Charred hispi cabbage with XO seasoning

Charred cabbage, tangy vinaigrette, umami-rich black bean sauce, and crunchy, savoury XO seasoning – a surprisingly complex dish with a mix of textures and flavours.

By Jay Rayner
From Saturday Kitchen

This recipe contains vegetables and healthy fats, but also includes processed snacks and added sugars (nutri-score).

Ingredients

For the thick vinaigrette:

• Garlic clove, 1
• Dijon mustard, 1 heaped tbsp
• Light soy sauce, 2 tsp
• White wine vinegar, 40ml
• Vegetable oil, 100ml
• Extra virgin olive oil, 70ml
• Honey, ½ tsp
• Mayonnaise, 1 tbsp
• Sea salt, 1 tsp
• Black pepper, to taste

For the cabbage:

• Hispi cabbages, 2, cut vertically in half
• Olive oil, 2 tbsp
• Thick vinaigrette, 100ml (made above)

For the black bean sauce:

• Preserved black beans, 1 heaped tbsp
• Light soy sauce, 60ml
• Caster sugar, 50g
• Cornflour, ½ tsp

For the XO seasoning:

• Nori seaweed, 3 sheets, cut into pieces
• Bacon rasher snacks, 20g packet
• Scampi flavour puffed corn crisps, 27g packet
• Pickled onion flavour puffed corn crisps, 20g packet
• Crispy onions, 2 tbsp
• Dried red chilli flakes, 1 tsp

Method

Prepare the Thick Vinaigrette

• Grind garlic and sea salt into a paste using a pestle and mortar.
• Add mustard, soy sauce, and vinegar to the paste and mix.
• Transfer to a food processor, add oils, honey, and mayonnaise.
• Blend on high speed for 20-30 seconds.
• Stir in black pepper.

Cook the Cabbage

• Heat a cast iron skillet over high heat until smoking hot.
• Drizzle cabbage pieces with olive oil and place flat in the skillet.
• Cook for 15-20 minutes, turning occasionally, until charred and softened.

Make the Black Bean Sauce

• Soak black beans in warm water for 2 minutes.
• Heat soy sauce and sugar in a saucepan until sugar dissolves.
• Mix cornflour with water to make a slurry, add to the pan.
• Stir until sauce thickens, then add drained black beans.
• Set aside to cool.

Prepare the XO Seasoning

• Blend seaweed sheets in a food processor until finely chopped.
• Crush all crisps and snacks.
• Mix seaweed, crushed snacks, crispy onions, and chilli flakes in a bowl.

Assemble the Dish

• Dress each cabbage piece with vinaigrette.
• Spoon black bean sauce over the cabbage.
• Top with XO seasoning.

Nutri-score Health Check

This recipe receives a Nutri-Score of C, indicating it’s moderately healthy. The score reflects a mix of nutritious ingredients and less healthy elements. On the positive side, it includes vegetables (cabbage) and uses olive oil, which provides healthy fats. However, the recipe contains processed snacks in the XO seasoning, which are high in salt and artificial flavors. The black bean sauce also contains added sugar. To improve the score, consider reducing the amount of processed snacks and sugar, and increasing the proportion of vegetables. You could also substitute some of the oils in the vinaigrette with a lower-fat option.

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