So for the picnic this weekend I made a red cabbage cole slaw and a napa cabbage cole slaw. I can imagine you are asking yourself, why bother? Well it wasn't on purpose; I just ran out of room to fit all the cabbage in one bowl.
When you start shredding napa cabbage an amazing thing happens. It explodes. Napa cabbage grows so densely that a relatively small or medium head of cabbage not only weighs a ton, it seems to expand when you cut it up. So after shredding two heads there was no room to fit the already shredded red cabbage in the mix. I also realized there might be someone who didn't like cilantro and making two batches would allow for a little more choice of flavors.
The red cabbage cole slaw included shredded red and yellow peppers and carrots. The napa cabbage cole slaw included slivered green onions and cilantro. Both were quite tasty and tasted different though the Asian inspired dressing was exactly the same.
I like to make the cole slaw the night before I serve it. It tastes better if it has some time to mellow out a bit and soften. The other trick to making cole slaw is to add things like cilantro and green onion at the last minute, right before serving, because neither of those ingredients improve the longer they sit around.
Asian Slaw Dressing
Makes enough dressing for one head of cabbage
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1-2 teaspoon Chinese chili garlic paste
1 Tablespoon sugar
1-2 Tablespoons water
2 Tablespoons sesame seed oil
1 Tablespoon sesame seeds
1 Tablespoon Chinese sesame paste (optional)
Whisk together the ingredients and pour over shredded cabbage of your choice (napa, red, green or combination).
Enjoy!
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