February 18: Finally, The Perfect Asian Coleslaw!

I keep coming back to this because I know that I've had great Asian Coleslaw in the past, and the ones I've made this year just haven't measured up.  Then I realized that the problem was that I was using bagged coleslaw, and it's chopped or shredded too fine. Something about this type of dressing makes those tiny bits seem to disappear into nothingness, and you lose all of the crunch.

I also used fresh ginger this time, instead of powdered, and it made a tremendous difference. I haven't bought ginger root in years, because I never used enough and it always went bad. My mom has a different philosophy; after she's got her 56 cents worth of use, she doesn't care if the rest ends up in the compost. Once again, I'm learning how smart my mom is, and feeling mortified about my brash, younger self who thought she knew so much more than her parents. I wonder if my kids will ever come to this place in life? Most of the time I think they see me as a candidate for the short bus. Sometimes I think they're right, but today I feel pretty smart because I have conquered the Asian Coleslaw.

Before my gluten-free days, I used to love this with crispy noodles. My favourite were the deep fried ones, but my cousin Joan makes a killer version using raw soup noodles. If you are adding noodles, do it just before serving, so that they are nice and crunchy. If you have leftovers and don't care for cold, soggy noodles, it's pretty good cooked.

I'll give the proportions I used, but I think I'd like it better with more bean sprouts (I ran out because I had egg foo yung for breakfast).  I usually use a red onion because I like the colour and it's easier to pick out,  but I didn't have one. I was pleasantly surprised by the difference in flavour with a sweet yellow onion.


Recipe:
1/2 a medium-small head of green cabbage, sliced in 1/4 inch strips (Sorry, I really don't know what that is in metric. Maybe my kids have a point); 2 carrots, peeled and grated; 2 stalks of celery, sliced; 2 cups fresh bean sprouts; 1/2 a large sweet onion, sliced; 1 cup sunflower seeds.

Dressing: 1/2 cup canola oil, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar, 1 or 2 cloves of garlic, grated fine, about a teaspoon of fresh grated ginger, 2 teaspoons sugar, pinch of pepper.