Thursday, March 21, 2013

Habañero-Slaw Redux


Last night I pulled up our blog so I could consult Elliott’s method for the Habañero-Slaw. He’s usually the one in charge of making it on taco night but I thought I’d get a head start with recipe in hand. In the process I discovered a key ingredient was missing. Then I tasted the slaw and found the seasoning to be way off. I put everything on hold until Elliott returned and wondered where I went wrong.

A few problems were discovered. First off, the head of cabbage I was using was quite a bit smaller than what he typically uses. Another key part was in the directions. Elliott guesstimated a bit on the high side when he wrote “add 2 teaspoons of salt to the cabbage and set aside.” I just drained the excess liquid when I should have really been squeezing it. We also adjusted the amount of rice wine vinegar and added in the lime juice. It is a crucial part of the dressing but somehow was left out of the original recipe. You’ll know the slaw is perfect when you get the perfect combination of the four S’s: salt, sweet, sour, spice.

A key lesson in all of this is in the wildly different ways we tackle cooking. Elliott tends to cook by taste and feel while I tend to follow recipes with a variation here and there. I need to tap into my senses more and Elliott needs to hone in on his measurements. In the future we will try to look at our posts from both viewpoints so we can give you the best possible recipe! 

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