Good slaw is a dish that challenges your knife skills
- Scott Daniels: We Ate Well and Cheaply
- September 9, 2023
- 417
Coleslaw is the standard side for so many dishes. You’ll get it at KFC, at any family restaurant, and with fish and chips. But there are many variations, enough to allow for several versions at any potluck. I rather like all of them.
The mayo and mustard based slaw dressings were my go-to for many years. A little mayo, a little mustard and vinegar, some tarragon, scallions, and maybe a little sour cream and you’re all set. That sour cream is the thing that starts the clock ticking on how soon that batch spoils. Mayo has enough acid to keep it from attacking the cabbage, but you’re wise to keep it out of the sun at a picnic and eat it up within a day or two.
It was in South Carolina some years ago that a friend took me to a barbecue joint that was a game changer for me. The barbecue sauces are different there, and I had my first taste of a mustard-based sauce that was delicious. Also on the menu was a vinegar slaw that was so good I’ve made nothing else since.
Good coleslaw is made up of at least two varieties of cabbage, carrots and a bit of onion. It’s a dish that challenges your knife skills. You can shred the cabbage on a sharp mandolin if you have one at hand or more simply slice it into shreds with a good chef’s knife, which adds the benefit of improving your knife skills. Cut the vegetable in half, then into quarters, removing the core from each section. You can use a nice, big head of green cabbage, another of red, and a further head of Chinese cabbage or bok choy if you like. Grate the carrots on the coarsest part of your box grater and slice the onions as thinly as you can.
The downside for vinegar-based slaw is the liquid level multiplies over time. When you first mix it up, it’s crispy and laden with tart sauce. Within an hour or two, the cabbage goes limp and exudes its own juice until it becomes rather sodden. It’s at this stage that I think it’s best, but you’ll still want to eat it up within four or five days. After that, it begins to seem like wet unfermented kimchee.
A good vinegar slaw is just the thing on a pulled-pork sandwich. The smokiness of the pork is the perfect foil for the tart cabbage. A dousing of barbecue sauce and a few moments spent grilling the inside of the bun is a fat dinner reward.
For our Labor Day dinner, we were late to the party and ended up choosing between 10-pound pork butt we would mostly throw out or the single remaining pork shoulder of the correct size but of questionable cut. We picked up the latter and spent hours fussing with a charcoal grill with a steaming bowl of broth under the meat and wildly varying temperatures. In the end we brought it into the house and finished it in the oven with a still-tough result. At the obscene high prices we’re seeing in stores, such a poor and tough chunk of pork shoulder was disheartening. The slaw, however, was amazing.
CAROLINA VINEGAR SLAW
1/2 head small cabbage, cored and sliced thinly
1/2 head red cabbage, cored and sliced thinly
3 large carrots, shredded
1 medium yellow or red onion, sliced thinly
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon celery seed
2/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 cup apple cider vinegar
Heat the sugar, salt, oil, mustard, celery seed, pepper and vinegar over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Let cool and then add to the shredded vegetables. Mix well and allow to sit for an hour before serving.