All in a tray’s work: Alice Zaslavsky’s satay-butter charred cabbage wedges with fragrant chicken mince. Stylist and food prep: Madeleine Dobbins. Photograph: Eugene Hyland/The Guardian View image in fullscreen All in a tray’s work: Alice Zaslavsky’s satay-butter charred cabbage wedges with fragrant chicken mince. Stylist and food prep: Madeleine Dobbins. Photograph: Eugene Hyland/The Guardian You've got this Vegetables Alice Zaslavsky’s satay-butter charred cabbage wedges with fragrant chicken mince – recipe The cookbook author has a shortcut method for blanching vegetables that saves on time, equipment and water
Alice Zaslavsky Tue 8 Sep 2026 17.00 CEST Last modified on Wed 9 Sep 2026 01.46 CEST Share Prefer the Guardian on Google I love a burnt brassica, and there’s no better flavour than the big mama herself: the cabbage.
Vegetables in the cruciferous family, like brussels sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower, have naturally bitter compounds. However, with concentrated heat, this bitterness is transformed into sweetly caramelised corners and burnished bits.
It’s one way to make brassica boo-ers braver. But getting cooked-through cabbage with a softened heart and gnarly edges requires a delicate balance of time under heat.
Lucky for us, the sharp bitterness of cabbage has been bred out of more conventional styles on supermarket and greengrocer shelves. Modern varieties are much milder, sweeter and less fibrous, meaning they require far less cooking than the cabbages of old.
View image in fullscreen Kettle-blanching brings the water to the veg rather than the veg to the water. Photograph: Eugene Hyland/The Guardian View image in fullscreen Wedge lords: after blanching, char the cabbages in a heavy pan until deeply caramelised. Photograph: Eugene Hyland/The Guardian That’s why these days, I’m fond of a gentler method that softens their rawness without overcooking: the kettle-blanch.
Unlike traditional blanching which requires a large pot of boiling water and an ice-plunge bath, kettle-blanching brings the water to the veg rather than the veg to the water.
Put the kettle on, prepare the veg, whack it in a metal colander in the sink and pour the just-boiled water over the top. There’s enough heat to soften the fibres and intensify the colour without leaching the flavour into the blanching or icing water. And it requires less time, equipment and water.
I’ve been using kettle-blanching for everything from cauliflower and broccoli florets, to tender greens like snow peas and sugar snaps. Once the veg has steamed dry, it’s ready to be tossed in oil and grilled, stir-fried or roasted, as per this recipe.
View image in fullscreen Satay like it’s your birthday: pour the buttery, emulsified sauce over the charred cabbage. Photograph: Eugene Hyland/The Guardian View image in fullscreen The chicken mince can be swapped out for firm tofu. Photograph: Eugene Hyland/The Guardian The chicken mince in the recipe below is more of an accoutrement than a necessity, though it does add bulk and protein. You could swap it for firm tofu if that’s more your speed, or serve the cabbage and satay butter as a vego side.
For the charred cabbage ½ small (or ¼ medium) green cabbage , cut into four wedges, keeping core intact 1 tbsp neutral-flavoured oil 1 tsp salt flakes
For the satay butter sauce 4 tbsp crunchy peanut butter 125ml coconut milk 1 tbsp green curry paste 1 tbsp fish sauce 1 tsp light soy sauce 1 tbsp brown sugar 100g cold butter , cubed…