Kale

Taste and Texture

Kale has a vivid green vegetable flavor with a hint of its own natural bitterness, accompanied by a slight grassy note, and the flavor and chewing feel are stronger in thicker-leaved varieties. Raw leaves are tough and springy, but thinly slicing or massaging them makes them much softer. When heated, volume decreases significantly and texture becomes softer, but if cooked briefly, the stems retain a chewy bite. Fast high-heat stir-frying can make the edges slightly crisp, while cooking slowly in a moisture-rich pan can cause them to soften and bring out the bitter notes.

Main uses

• Thinly sliced kale adds chewiness to salads or grain bowls. When raw, tossing with dressing first helps soften the leaves.
• Briefly sauté kale in garlic and oil to use as a side dish or as a vegetable component in pasta. If the pan is too small and leaves pile up, sauté in portions or add leaves gradually to avoid wateriness.
• For soups, stews, or miso soup with plenty of liquid, add coarsely chopped kale to give a hearty texture. If you want softer leaves, add earlier; if you want to retain color and shape, add near the end.
• In ovens or air fryers, kale can be baked with a light coating of oil to make crispy kale chips. If leaf sizes and thickness vary, small pieces brown first, so check the progress mid-way.

Preparation tips

• Rinse by running water, unfold the leaves and around the stems, and remove moisture thoroughly. Water droplets on the surface can cause oil to splatter when sautéing and make it soggy rather than crisp when grilling.
• Gently pull the thick central stems away from the leaves by hand, or cut with a knife. If using the stems, slice thinly and separate from leaves to control cooking time.
• For salad kale, cut into bite-sized pieces and rub with a pinch of salt and a little oil or dressing for 1–2 minutes until softened. When the leaves darken and volume decreases, that’s a sign the tissue is loosening; over-rubbing can cause them to become mushy.
• For sautéing or soups, prepare stems and leaves separately. Cook the stems first, then add leaves to avoid overly soft leaves.

Cooking characteristics

• Kale quickly reduces in volume when heated, so the final amount seems smaller than initially. When making a dish for several people like a stir-fry or soup, prepare generously to account for this volume loss.
• When quickly sautéing on high heat, if a lot of moisture comes out of the pan, the heat cannot be maintained, and it may steam instead of frying. Do not add all leaves at once; cook in batches or clear the pan and combine later.

Good combinations

• Garlic, onions, olive oil or sesame oil—ingredients that add aroma and fat—round out kale’s rugged green aroma.
• Citrus like lemon juice, vinegar, or tomato can lighten the bitter notes. However, heavily acidic dressings can cause leaves to wilt too much if used for a long time.
• Pairing with mild or nutty ingredients like chickpeas, white beans, lentils, eggs, or cheese makes a complete meal.
• Spicy chilies, miso, or soy sauce pair well, but for crispy kale chips, a lighter dry seasoning is better than a heavy sauce.

Points to consider when substituting

• If you want kale’s chewy bite in a salad, you can mix in some beet greens or sturdy romaine, but the bitterness and leaf elasticity will differ.
• In soups or stir-fries, alternatives include beet greens, collard greens, or spinach. Spinach wilts much faster, so don’t add it at the same time as kale; add it toward the end of cooking.
• Kale chips can be made with thin and broad leafy greens in a similar manner, but thickness and moisture affect crisping time. Adjust by watching the edge color rather than following the same time and temperature exactly.
• In long-simmered dishes like miso soup or thick stews, you can substitute cabbage or beet greens, but cabbage softens faster and releases more moisture, changing the soup’s thickness.