Charred Pointed Cabbage in Harissa Tomato with Tahini and Sumac Onions
Seared Spitzkohl wedges braised in spiced tomato
Pointed cabbage is cut into wedges and seared hard on both cut faces, then basted in brown butter. The wedges braise for a short time in a tomato sauce with harissa and cumin. Lemon tahini, onions pickled in sumac, herbs and sesame go on at the end. The charred faces stay above the liquid so they keep their crust.
Why the first revision
First version. Written on 2026-09-29 from the idea of the viral charred cabbage in spiced tomato with tahini. Changes from that idea: more chilli from harissa, a brown butter baste, and sumac used raw on pickled onion. Not cooked yet.
Sumac onions
4 steps-
Cut the red onion in half. Slice it 1 mm thick.
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Put the onion in a bowl with 3 g sumac, 15 ml lemon juice and 0.5 g salt.
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Squeeze the onion with your hands for 30 s. It softens and turns pink.
Work Pickling -
Let the onion stand for 15 min or longer. Leave it until you serve.
Time 15 min
Tahini sauce
3 steps-
Grate 1 garlic clove into 30 ml lemon juice. Add 0.5 g salt. Let it stand for 5 min.
Time 5 min -
Whisk in 60 ml ice-cold water in small amounts. Stop when the sauce pours like double cream.
Work Emulsifying
Cabbage
3 steps-
Remove damaged outer leaves from the cabbage.
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Cut the cabbage lengthwise into 4 wedges through the core. Keep the core on each wedge.
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Dry the cut faces with paper towel. Do not salt them yet.
Sear
6 steps-
Heat the sunflower oil in the cast-iron pan on medium-high heat until it shimmers.
Tool Cast-iron pan -
Put the wedges in the pan on one cut face. Put a smaller pan on top as a weight.
Work Searing -
Cook for 6 min. Do not move them. The face must be dark brown and black at the leaf edges.
Time 6 minWork Searing -
Turn the wedges onto the other cut face. Cook for 2 min.
Time 2 minWork Searing -
Add the butter. When it foams and smells of nuts, spoon it over the wedges for 2 min.
Time 2 min -
Sprinkle 1.5 g salt on the charred faces. Put the wedges on a plate, charred side up.
Sauce
7 steps-
Keep the pan and its brown residue. Reduce the heat to medium. Add 30 ml olive oil.
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Add the diced onion. Cook for 5 min until soft and gold. Scrape the pan as it cooks.
Time 5 min -
Add the tomato paste, harissa, cumin, smoked paprika, coriander, cinnamon and chilli flakes.
30 g Tomato paste30 g Harissa3 g Cumin seed3 g Smoked paprika2 g Coriander seed0.5 g Cinnamon2 g Chilli flakesWork Blooming -
Fry for 2 min. Stir all the time. Stop when the paste is brick-red and the oil turns red.
Time 2 minWork Blooming -
Add the crushed tomatoes, 100 ml water, honey, MSG and 2 g salt. Scrape the pan clean.
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Simmer for 3 min until slightly thick. The sauce must taste slightly too strong.
Time 3 minWork Simmering
Braise
4 steps-
Put the wedges in the sauce, charred side up. Keep the charred faces above the liquid.
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Put on a lid. Braise on low heat for 12 to 15 min. Start to test at 10 min.
Time 12 min–15 minWork Braising -
Push a knife into the core. It must go in with a small resistance.
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Remove the lid. Simmer for 3 min until a spoon leaves a clean line in the sauce.
Time 3 minWork Reduction
Finish
5 steps-
Serve from the pan, or put the sauce and wedges on a warm plate, charred side up.
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Pour the tahini sauce over the wedges in a zigzag.
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Drain the onions. Put them on top of the wedges.
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Add the parsley, mint and sesame seeds.
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Sprinkle 2 g sumac over the dish. Pour on 15 ml olive oil.
Notes
2The dish that went viral is by Nisha Vora, from her book Big Vegan Flavor. Her method sears cabbage wedges in a cast-iron pan, braises them in a spiced tomato sauce, then adds tahini sauce. This recipe keeps that structure. It adds harissa for heat, a brown butter baste, and sumac onions.
Add 1 drained 400 g tin of chickpeas to the sauce with the crushed tomatoes. This makes the dish a full main and adds protein. Not tried yet.
Literature
1The pattern
braiseThe plain idea under this dish. Cook it with what you have. The full recipe is on the Method tab.
hard-seared cabbage wedges + oil for the sear + brown butter baste + spiced tomato sauce + harissa heat + lemon tahini dressing + sumac-pickled red onion + herbs + toasted sesame
Other dishes with this pattern: braise.
The parts
9900 g pointed cabbage (one head), cut lengthwise into 4 wedges through the core. Dry the cut faces. Do not salt them before the sear.
The core holds each wedge together. A dry, unsalted face browns. A wet face steams.
30 ml sunflower oil in a heavy pan on medium-high heat.
The oil carries the heat for a hard sear.
Baste: 30 g unsalted butter, cooked until it foams and smells of nuts, spooned over the wedges for 2 min.
