Cabbage Pancake

Chunky and crunchy

While not a traditional pancake for this time of year, this style of pancake is prevalent throughout global cuisine and often associated with fast comforting meals, or street food, served with lots of sauce and sides. Thrifty by nature, this style of cooking is very much ‘chuck it all in’ rather than a precise measured approach, aimed at making use of what the season has to offer.

Seasoning is the key to basic cooking and in the UK we tend to under season rather than over, especially when it comes to spices. This recipe can take a lot of flavour so experiment and be bold. I have suggested almost a minimum to start the ball rolling, but other ingredients such as fresh ginger, fresh chilli, garam masala, five spice, caraway and almost any fresh herb will make fabulous additions. 

Makes 6 – 8 depending on size
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
200g +/- cabbage (about half a small one)
200g +/- potato
1 onion
2 garlic
½ tsp cumin seeds
A good pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
½ grated nutmeg
Sea salt flakes
Lots of fresh ground black pepper
2 eggs
Plain flour to bind
Rapeseed oil A thumb of butter (optional)

1. Begin by preparing the vegetables. Slice the onion and cabbage as finely as possible then grate in the potato and add crushed garlic.  

2. Add all the spices, salt and pepper then mix well to almost bruise the vegetables. 

3. Beat the eggs with a tablespoon of oil and add to the vegetable mix.  

4. Mix in enough plain flour to make a thick double cream consistency.

5. Heat a scant puddle of oil in a large skillet or frying pan over a moderately high temperature. Once the oil is shimmering, dollop a tablespoon of the mixture into the pan and flatten with the back of the spoon. Add as many dollops as will fit in the pan with a little room in between.

6. Fry for a couple of minutes to a rich golden brown the flip and cook on the other side for another couple of minutes.

7. Remove from the pan and continue cooking the remaining mixture. 

Serve with a natural yoghurt and herb dip… or just about anything that takes your fancy.

Chef Notes:
1. Potatoes bring a binding quality to this recipe but other tubers such as sweet potatoes or Jerusalem artichokes will work just as well …or… skip the potatoes all together and embrace the cabbage!
2. For a less chunky pancake, sweat the onion in a little butter until translucent, then stir through the shredded cabbage before remove from the heat and allowing it to soften. Then continue with the recipe from stage 2. 

Robin Popham
Chef at ‘Create Terroir’ and Sandy Lane Farm veg box customer