Cabbage, Boiled
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Remove all dead outer leaves from the cabbages.
Cut off as much of the stalk as possible and cut the cabbages across twice at the stalk end; quarter them if very large.
Wash the cabbages 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 cabbages to the boiling water and stir once or twice.
Keep the pot uncovered and boil until tender: 15-20 minutes for small cabbages, 30-40 minutes for large cabbages.
Once done, transfer the cabbages to a colander, cover with a plate, and let them drain thoroughly.
Serve
Cut the cabbages into 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
- Cabbages
- Form the dish itself; boiling softens their fibrous leaves until tender.
- Baking soda
- Raises the water's pH, which helps cabbage stay bright green while it cooks.
The step that matters
Keep the pot uncovered while boiling. Cabbage releases volatile sulfur compounds that cause a strong odour when cooked. Boiling uncovered lets these escape, so the cabbage tastes milder and stays greener.
“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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