Light Cabbage & Pork Hotpot

📝 Ingredients

• 600 g boneless pork collar, in 4 pieces
• ½ white cabbage (about 800 g)
• 4 carrots (about 100 g each)
• 2 turnips (about 150 g each)
• 800 g waxy potatoes
• 1 onion + 2 cloves
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 bay leaves + 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 chicken stock cube + 2 L hot water
• 4 tsp Dijon mustard (to serve)
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Large casserole dish with lid
• Large saucepan
• Slotted spoon
• Peeler
• Cutting board and knife

📖 Steps

1. Trim the pork, cutting away the visible white fat with a knife, then cut each piece in half and season with pepper. Peel the onion and stud it with the 2 cloves, then peel the garlic cloves and crush them with the flat of the blade.
2. Remove the damaged outer leaves from the cabbage and cut it into 4 wedges, keeping a bit of core on each so they hold together. Blanch them for 5 minutes in a large pan of salted boiling water, then drain: the cabbage will be milder and easier to digest.
3. Put the pork in the casserole dish with the studded onion, garlic, bay leaves and thyme. Pour in the stock (cube dissolved in the hot water), bring to a simmer over a medium heat and skim off the grey foam that forms on the surface with a slotted spoon.
4. Cover and simmer gently for 45 minutes over a low heat: the stock should barely tremble, with just small bubbles. A rolling boil would make the meat dry and stringy instead of tender.
5. Meanwhile, peel the carrots, turnips and potatoes. Cut the carrots into 4 cm chunks, the turnips into quarters and the potatoes in half if large, so the pieces are all a similar size.
6. Add the carrots, turnips and cabbage wedges to the casserole, pushing them down into the stock. Cover and cook for 20 minutes over a low heat, then add the potatoes and cook for a further 25 minutes, until the tip of a knife slides through them without resistance.
7. Remove the bay leaves and onion, taste the stock and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. If any fat rises to the top, skim it off with a spoon or lay a sheet of kitchen paper on the surface for a few seconds.
8. Cut the meat into thick slices. Serve in shallow bowls with a cabbage wedge, the vegetables and a ladleful of piping hot stock, with 1 tsp mustard per person on the side.