Suspiciously Delicious Creamed Cabbage

Author Notes

I cook a lot of cabbage during the winter months–there aren't too many other options for greens if you're trying hard to go with local produce! Most often I cook traditional recipes I learned from my mom, but you've got to switch it up sometimes. This was an experiment based very, very loosely off of a kale recipe I was intrigued by (though looking back at the kale recipe now, it's actually totally different, oh well). When we were eating it with dinner my husband exclaimed, "what did you put in this cabbage?! It's suspiciously delicious. Is it actually meat or something?" No meat involved though. The cream picks up the browned bits from browning the cabbage as though it were the base for a gravy. It also mellows out the spicy ginger so everything practically melts together. It makes a delicious cold weather side dish, and I bet it would also be lovely tossed with pasta. —fiveandspice

Test Kitchen Notes

"With a recipe title like this one, expectations are bound to be high. Happily, this cabbage is both refined and undeniably delicious–it's the kind of dish that inspires you to keep sneaking forkfuls long past the end of the meal. Fiveandspice has you caramelize the crisp cabbage strands in butter that's been infused with onion, garlic and the key ingredient, fresh ginger. When the cabbage is tender and flecked with tasty brown bits, you add some cream and simmer just long enough for the flavors to meld." –A&M

"In the United States, green cabbage averages at $0.62 per pound, so it’s almost too good to be true that it’s also versatile as heck. You can turn cabbage into soup. Or stuff it with beef and rice. Or pretend it’s pasta. Or you could sauté it.

Sure, this sounds like the humblest option of all, but what this recipe lacks in bells and whistles, it makes up for in simplicity and deliciousness. In fact, it’s so simple and so delicious, some might say the whole thing sounds pretty suspicious.

That’s what husband of longtime Food52er Fiveandspice (known in the real world as Emily Vikre) said when he first tried this dish: 'What did you put in this cabbage?! It's suspiciously delicious. Is it actually meat or something?'

No meat. Just onion, garlic, fresh ginger, butter, and cream. You sauté the alliums first, then add the ginger, then the cabbage. These spend some quality time together for 15 to 20 minutes, only to be deglazed with a big pour of heavy cream, which, as Emily writes, 'picks up the browned bits from browning the cabbage as though it were the base for a gravy. It also mellows out the spicy ginger so everything practically melts together.'

It’s a very welcome side to just about any winter dinner—roast chicken, braised brisket, crispy bratwurst, pan-fried salmon, baked tofu, you name it. Emily’s even added in some leeks and tossed everything with hot pasta. 'It was very savory and rich!' she said.

Sounds like dinner to me." –Emma Laperruque

—The Editors