Brown butter adds a nutty taste to the charred faces.
In the same pan: 30 ml olive oil, 1 diced onion, 4 garlic cloves, 30 g tomato paste with 3 g cumin, 3 g smoked paprika, 2 g coriander and 0.5 g cinnamon fried for 2 min until brick-red. Then 400 g crushed tomatoes, 100 ml water, 5 g honey, 1 g MSG and 2 g salt, simmered for 3 min.
The sauce braises the wedges from below. It must taste slightly too strong, because the cabbage dilutes it.
- Swap: Add 1 drained 400 g tin of chickpeas with the crushed tomatoes.. Not tried. It makes the dish a full main with more protein.
30 g harissa and 2 g chilli flakes, fried with the spices.
Harissa gives the heat. The record adds it to the source dish.
Tahini sauce: 1 garlic clove grated into 30 ml lemon juice with 0.5 g salt, stand 5 min. Whisk in 80 g tahini, then 60 ml ice-cold water in small amounts until it pours like double cream.
Cold, creamy and sour against the hot, spiced sauce.
1 small red onion sliced 1 mm, squeezed for 30 s with 3 g sumac, 15 ml lemon juice and 0.5 g salt. Stand 15 min or longer.
Sharp, pink onion cuts the richness. Sumac stays off the heat to keep its fruity smell.
10 g flat-leaf parsley and 5 g mint leaves. 2 g sumac and 15 ml olive oil over the top.
Fresh herbs and a raw sour note at the end.
8 g sesame seeds, toasted.
Texture on top.
The basic method
8- Slice the red onion 1 mm thick. Squeeze it for 30 s with 3 g sumac, 15 ml lemon juice and 0.5 g salt. Let it stand for 15 min or longer.
- Grate 1 garlic clove into 30 ml lemon juice with 0.5 g salt. Let it stand for 5 min. Whisk in the tahini. Whisk in 60 ml ice-cold water in small amounts until it pours like double cream.
- Cut the cabbage into 4 wedges through the core. Dry the cut faces. Do not salt them.
- Heat the oil in a heavy pan on medium-high heat until it shimmers. Put the wedges on one cut face. Put a smaller pan on top as a weight. Cook for 6 min. Do not move them. Turn them onto the other cut face. Cook for 2 min.
- Add the butter. When it foams and smells of nuts, spoon it over the wedges for 2 min. Sprinkle 1.5 g salt on the charred faces. Put the wedges on a plate, charred side up.
- Reduce the heat to medium. Add the olive oil, then the onion for 5 min, then the garlic for 1 min. Add the tomato paste, harissa and spices. Fry for 2 min until brick-red. Add the tomatoes, water, honey, MSG and 2 g salt. Simmer for 3 min.
- Put the wedges in the sauce, charred side up. Keep the charred faces above the liquid. Put on a lid. Cook on low heat for 12 to 15 min, until a knife goes into the core with a small resistance. Remove the lid. Simmer for 3 min.
- Pour the tahini sauce over the wedges. Add the onions, parsley, mint and sesame. Sprinkle 2 g sumac. Pour on 15 ml olive oil.
What the full recipe adds
The full recipe explains each control point. Salt on a cut face pulls water out in a few minutes, and that water holds the surface near 100 °C, so it steams. Browning needs the surface above about 140 °C. Pointed cabbage holds more free sugar than white cabbage, so a dry face browns fast and deep, and the weight gives an even crust. The short braise stops the sulfur smell: long wet cooking breaks the sulfur compounds of cabbage down to the smell of overcooked cabbage, and pointed cabbage has thin cell walls, so it is tender fast. Sumac goes on cold because heat drives off its fruity aroma. Lemon juice lowers the pH so the anthocyanins in sumac and red onion turn bright pink. The record names the source: a charred cabbage in spiced tomato with tahini by Nisha Vora, from Big Vegan Flavor. Note: this version was written on 2026-09-29 and was not cooked yet.
The science
3What is actually happening in the dish, and why the techniques work.
Salt on a cut cabbage face pulls water out in a few minutes. That water holds the surface near 100 °C, so the face steams and does not brown. Browning needs the surface above about 140 °C.
Pointed cabbage holds more free sugar than white cabbage, so a dry face browns fast and deep. The weight presses the loose leaves flat against the pan. This gives an even crust instead of brown patches.
Salt the faces after the sear.
Cut cabbage releases isothiocyanates, which give the sharp mustard taste. Heat stops the enzyme that makes them. Long wet cooking then breaks sulfur compounds down to dimethyl trisulfide and hydrogen sulfide. These give the smell of overcooked cabbage.
Pointed cabbage has thin cell walls and becomes tender fast. Stop when the knife meets a small resistance in the core. Keep the charred faces above the liquid so the crust stays dry.
Sumac is sour from malic acid. Its fruity smell comes from volatile compounds that heat drives off. So it goes on the onions and on the finished dish, and never into the pan.
Sumac and red onion both hold anthocyanins. These pigments are brightest at low pH. The lemon juice drops the pH, so the onion turns bright pink. Squeezing breaks the onion cells so the acid gets in and softens the raw sulfur taste.