Sweet and Sour Braised Cabbage Recipe

January 13, 2010

I’m not a huge cabbage fan. I love a good slaw, but cooked cabbage doesn’t do much for me. There are a couple exceptions to that rule and one is this recipe for Sweet and Sour Braised Cabbage. I learned this recipe from Cindy Pawlcyn when I was working at Mustard’s Grill in the Napa Valley. She always had the knack for turning something ordinary into something special.

This dish is a natural accompaniment to pork, but would also be great with grilled brauts, or even venison.

Sweet and Sour Braised Cabbage Recipe

A excellent, easy side dish for pork or chicken. Red and green cabbage gets slowly braised with onions, cumin seeds, brown sugar, and a touch of vinegar.

Yield: 4 1x

Scale

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 large head red cabbage, or a mixture of red and green, cut into large dice
1/2 cup red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cumin seeds

Instructions

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Once shimmering add onion and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender. Add garlic and cook a couple minutes more.
Add cabbage and season again with salt and pepper. Lower heat to medium, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 20 minutes. Add vinegar, sugar and cumin and lower heat to medium-low. Cook, covered, until the juices are syrupy and cabbage is soft, about 10 minutes more. Season with additional salt and pepper, if necessary and serve.