An Excellent Way of Boiling Cabbage
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Trim and wash the cabbage in cold water, checking for insects.
Cut the cabbage almost into quarters, leaving the stem intact.
Soak the cabbage in cold water for 1 hour.
First boil
Boil a pot of water with 1 teaspoon of salt.
Add the cabbage and boil for 1.5 hours, skimming occasionally.
Drain the cabbage in a colander and cool it under running cold water.
After cooling, discard the first water and wash the pot.
Second boil and finish
Boil fresh water and add the cabbage again, cooking for 2 to 2.5 hours until tender.
Drain well, pressing with a ladle to remove moisture, and cut into quarters.
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; long boiling softens its tough leaves until tender.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the boiling water so the cabbage takes on flavour as it cooks.
The step that matters
Draining and pressing the cabbage. Cabbage holds a lot of water after long boiling. Pressing out the moisture with a ladle keeps the cooked cabbage from tasting diluted and from becoming soggy.
“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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