Braised Red Cabbage

Method

1. 01

   Step 1: Prepare the vegetables

   Quarter the cabbage, cut out the core and shred it as finely as you can. Slice the onion into half-moons and cut the cored apple into 1 cm dice — the skin can stay on.

2. 02

   Step 2: Soften onion and apple

   Heat the oil in a large heavy pan and cook the onion and apple over medium heat for 3–4 minutes, until the onion is translucent and the apple begins to soften.

3. 03

   Step 3: Add the cabbage

   Tip in all the cabbage and cook 5 minutes more, stirring constantly. It looks like far too much for the pan at first, but it collapses by half very quickly.

4. 04

   Step 4: Vinegar goes in now

   Add the vinegar, sugar, salt, bay leaf, cloves and water and stir well. The vinegar has to go in at this point: it fixes the red colour, and added at the end it can no longer save anything.

5. 05

   Step 5: Braise slowly

   Bring to the boil, drop the heat as low as it goes and braise covered for 1.5–2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes. If the liquid runs dry early, top up with 50 ml of water at a time.

6. 06

   Step 6: Finish and season

   Done, the cabbage is soft but not collapsed, with a little thick dark juice at the bottom. Fish out the bay and cloves, grind over pepper and add another half spoon of vinegar or sugar if it needs it.