Boiled Cabbage
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Remove all dead outer leaves from the cabbage and cut off as much of the stalk as possible.
Cut the cabbage across twice at the stalk end; if large, quarter it.
Wash the cabbage well in cold water and drain in a colander.
Boil
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt and baking soda.
Add the cabbage to the boiling water, stirring it down once or twice.
Keep the pot uncovered and boil until tender: 10‑12 minutes for young cabbage, 30‑45 minutes for large cabbage.
Once done, transfer the cabbage to a colander, cover with a plate, and let it drain thoroughly before serving.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Cabbage
- Is the main vegetable; boiling softens its fibres until tender.
- Baking soda
- Raises the water's pH, which helps cabbage stay bright green while it cooks.
The step that matters
Boil uncovered until tender. Cooking time varies widely with cabbage size. Boiling uncovered lets volatile sulfur compounds escape, reducing the strong cabbage smell, and too long cooking makes it mushy and dull.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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