Hey friends,
I’m writing you from the fourth day of a corporate retreat for a company I love to cook for. Primarily based in India, this group is 100% vegetarian - and deeply involved with Ayurvedic and otherwise medicinal food. It’s heaven - and it gives me a lot of room to experiment. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that I love cabbage in every form. Red, green, savoy, Napa, winter hardy, summer hardy, whatever. I love how it grows, pickles, tastes, and how many different things you can make with one $3 head of cabbage.
This afternoon, I walked past a head o’ red that I absolutely had to buy - it was neon purple, humongous, and on sale at Whole Foods. I knew I’d be searing her either way, so the rest of this recipe sort of came together as a color study - I grabbed some overripe mangoes, some mint, and we were off to the races. The dish got gobbled up almost instantly and all that was left was a pool of buttery anthocyanin.
This cabbage will be seared on a stovetop and finished in the oven. I’d really recommend using a pan, dutch oven, griddle plate, or whatever that can go straight from the stove to the oven. If you don’t have one, that’s okay (but no more oat milk lattes until you buy a dutch oven. Seriously. Target makes a great one for cheap-ish and I vouch for it) - you will need a skewer to keep the cabbage together. Or not. Do you.
Ingredients |
1 whole head of red cabbage (you can totes use green, but why do you hate yourself?)
2 sticks or 1 cup of butter, ghee, or whatever you freaky vegans pretend isn’t emulsified poison oil
1 orange on the sweeter side - I used a Cara Cara because I had one, but you can use anything that’s juicy and ripe
2 cloves of garlic, smashed, minced, grated, or otherwise obliterated
1 bunch of mint, leaves removed, stems reserved
2 tbsp aleppo pepper - you can use your favorite variety of pepper here
A lil’ knob of ginger about the size of your thumb
For the mango chutney which you should absolutely make
2 ripe mangoes, peeled, minced flesh and minced peels.
1 large shallot, minced.
1 serrano or habanero pepper cut into whatever amount you can tolerate and enjoy
2 tbsp apple cider or red wine vinegar
Method
First, prepare your ingredients, namely the butter. In a small saucepan, add your butter, minced shallot, minced mango skins, grated garlic, minced mint stems, aleppo, a pinch of salt, and the zest of that one orange. Cook that down just until the butter is liquid and turn off the burner. Take your zested orange and squeeze into the butter mixture.
Heat your oven to 400.
Get your cooking surface hot as fuck and add enough olive oil to completely cover the bottom and then some. We are frying this thing.
Cut your cabbage into quarters, keeping the core intact, so it stays together. Cut each quarter in half, crosswise. Don’t salt it, just raw dog right in the sizzling pan on a flat side. Reduce the heat to medium high.
You may lose some outer leaves here, that’s great - they’ll be super crispy and magical at the end. You’re going to sear each flat side of the cabbage until it’s brown and crusty. Use tongs to hold it together when flipping to the other flat side.
When the flat pieces are browned, flip ‘em to the curvy outer side. Now - season your cabbage generously with salt, and spoon half of the butter you made all over it. Take your time, and make sure it’s getting into all the nooks ‘n crannies. Pop that sucker in the oven for ten minutes. Carefully remove, baste again with the remaining butter, and toss back in for another ten minutes.
While your cabbage is in the oven, make your mango chutney. In the pan - shallots, mangoes, a few mint leaves, your hot pepper, and some olive oil. Cook it on medium until the shallots are super fragrant and the mangoes start to soften significantly. Add your vinegar, turn the heat down to low and let it get sticky.
Pull out your cabbage and plate it however you want. Sprinkle little bits of chutney all over, add some mint leaves, finishing salt and maybe some chili oil. You’re done. Thank me later!