Dashi-Simmered
Cauliflower Leaves
With Potato
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Cauliflower is part of the diverse (and somewhat bizarre) group of vegetables clustered within one remarkable species - Brassica oleracea. Amazingly enough, this single species has been carefully selected and bred over centuries to yield incredibly disparate cultivars. Kale, cabbage, collard greens, broccoli, kohlrabi, cauliflower, and more have all been bred from this single species. A single species that, I should point out, basically looks like a mangy bundle of kale leaves in its wild form.
Looking at that long list of vegetables, you may notice that many are designed to be eaten in their entirety (or nearly so). Certainly there are those who avoid kale and broccoli stems, but there's no reason to think of these as inedible. In fact, unless something is just unimaginably tough (Brussels sprout stalks come to mind), every little bit of a brassicaceous vegetable can be eaten, including the delightful leaves surrounding a head of cauliflower.
So why then, do we not eat cauliflower leaves more often? I don't have any direct evidence to point to, but I would comfortably bet that the reason is quite simple: shipping cauliflower heads in big boxes would tend to mangle any attached leaves, so they're removed (except for the tightly adhering stalks). We've become so accustomed to this sort of presentation, most of us probably wouldn't even think about eating the leaves if given the chance.
I'm lucky enough to live very close to a very large farm-based market that brings in a lot of local cauliflower with the leaves on. I'm always pleased to get my hands on some, because I love top-to-tail (or root-to-shoot) cooking and I get to try out fun recipes like this. But I've also stood there and watch as people pull out a nice creamy white head only to strip every leaf off and throw them into the provided bin. It breaks my heart a bit... but at least it gives the farm's resident piggies something to munch on.
Oh, and do be sure to try to work the word "brassicaceous" into your conversations this week.
Recipe Notes
If you're lucky enough to be able to buy local cauliflower (or to grow your own), there's a good chance that you can get it with all of the big green outer leaves still attached (like the one pictured above). Even some big-box grocery stores might leave enough of the stalk-portion intact to give this recipe a shot. And if you do happen to find yourself at a farmer's market, try to seek out cauliflower -- it may be one of those commonplace vegetables, so easily taken for granted, but it can really shine when it's fresh from the ground.
If you want to try the recipe but don't have access to cauliflower leaves, try using kale or savoy cabbage.
One last note: I've indicated that this is a vegan recipe, but that's only true if you use a vegetarian dashi. Feel free to use any (good) dashi that you like, but if you do go for a purely vegetable-based stock, try using a combination of dashi and dried shiitake mushrooms for the greatest depth of flavour. If you want to take a shot at making your own dashi from scratch, it's quite simple, though you will need to familiarize yourself with a couple of ingredients, namely kombu and katsuobushi.
Nutritional info is shown for a single serving (1/4 total recipe) and does not include any rice or other added sides.
Nutritional Summary
Fat and carbohydrate levels are likewise very low, making this an extremely healthy side or stew.
Ingredient Pages
No Ingredient Pages have been written yet for any of the ingredients in this recipe. Like to see one? Let me know in the comments below or by email.
Pantry Pages
Katsuobushi (for dashi)
Kombu (for dashi)
Mirin
Rice Vinegar
Japanese Simmered Cauliflower Leaves with Potatoes
Ingredients
- 3 cups dashi
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup mirin
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 large russet potato
- leaves from one head cauliflower
- 1/2 white onion thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
Instructions
- Combine the dashi, soy sauce, mirin and rice vinegar in a large pot or deep frying pan and set aside.
- Chop the cauliflower stalks into 1 inch pieces. If the leaves are particularly large, you can separate them from the stalks. Set aside.
- Peel potato and cut into a 1 cm (~½ inch) cubes. Heat the oil on high in a large, heavy skillet for 1 minute. Add the potatoes, spreading them out as thinly as possible. Brown the potatoes, turning occasionally to cook the other sides (5-6 minutes).
- Add the potatoes, cauliflower stalks/leaves, and onions to the dashi broth and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are very tender.
Notes
Nutrition
More Japanese Recipes
Ponzu Shoyu
Ginger Karashi Chicken
Cucamelon Sunomono
Kitsune Nabe (Fried Tofu Stew)
Chrysanthemum Green (Shungiku) Goma-ae
Vegan Japanese Nettle Soup
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Comments
I have not heard of dashi. Please tell me what it is? Are there any substitutions for it? I found you since I have cauliflower and I want to learn how to use the leaves. I have potatoes too, all but dashi.
Dashi is a Japanese stock made from some combination of dried kelp (kombu), dried shaved fish (katsuobushi usually, which is skipjack tuna), and shiitake mushrooms. You can make it without the fish to keep it vegan, and the shiitake mushrooms aren’t always used (though I personally recommend it if you omit the fish). If you don’t want to learn to make dashi from scratch, you can buy instant dashi packets at Japanese and well-stocked Asian grocery stores. These little baggies are like big tea bags, and you use them the same way (i.e. steep them in hot water to make the stock). I would recommend reading the ingredients on the box though, as they vary in quality quite a bit (some of them are mostly MSG). If you can’t track down any kind of dashi you can take the dish in a slightly more Western direction by using a mild seafood stock or vegetable stock, preferably with no salt added so that you can control the saltiness of the dish. Hope that helps!
Made this tonight! We had so many cauliflower leaves, I decided to make it two ways- this way and then also battered and baked (coated with a sticky sesame sauce).
We loved both ways. Next time, I would give the leaves a good sauté before adding it to the dashi broth but only because my leaves were huge.
Thanks for the recipe!
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