Ingredient

Cabbage

Cabbage has a reputation built entirely on being boiled to death. Cooked briefly and hard, or shredded raw, or fermented, it is one of the best and cheapest vegetables there is — and the smell everyone remembers is a symptom of overcooking rather than of cabbage.

The varieties

Savoy

Crinkled dark green leaves, loose head. The best all-rounder — good raw, excellent quickly fried or steamed, holds its texture.

White (Dutch)

Dense, pale, crisp. For slaw and sauerkraut, and it braises well over a long time.

Red

Same structure as white, and it turns blue-grey when cooked unless you add acid — vinegar or apple. Traditionally braised slowly with fruit and spice.

Hispi or pointed

Sweet, tender, fast-cooking. Excellent halved and roasted or charred.

Spring greens

Loose-leaved, no heart. Cook briefly; they are closer to a leafy green than a cabbage.

Chinese leaf and pak choi

Different species, much higher in water, and they need very brief cooking.

Why overcooked cabbage smells

Brassicas contain sulphur compounds locked up in a stable form. Heat breaks these down, and the longer the cooking, the more of the pungent sulphurous products accumulate — which is the smell of a school kitchen and the reason a generation grew up hating cabbage.

The compounds build up steadily with time, so the answer is short cooking. Shredded cabbage stir-fried for three minutes, or steamed for five, tastes sweet and green. The same cabbage boiled for twenty is a different food.

The exception is long, deliberate braising — red cabbage with apple and vinegar over an hour, or a slow-cooked cabbage with bacon. Those work because acid, fat and sweetness are doing something with the flavour rather than leaving it exposed.

How to cook it well

• Shredded and fried hard in butter or bacon fat, three or four minutes, with a splash of water at the end. The best everyday method by a distance.
• Halved or wedged and roasted at a high heat until the cut faces char. Pointed cabbage is superb this way.
• Steamed briefly, five minutes, then dressed with butter, salt and pepper.
• Raw, finely shredded, in a slaw. Salting and draining it first keeps it crisp and stops the dressing going watery.
• Braised slowly with acid and fat — red cabbage with vinegar, apple, and a long low oven.
• Fermented into sauerkraut or kimchi. See lactic fermentation.

Buying and storing

• Heavy for its size, with tight leaves and no yellowing. A light cabbage has dried out.
• Savoy and pointed cabbages are looser by nature; judge those on the leaves rather than density.
• Whole cabbages keep for weeks in the fridge. A cut one keeps several days with the cut face covered.
• The outer leaves are usually fine — remove only what is damaged or yellowed, not the first three layers out of habit.
• The core is edible. Slice it thinly and cook it a little longer than the leaves.

Preserving a cabbage, three ways

A whole cabbage is a great deal of cabbage, and it keeps better once it has been turned into something else.

• Sauerkraut. Shredded, salted, packed under its own brine and left. Two ingredients and no starter, and it is the ferment to learn on.
• Kimchi, where the cabbage is salted and then rinsed before a seasoning paste goes on, which is why it can carry chilli, garlic and ginger.
• Pickled red cabbage, salted overnight and covered in cool spiced vinegar. Quick, crunchy, and best eaten within a couple of months rather than laid down.
• Braised slowly with vinegar and apple, which is not a preserve but keeps for a week and improves each day.
• Not frozen raw. Cabbage collapses on thawing. Blanch it first if you must, and accept a softer result.

Common questions