Cuñas de col chamuscadas con mantequilla satay y fragante carne picada de pollo, de Alice Zaslavsky

I love a burnt brassica, and there’s no better flavour than the big mama herself: the cabbage.

Vegetables in the cruciferous family, like brussels sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower, have naturally bitter compounds. However, with concentrated heat, this bitterness is transformed into sweetly caramelised corners and burnished bits.

It’s one way to make brassica boo-ers braver. But getting cooked-through cabbage with a softened heart and gnarly edges requires a delicate balance of time under heat.

Lucky for us, the sharp bitterness of cabbage has been bred out of more conventional styles on supermarket and greengrocer shelves. Modern varieties are much milder, sweeter and less fibrous, meaning they require far less cooking than the cabbages of old.

That’s why these days, I’m fond of a gentler method that softens their rawness without overcooking: the kettle-blanch.

Unlike traditional blanching which requires a large pot of boiling water and an ice-plunge bath, kettle-blanching brings the water to the veg rather than the veg to the water.

Put the kettle on, prepare the veg, whack it in a metal colander in the sink and pour the just-boiled water over the top. There’s enough heat to soften the fibres and intensify the colour without leaching the flavour into the blanching or icing water. And it requires less time, equipment and water.

I’ve been using kettle-blanching for everything from cauliflower and broccoli florets, to tender greens like snow peas and sugar snaps. Once the veg has steamed dry, it’s ready to be tossed in oil and grilled, stir-fried or roasted, as per this recipe.

The chicken mince in the recipe below is more of an accoutrement than a necessity, though it does add bulk and protein. You could swap it for firm tofu if that’s more your speed, or serve the cabbage and satay butter as a vego side.

Satay-butter charred cabbage wedges with fragrant chicken mince

Serves 4

For the charred cabbage

½ small (or ¼ medium) green cabbage, cut into four wedges, keeping core intact

1 tbsp neutral-flavoured oil 1 tsp salt flakes

1 tsp salt flakes

For the satay butter sauce

4 tbsp crunchy peanut butter 125ml coconut milk 1 tbsp green curry paste 1 tbsp fish sauce 1 tsp light soy sauce 1 tbsp brown sugar 100g cold butter, cubed

125ml coconut milk

1 tbsp green curry paste

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp brown sugar

100g cold butter

For the lemongrass chicken

2

tbsp neutral-flavoured oil 2 heaped tsp green curry paste 1 tbsp finely blitzed lemongrass, or store-bought lemongrass paste

2 heaped tsp green curry paste

1 tbsp finely blitzed lemongrass

500g chicken mince 1-2 teaspoons fish sauce ¼ tsp brown sugar ½ cup roasted peanuts, roughly chopped

1-2 teaspoons fish sauce

¼ tsp brown sugar

½ cup roasted peanuts, ½ bunch washed coriander stems, finely chopped

A good squeeze of lime juice.

To serve

2 tbsp chilli oil

½ bunch washed coriander leaves, chopped

Lime wedges

Preheat the oven to 240C/220C fan.

To make the charred cabbage, boil a kettle of water. Pop the cabbage wedges into a metal colander in the sink, then pour over the just-boiled water, reserving a tablespoon or so of boiling water. Leave to drain and steam dry.

Meanwhile, heat a heavy-based, high-sided pan until very hot. Rub the cabbage wedges with oil and sprinkle with salt.

When the pan is smoking hot, char the cabbage wedges, cut-side down, until deeply caramelised and blackened in spots, then flip to char the other cut side. Place into a baking dish. Keep your caramelised pan with all the delicious stuck-on brown bits (the “fond”).

To make the satay butter sauce, in a small saucepan over low heat, warm the peanut butter, coconut milk, curry paste, fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar. Stir and simmer gently for five minutes until slightly thickened. Switch off the heat and whisk in the cold butter until melted, glossy and emulsified.

Pour the satay butter sauce over the charred cabbage, then pop the dish in the oven and roast for 15 to 20 minutes, basting with a large spoon halfway through.

Meanwhile, make the lemongrass chicken mince. With the same pan used to char the cabbage, heat the oil over a high heat until it shimmers. Add the curry paste and lemongrass and cook off for a minute. Stir in the chicken mince, breaking it up into a chicken-y crumb, and coating it well with the paste. Splash in a tablespoon of the reserved boiling water, and scrape the bottom of the pan to help soften the fond. Add the fish sauce, brown sugar, half of the peanuts, coriander stems and lime juice. Mix about and cook off for another minute. Taste and adjust with more fish sauce, sugar or lime juice if needed.

Remove the tray of satay buttered cabbage wedges from the oven and tumble the lemongrass chicken mince over the top. Drizzle with chilli oil, then finish with the coriander leaves, lime wedges and sprinkle the remaining peanuts from a height.