Our favourite slaw-type recipes …

[Suffs Profile]

We love slaw-type salads throughout the year … the vegetable combinations change with the seasons and the
possibilities are almost endless … as are the recipes for dressings …

What are your favourites?

[slimpersoninside Profile]

Oooh good one Suffs.

I've started eating more coleslaw recently and would like to make my own. My breath is bated in anticipation .

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I tend to use whatever I have lurking in the salad drawer, any kind of cabbage works

Just had one that was made with a white cabbage, a vinaigrette with a lot of Dijon mustard, and caraway seeds

If I don't have cabbage and want to make a slaw I get a kohlrabi and shred it into julienne using my food processor, nice mild cabbage flavour, good crisp texture, keeps quite well too

[scullion Profile]

i suppose i'm a bit of traditionalist for coleslaw - dutch white cabbage, carrot and onion with mayonnaise, black pepper and lots of snipped up fresh rosemary. any other variation i tend to just call a salad.
(at school it was made with oil and a little vinegar rather than mayonnaise).

[KeenCook2 Profile]

Love it with carrot and apple and a mustardy vinaigrette. Sometimes with sultanas.

[ZeroCook Profile]

.
I like American style coleslaw. One white cabbage, grated on the coarse side, a couple of carrots, grated finely, Dressing of 3 parts white vinegar, four parts raw granulated sugar by volume/tablespoons as needed, mayo about a cup, or to thicken as wished. Toss thoroughly. Allow to sit for a while before serving.


Pretty plain. I'm a classicist

[Sloe-Gin Profile]

Asian slaw for me, with sesame oil and lime juice/rice wine vinegar and a kick of ginger or maybe a tahini dressing

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I've been a bit put off "Asian" slaw by being served one too many in cafés and pubs that is under seasoned and seems to consist mainly of coarse chunks of the leathery outer leaves of red cabbage and similar pieces of red onion.

Anyone got a recipe or method for a good one? I'm pretty sure I've not had one that tasted noticeably of sesame oil

[Pepper Pig Profile]

I had a really nasty M&S bang bang one last week.

[liketocook Profile]

I've been a bit put off "Asian" slaw by being served one too many in cafés and pubs that is under seasoned and seems to consist mainly of coarse chunks of the leathery outer leaves of red cabbage and similar pieces of red onion.

Anyone got a recipe or method for a good one? I'm pretty sure I've not had one that tasted noticeably of sesame oil

I like this one Sue, I often add some diced chilli or a dash of Tabasco to the mix. https://www.rivercottage.net/recipes/as ... d-coleslaw. The dressing is good over noodle salad as well.

[Earthmaiden Profile]

This thread has reminded me that I can't remember when I last made a slaw style salad! I think I was put off them long ago when people cut the cabbage quite thickly and it was a chore to eat.
I love (finely chopped) red cabbage - and do Chinese leaves count? Mixed with assortments of chopped fennel, grated carrot, beetroot, turnip and other root vegetables. Raisins, walnuts and other nut pieces depending on the ingredients. Not overly fond of celery. In our wholefood cafe we did chinese leaves, beanspouts and mushrooms with an oil and soy sauce dressing - probably not quite a slaw but close. Otherwise, the dressing was a mustardy, yogurt/mayo mix.
I'd like to know what comprises an Asian slaw. Daikon maybe with Chinese leaves, strips of radish, ginger, peanuts ... and that spiced sesame dressing?
I do like a sweetness to slaw either via dried or fresh fruits or a sweet ish dressing. Onion should feature but I dislike raw onion so only the flavour for me!

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I like this one Sue, I often add some diced chilli or a dash of Tabasco to the mix. https://www.rivercottage.net/recipes/as ... d-coleslaw. The dressing is good over noodle salad as well.

That looks more like the sort of dressing I would like, thanks, might vary the veg a bit

I'd like to know what comprises an Asian slaw.

Well, me too! It seems to lean towards red cabbage, but I really don't know

Chinese leaf aka Napa cabbage aka celery cabbage (because of the shapes of the stalks, not the flavour) definitely counts, because it's a form of cabbage, I looked at definitions of slaw, just short for "coleslaw" - which is a dressed cabbage salad

[Earthmaiden Profile]

I looked up some Asian slaw recipes online. Bok Choi was named as one of the possible greens. I love raw Bok Choi - some lovely ideas are coming together here - without a white cabbage in sight! (Does Bok Choi and Pak Choi mean the same thing in a different language or is there another difference?).

[Stokey Sue Profile]

As far as I know bok choi and pak choi are just different transliterations of the same thing, there’s not much difference between p and b sounds in many languages

Bok choy (American English, Canadian English and Australian English), pak choi (British English) or pok choi (Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis) is a type of Chinese cabbage, used as food

My neighbour’s noodle bar gets huge boxes of lovely bok choi, usually grown in Spain

[Earthmaiden Profile]

How lovely!

Sloe mentioned a tahini dressing. Not sure of her recipe but I love a dressing made from plain yogurt and tahini (about 2/3 yog and 1/3 tahini unless the spoon slips!), seasoned with salt and sometimes lemon juice to taste.

[herbidacious Profile]

I've not made one for along time either. I feel a craving coming on! I do love celeriac remoulade.

Also maybe not really slaw but I have a recipe for very garlicky grated carrot which is enough to convert one to raw carrot (tough call in my case). It has raisins in it which totally goes against the grain but works. Flaneur on Farringdon Road used to make one like this.

[KeenCook2 Profile]

I love grated carrot with raisins, what is the secret of the dressing, herbi?

[scullion Profile]

this is the claudia roden version (just about) - although her middle eastern cookbook doesn't state fresh ginger so i use dried ground (the quantity in the recipe seems more fitting to ground than fresh).

[KeenCook2 Profile]

Oooh, that looks great, scully. I've got several Roden books, will look with a fresh eye!

[Earthmaiden Profile]

That does look good, scully. Garlicky sounds good too, Herbi.

The carrot salad dressing I use is just orange juice. The raisins or sultanas are soaked in it overnight so that they plump up and then they and any remaining juice is added to grated carrot. The original recipe also had toasted sunflower seeds which are quite nice but which I often leave out nowadays.