Boiled Cabbage
5 personsIngredients
Directions
Prepare
In a pot, bring 1/2 gallon of water to a boil, add 1 heaped tablespoonful of salt and a very small piece of soda.
Pick off all the dead outside leaves, cut off as much of the stalk as possible, and cut the cabbages across twice, at the stalk end; if they should be very large, quarter them.
Wash them well in cold water, place them in a colander, and drain.
Cook and serve
Put the cabbage into the boiling water, stir once or twice, keep the pan uncovered, and let them boil quickly until tender.
When done, take them up into a colander, place a plate over them, let them thoroughly drain, dish, and serve.
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. See the original page.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Cabbage (in the method)
- Forms the dish itself; boiling softens its fibres until tender.
- Soda (in the method)
- Raises the water's alkalinity, which helps the cabbage keep a bright green colour while boiling.
The step that matters
Boil uncovered and quickly until tender. Boiling uncovered lets volatile sulfur compounds escape, which keeps the flavour milder. A fast boil in plenty of water cooks the cabbage evenly and keeps it from turning grey and mushy.
“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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