to fill around 1cm and a healthy glug of sherry vinegar (aim for the vinegar to catch the back of your throat!) then bring to a boil. Add the butter a cube at a time whilst whisking, until emulsified. Add the thyme, season with sea salt and black pepper, then add the cabbage uncooked side down. Cook until jus is syrupy, basting every so often. Remove cabbage to a tray lined with a couple of J-Cloths. Remove thyme, add chives to pan, mix, drizzle over cabbage. Finish cabbage with a few crystals of Maldon salt and serve.

*Apologies for the crappy units, but I don't actually have any chopped herbs to weigh.
 
I assume boiled references reallly meant steamed .. boiling was the flavour/texture sapping pre-90s style in the UK, before the steaming trivet came in,
not sure which country lead the way for steaming ? or was that nutritionists - lead by the science

al-dente savoy salt/pepper/olive with steamed carrots , egg/salmon/bechemel parcel.

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