Cabbage, Boiled
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Remove all dead outer leaves from the cabbage.
Cut off as much of the stalk as possible and cut the cabbage across twice at the stalk end; quarter if very large.
Wash the cabbage well in cold water and drain in a colander.
Boil
Place the cabbage in plenty of fast-boiling water with added salt and baking soda.
Stir the cabbage down once or twice in the water and keep the pan uncovered.
Boil until tender; large cabbages take 1 to 1.5 hours, young summer cabbage takes 10 to 13 minutes after the water boils.
Drain and serve
Once done, transfer to a colander, cover with a plate, and let drain thoroughly.
Cut the cabbage into small squares 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.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Cabbage
- Is the main vegetable, cooked until tender in boiling water.
- Baking soda
- Raises the water's alkalinity, which helps keep the cabbage's green colour bright during boiling.
The step that matters
Keep the pan uncovered while boiling. Cooking with the lid off lets volatile sulfur compounds escape, which keeps the cabbage from smelling strongly and turning dull and grey.
“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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