I do a very basic eastern NC style slaw. It is the perfect compliment for a pulled pork sandwich made with eastern NC vinegar/pepper finishing sauce (perfect in my opinion, at least). I don't measure anything, so I can't really give a recipe, but here's a rough guide to what's in it and about how much.
I usually make about 1/3 of head of cabbage worth, give or take. You can scale up or down as needed.
The key thing is the cabbage needs to be pretty finely chopped. I use a food processor. If it is coarse chopped in long strings, it won't macerate properly. If it doesn't macerate, it just tastes like raw cabbage with some mayonnaise on it. That ain't slaw, in my opinion.
Add a dollop of mayo. Maybe a tablespoon? Or two? Don't overdo it. If the finished product has a creamy texture, you used too much.
A dribble of ACV (or white vinegar, if you prefer). No more than a teaspoon, maybe less. If you use too much, it'll wash out the cabbage. You want the cabbage to stay crisp and keep its color. If it turns limp and translucent after a couple of hours, you used too much vinegar.
Be relatively generous with the sugar. I'm going to guess 2 tablespoons. That sounds like a lot, but you want the finished product to taste a bit sweet to balance the vinegar on the pork.
A dash of your favorite finely ground salt.
A pinch of celery seed. Just enough that you can see some scattered black dots when you mix it in.
And that's it. Mix well. You can serve it immediately, but I think it is better when it sits for an hour or two prior to serving. It's also good left over for a few days, especially if you don't overdo it with the vinegar so that the cabbage stays crisp.
