Jamaican Steamed Cabbage Recipe

Learning to Love Cabbage Again!

Cabbage is a humble vegetable with a bad reputation, but it’s only because it was boiled into a stinky oblivion in the kitchens of our childhoods!

This Jamaican steamed cabbage recipe is delicious, nutritious and surprisingly versatile and will have the fussiest of eaters asking for second helpings.

Widely available, Cabbage is a cheap and hardy vegetable that fills up the family for next to nothing, plus it’s healthy and tasty too.

You can enjoy this Jamaican Steamed Cabbage Recipe accompanied with fried dumplings, or bread for breakfast or lunch. When served with rice, or ‘hard food’ it becomes an excellent Vegan / Vegetarian main meal, or it can be served as a side dish and accompaniment with meat and fish.

Fall in love with cabbage again with this delicious, healthy and widely used Jamaican Steamed Cabbage Recipe!

How to make Jamaican Steamed Cabbage

First things first, thoroughly wash your hands and scrub underneath your nails if you can. Then gather all your ingredients and cooking implements together and put them on the counter top, so you have everything within reach and you will also save time and make it easier for yourself…

You will need:

a large pot (saucepan) or Dutch Pot with a cover / lid
a sharp knife and chopping board
a sieve / strainer

Ingredients:

Cooking Oil
1 Cabbage
1 Carrot
1 onion
1-2 garlic cloves
1/2 Scotch Bonnet Pepper (remove seeds!)
1 sprig of Thyme
1 Tomato
Salt and Pepper, to taste
1 tbsp of Butter / Margarine (can be omitted, or substituted if preferred)

Method:

Pour enough cooking oil to lightly cover the bottom of the Dutch Pot and set on a medium heat
Thoroughly wash the vegetables
Slice the Onion, Tomato, Garlic and Scotch Bonnet Pepper, add sliced seasoning and Thyme to the oil and gently fry
Meanwhile peel off the outer layers of the cabbage, cut in half, then slice the cabbage halves into thin ribbons, discarding the heart (tough centre)
Submerge shredded cabbage in salted water to thoroughly wash (salt water encourages any attached bugs to float to the top of the water!)
Scrape or peel the skin from the carrot, wash and slice into Julienne (matchstick)
Add the drained cabbage and carrot slices to the pot, once the seasoning has softened
Add the butter, salt and black pepper and turn down the heat slightly, be sure to place the cover on the pot so it will steam (the cabbage will produce its own water)
Allow to steam for about 10-15 minutes until the cabbage has softened, stir the steamed vegetables to mix, before serving
If the pot is too hot and it looks as if it is going to burn, just add a 1/4 cup of water and place the lid / cover on the pot. The water touching the hot pot will cause the pot to steam and will give the cabbage a little head start before it starts to wilt and produce water itself

The World’s Healthiest Foods

If you need more convincing, consider this advice from ‘The World’s Healthiest Foods’ website, which states:

“The glucosinolates found in cabbage can be converted into isothiocyanate compounds that are cancer preventive for a variety of different cancers,including bladder cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer, and prostate cancer”.