Crunchy Cabbage Slaw

Make it step by step

1. Toss the shredded cabbage with the 8g of fine salt in a colander, working it through with your hands for about 30 seconds.
2. Set the colander over a bowl and leave it for 45-60 minutes, until a few tablespoons of water have collected underneath and a shred bends without snapping.
3. This draining is the recipe. Cabbage is around 92 per cent water and goes on releasing it after the dressing is on, so an unsalted slaw dressed at midday is sitting in a thin grey pool by the time it reaches the table.
4. Squeeze the cabbage in handfuls over the sink, firmly and once only.
5. Stop after that one pass. Wrung out hard a second time the shreds go limp and lose exactly the snap the salting was meant to protect.
6. Spread the cabbage on a tea towel and pat it dry.
7. Toast the caraway seeds in a dry frying pan over medium heat for 30-60 seconds, until they smell warm and nutty.
8. Crush them lightly under the flat of a knife.
9. Whisk the olive oil, cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, the ground peppercorns and the caraway together in a large bowl, until the dressing is thick and opaque.
10. Note that this runs at about one and a half parts oil to one of vinegar, far sharper than the everyday vinaigrette in this collection, because the cabbage is still damp and dilutes whatever it meets.
11. Add the cabbage, grated carrot, spring onions and parsley to the bowl.
12. Turn everything with your hands for 30 seconds, lifting from the base, until every shred is coated.
13. Taste before adding any more salt. The cabbage keeps a good deal of the 8g it drained in.
14. Leave it for 15 minutes before serving, so the dressing works into the shreds.
15. Keep any leftovers in the fridge for up to two days, though the cabbage softens a little every hour.