How To Get Paper-Thin Sliced Cabbage Without a Peeler

How To Get Paper-Thin Sliced Cabbage Without a Peeler

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Cabbage is a top five vegetable in my book because of its affordability and versatility. It can be braised, sautéed, roasted, seared and stir-fried—you name it. But in my heart of hearts, my favorite preparation might just be slicing it super thin and eating it raw right off the cutting board or tossed in a slaw. A mandoline or shredder (like the one in our super-handy Spartan peeler trio will give you this type of snowy, nearly translucent cabbage. But I have another method for getting gorgeous, nearly paper-thin cabbage with just a knife.

If you ever seen someone gather up a pile of basil leaves, roll them and slice them, then you may also know that this technique is called a chiffonade. In French, this means “tiny ribbons” and appropriately describes the delicate strips that you get.

Despite cabbage’s larger size and more fibrous nature, you can actually apply the same steps to those big crunchy leaves in order to achieve that thinly sliced cabbage that’s great for topping a sandwich or tossing in a salad.

Start by carefully pulling off leaves from the cabbage (it’s okay if they tear). Then stack them lengthwise on your cutting board and roll away from you as tight as you can. Now you should have a neat little cigar of cabbage that you can begin slicing at the rolled end.

Start out slow to establish a rhythm and see just how thin you can make your slices. Then, as you gain more confidence, you can pick up steam. It is super important that you use the classic claw grip, where your hand supporting the cabbage is formed into a claw with your finger tips placed beneath and behind your knuckles. Not only will this help to prevent you from cutting yourself, it also allows you to use the tops of your fingers and knuckles as a guide for chopping. This will keep your slices consistent and thin.

Repeat with the remaining leaves of the cabbage until you’ve plowed through the whole thing. As with most knife skills, this will take some practice to perfect. Luckily cabbages are cheap and usually quite big. Once you’ve sliced through a couple, you’re going to be a chiffonade master!

Now, if you’re curious what you should do with all that sliced cabbage, I have just the recipe for you. There is a Japanese restaurant near my apartment called Ozakaya and I have become obsessed with their bari salad, made up of cabbage, “assorted seaweed”, and shiso leaf.

But it’s the dressing—a supremely nutty and creamy roasted sesame mixture—that really takes the dish to the next level. You can put it on anything, from crudites to skirt steak. After a bit of research, I discovered that this style of mayo-based sesame dressing is super common in Japan, and brands like Kikkoman and Kewpie make incredible bottled versions. But it’s also super easy to make it at home with ingredients you very well may have in your pantry.

I simplified the salad itself by swapping out the seaweeds and shiso for furikake. I love furikake and probably go overboard with how much I put in here, but it just adds such a necessary bit of crunch as well as a little oceanic, brine-y taste that really goes nicely with the sesame. Plus, it makes this salad even easier to whip up once you have it in your pantry:


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