Trust me, once you get into the habit of making your own slaw, the sloppy muck they sell in your local supermarket just wont cut it. There are a million coleslaw recipes on the internet, so the trick is to mix and match until you get the combo that works for you, and you can call your own. The absolute basic recipe is a winner and consists of 3 types of veg and a mayo mix. To make it work you’ll need a mandolin or a lot of patience and a very sharp knife.
The below is my currently preferred method, it makes a ton! I prefer to go very light on the yoghurt/mayo dressing as a light touch here really lets the freshness of that crunchy veg come through. IIn fact I saw Jamie O knock up a batch on TV recently where he didn’t use any “creamy” binder at all, and instead used a drizzle of olive oil, which I tried and can heartily recommend – but really it depends what you’re serving it with I suppose.
It’s important to get the “right” amount of cider vinegar as this is what brings that delicious tanginess to it. Really you’re gonna want to get the veg sorted then balance the seasoning and vinegar levels by adding, mixing, tasting, repeat…
House ‘slaw
Ingredients
- 1 Cabbage White / red or half and half – also savoy / sweetheart etc all tried with success
- 1-2 Carrots See below for prep options
- 1 Onion White is quite powerful, red is a lighter option – half and half also good.
- 1 tsp Salt Grind in to taste, be careful, easily overdone
- 1 tsp Black pepper Grind in to taste
- 1 tsp Granulated sugar Couple of pinches
- 1 handful Fresh parsley or chives See notes below re chives
- 100 ml Yoghurt or mayo Yoghurt is so much better – use as much / little as you like
- 1 tsp Wholegrain or dijon mustard optional but gives a good tang to the dressing
- 1 splash Cider vinegar definitely need to taste after adding and evaluate
Instructions
- Take the cabbage halves and halve them again lengthways (ie top to bottom) then cut out the core
- Then either finely slice with a knife, or ideally use a mandolin to shred. Break up the bits and put into a large bowl
- Halve the onion, then finely slice or mandolin across the grain (ie to get "half an onion ring")
- The carrot is a bit more of a pain in the arse – you can grate it, or I recently saw a tip from Jamie O there he took a whole carrot, then he cut it down the middle from about 2cm from the top, then rotated and did it again (ie it's in quarters lengthways but not all the way to the end) and then went at it with a potato peeler – it's quite good.
- With all these things in a bowl, grind some salt and pepper into it, and add the sugar and mix thoroughly, the salt and sugar will lightly cure the cabbage and soften it slightly. Ideally leave for half hour or so.
- When ready to serve, drain any liquid from the bowl, then take 100ml of yoghurt, add 1 tsp of wholegrain mustard and a splash of cider vinegar and mix in a separate bowl, then dump it into the slaw
- Finely chop some fresh parsley or chives and mix in – this is mostly for appearance as the little green flecks of herb look great, so just eyeball it.