I am always looking for new ways of eating vegetables. And you have to if you serve two vegetables for a meal, which I try to do generally.

Recently I hit upon the idea of braising whole cabbages.

This is not so new an idea, as the nonyas have a dish called chap chye bulat where they braise the whole cabbage in a soya bean paste (tau cheow) stock together with dried soya bean products, black mushrooms and fungus.

But why not a clear stock spiked with rice wine? It will satisfy my penchant for clean flavours and allow me to eat the cabbage as is, without rice, in these low carbohydrate days!

Besides, I had spotted some tender baby cabbages in the market one day and they looked so delectable that I just had to buy them, though you could employ this method of cooking for other vegetables such as hearts of celery or whole endives, sometimes called witlof.

Serving whole heads of cabbages this way makes for a festive presentation, great if you are having guests. What I also did was cut a cross on the tops of the cabbages and filled the slits with diced Yunnan ham. It will generate oohs and aahs round the table.

Braising relies on a good stock. You could cheat by using unsalted canned stock, but it is just as easy to boil a couple of chicken carcasses with a carrot, an onion and a stick of celery and use that instead.

A generous addition of rice wine will give a fragrance to the vegetable, as will the diced Yunnan ham, which you can buy from the Chinatown provision shops.

Add half of the chopped ham to the stock and then add the other half just before serving, otherwise you will have to contend with a pile of boiled tasteless meat.

The other point to note is to make a slit at the bottom of the cabbage to make it easier for the hard base to soften. Do not make too deep a cut, however, as you do not want the leaves to detach during the cooking.

Finally, do keep the braising liquid at a mere simmer, as too hard a boil will also disintegrate the leaves.

Do not be impatient with this slow cooking, for the result will be cabbage that has absorbed all the flavours of the stock. You will end up with the sweetest braised vegetable that you can eat.

Braised baby cabbages in wine stock (For 4-6)

Ingredients:

4 baby Beijing cabbages or 2 medium-size ones
3-4 cups fresh chicken stock (from boiling 2 chicken carcasses, 1 carrot, 1 celery stick and 1 onion together)
1 cup rice wine
2 slices Chinese ham, diced
1 stalk fresh coriander, chopped

Method:

1. Wash and drain cabbages and remove enough outer leaves to make a neat cabbage ball.

2. Cut a cross at the base of each cabbage but leave the stalks intact, otherwise the leaves will detach during the cooking.

3. Bring chicken stock and wine to the boil in a pot large enough to accommodate the vegetables, then place whole cabbages in the stock. Add half of the diced Chinese ham. Cover pot with a piece of foil if the lid does not fit.

4. Reduce heat to simmering and poach cabbages gently for about an hour or till tender when poked with a fork.

5. Cut a deep cross at the top of the cabbages and pour hot stock over from time to time during the cooking to allow the flavours to penetrate.

6. When ready to serve, gently open up the slits on top and scatter with the rest of diced ham and the coriander leaves.