Carrot Ginger Slaw

One thing I love about eating “California Cuisine” is its ability to truly showcase a single ingredient in a dish. I had the pleasure of eating dinner at Zuni recently and they had a root vegetable and Meyer lemon soup—the Meyer lemon was really on display. With juice and thick chunks of zest, the soup was merely a platform to celebrate the glory of the fruit. To showcase a singular ingredient, in addition to balancing out the rest of the flavors, to me, is what California Cuisine is all about. This slaw is a nod to some beautiful Hawaiian ginger I found at my local market. It has a bit of a kick to it—this recipe is not for the faint of heart!

Ingredients

Dressing
6 small carrots (or 2 large ones)
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
5 quarter inch squares of peeled ginger
3/4 cup of coconut milk
1/4 cup sesame oil
1/4 cup brown rice vinegar
2 tablespoons miso
1 small shallot
1 tangerine, juiced

Slaw
1 small head of cabbage
1 small head of radicchio
1 serrano chile
1/4 cup parsley leaves
1/4 cup sesame seeds, toasted

Directions

Blend together all of the dressing ingredients in a blender and add salt to taste.
Shred the cabbage and radicchio into a large bowl.
Thinly slice the serrano chile and toss it together with the parsley, cabbage and radicchio.
Add the dressing to taste and sprinkle your salad with the toasted sesame seeds right before serving.

This recipe first appeared in The Coast Kitchen.