Zippy Coleslaw

Ingredients:
1/2 head of green cabbage, shredded (about 4 cups)
1/3 cup rice vinegar
4 carrots, peeled and grated
3 green onions, minced
2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 pinch salt

Directions:

Mix the cabbage, the carrots and the green onions in a large bowl, set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together the rice vinegar, sesame oil, ginger, sesame seeds, and salt. Drizzle over the cabbage mixture, toss to incorporate. Allow to sit 1 hour before serving. Garnish with additional sesame seeds.

My thoughts:

When my husband lived in Austin, TX (long before he met me) he was obsessed with the coleslaw served at the Salt Lick, a barbecue place in Driftwood, Texas. Since the Salt Lick is 1,591 miles from Baltimore, we can’t exactly pop over and pick some up to satisfy his craving. We’re smoking some ribs tonight so he decided to recreate the slaw to the best of his memory. Now, I have never been to the Salt Lick so I can’t testify to it’s authenticity but I can say that it is one tasty slaw with out a drop of mayo in sight! Very crisp and well flavored with just a touch of spicy ginger.

19 Comments

  1. mmm, i LOVE coleslaw and i especially love the vinegared ones without mayo. in high school i used to work at a restaurant and i would hide out in the walk in fridge and eat handfulls of the vinegary stuff! this looks great!

  2. I FREAKIN’ LOVE THE SALT LICK.

    My dad lives in Austin and I swear to god, going there is half the reason why I go to visit him.

  3. I love the name! Do they serve deer? Bad joke. Anyway … coleslaw minus the mayo? Fantabulous.

  4. Yum! I have a neighbor friend who makes something like this and she puts sunflower seeds in too which I actually really liked.

  5. Coleslaw is such a perfect summery dish! Yours looks delicious!

  6. Great picture of the coleslaw. I have all the ingredients but the cabbage. I will definitely give this recipe a try soon. Rob loves coleslaw.

  7. I will have to save this one for the summmer barbecue season. This looks like the perfect compliment to a meal like that. Looks great.

  8. this looks GREAT! i love mayoless slaw!

  9. Oh coleslaw without mayo! (We loathe mayo here), and it’s got ginger?! I’m in.

    May I ask, are you smoking the ribs indoors or out? I just saw a DIY indoor smoker/smoked ribs recipe on america’s test kitchen. I really like the idea as our grill was murdered last year, and we have yet to replace it. I am hesitant though, because I don’t want a smokey house, or to set off fire alarms.
    Thanks,
    Courtney

  10. Courtney: we just got a stove top smoker and so far it was pretty good. No major smoke issues inside at all and it is really easy to use.

  11. Yum. I love coleslaw with or without mayo. I already have the rice vinegar, sesame seeds, and sesame oil on hand from my trip to H-Mart.

  12. delightful recipe. Not at all the kind of slaw I would expect to find in a Texas BBQ place.

  13. I love, love, love coleslaw, and it is so hard to find a good one. This one sounds great.

  14. This is kind of like what I used to get at my BBQ place…looks good…I love coleslaw!

  15. me and hubby just returned from a trip to memphis…we tried to eat our way through as many barbeque places as possible! anyway, we got to eat a lot of cole slaw on the sides as well! i love cole slaw, this one sounds way yummy!

  16. I think I might try smoking indoors then, as I have a chicken in the fridge and am not quite sure what my plans were when I bought it.

    The slaw will have to wait, because I don’t want to make a trip to the market tomorrow.

    Thanks!

  17. This sounds like a great cole slaw recipe! We are cooking out today(finally warm enough!) and I may just whip it up for today’s dinner!

  18. I live in Austin and have been to the Salt Lick many times… your recipe looks pretty spot on, down to the sesame seeds!

  19. I lived in Austin a few years back. As a vegetarian, the Salt Lick wasn't high on my list of "Restaurants to Visit", but one day I ended up there because some friends were having get together. This was several years ago and I still think about their cole slaw (and their potato salad).

    I got to thinking about the coleslaw again last night as I made some BBQ tofu (sorry if this notion offends any hard core meat-heads in the audience :). I found your coleslaw recipe and made up a batch. Delightful!

    I did find the rice vinegar just a TAD cloying. I might cut it down a bit next time and do a little cider vinegar instead. But overall, a keeper of a recipe. And your photograph is beautiful. Thank you for sharing.