Blistered gochujang cabbage

Name: Blistered gochujang cabbage
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Korean
Ingredients: ¼ cup grapeseed or vegetable oil; 2 tbsp gochujang; 2 tsp sugar; 2 cloves garlic, finely grated; 1 medium green cabbage (2½ to 3 pounds); salt; ¼ cup roasted salted peanuts, coarsely chopped; 2 scallions, thinly sliced

A whole cabbage, roasted hard until it chars and converts the skeptics.

At a Glance

Time

1 hr

Serves

Story

Gochugaru and cabbage are the oldest marriage in the Korean kitchen, it is the whole premise of kimchi. This just skips the fermenting jar and sends the pair straight into a screaming oven instead. As the water cooks out of the cut leaves they shrink and soften while their frilled edges crisp and char, which is why a crowded pan is not a problem here, it is the point.

Ingredients

¼ cup grapeseed or vegetable oil
2 tbsp gochujang
2 tsp sugar
2 cloves garlicfinely grated
1 medium green cabbage2½ to 3 pounds
salt
¼ cup roasted salted peanutscoarsely chopped
2 scallionsthinly sliced

Method

Cabbage has an image problem and it is entirely undeserved. Roast it this hard, this red, and it comes out sweet, smoky and blistered at the tips, the sort of thing people pick at straight off the pan before it reaches the table. Preheat the sheet pan itself, that head start is what gives you char instead of a steam bath.

Slide a sheet pan into the oven and heat it to 450 degrees. In a large bowl stir together the oil, gochujang, sugar and garlic. It will look streaky and refuse to fully blend, which is fine, leave it.
Quarter the cabbage through the core, cut the core out and slice each wedge crosswise into fat 1½-inch ribbons. Pile them into the bowl, pulling the leaves apart as you go. Salt generously, then toss and squeeze with your hands until every leaf is coated and slightly wilted.
Carefully pull the hot pan out, line it with parchment and spread the cabbage in one crowded layer. Roast without stirring, 40 to 50 minutes, until it is tender through and properly charred on top. The urge to toss it halfway is the enemy of a good char, resist it.
Scatter over the peanuts and scallions and serve. It wants something plain and starchy alongside, rice or a roast sweet potato, and any that survives is very good folded cold into tomorrow's eggs.