Cabbage (2024)

This versatile vegetable can be crunchy, silky, pungent, or sweet, depending on how you choose to cook it. Don't be fooled by its humble reputation: Cabbage is a wonder food that's packed with flavor and nutrients.

Raw cabbage stimulates digestion as well as the immune system. It has antibacterial and antiviral properties and may help clear up ulcers and complexion problems. Both raw and cooked cabbage are great sources of vitamin C and calcium. Eating cabbage may reduce your risk of cancer: The red variety is especially rich in antioxidants.

Green and red cabbage both grow in round heads with smooth, thick leaves. Green pairs well with meaty flavors. When thinly sliced, red adds heft to salads. Napa, an Asian variety, grows barrel-shaped or elongated. It's delicate, juicy, and perfect for slaws.
Savoy has looser leaves that are green and crinkled. It appears most often in fall and early winter. You can use it in any recipe that calls for green cabbage.

HOW TO BUY

Cabbage is available year-round, but it peaks in winter, when cold weather coaxes out its sweetness. A head of cabbage should feel heavy for its size. Go for small or medium-size heads that are firm and compact with unblemished leaves.

HOW TO USE

Pull off the very thickest outer leaves and rinse whole heads just before slicing. Use cabbage as soon as possible for the best nutritional bang, especially a partial head. Slicing amps up flavor and possibly nutrients, but the vitamin content diminishes when cabbage is stored after cutting-so stay away from the pre-cut packaged stuff.

Cabbage's less-than-sexy reputation has much to do with mishandling.

  1. Lose the odor: That cabbagey smell will stay away if you cook cabbage for a short time (5 minutes or less), uncovered and in lots of water.
  2. Keep it bright: Red cabbage retains that vivid purplish color when you slice it with a stainless steel knife (rather than carbon steel), use a nonreactive pan (rather than cast iron or aluminum), and add an acid, like vinegar or lemon juice.
  3. Crisp it up: Shredded cabbage stays perky if it's soaked in cold water. This also helps cut the pungent edge. Drain well before combining with other ingredients.

A few simple preparations:

  1. Simmer sliced green or savoy cabbage just until tender in enough water to cover, along with salt and a pat of butter. Drain. Toss with grated Parmesan cheese and cracked pepper.
  2. Sauté sliced red cabbage with butter, chopped onion, sliced dried apricots, and balsamic vinegar.
  3. Add sliced Napa cabbage to miso broth with cubed tofu, sliced green onions, and sliced shiitake or crimini mushrooms; drizzle with Asian sesame oil.

HOW TO STORE

A whole head of cabbage will keep for a week or longer when stored unwashed in the fridge and sealed in plastic.

Cabbage (2024)

FAQs

Why do you put baking soda in cabbage? ›

Baking soda does help green vegetables retain color, but it causes undesirable color changes in red cabbage—it turned blue. The science can be distilled to this: Adding baking soda to cooking water makes it slightly alkaline, which stabilizes the green color of chlorophyll.

Is it some cabbages or some cabbage? ›

If you have two or more cabbages, “cabbages” is correct.

What happens when vinegar is added to cabbage juice? ›

The cabbage juice is called an indicator because it can tell you the pH of a solution based on the color that it changes. The vinegar will turn the cabbage juice red because it is an acid (acetic acid). The baking soda will turn the cabbage juice greenish-yellow because it is a base (sodium bicarbonate).

What is the red cabbage indicator in ACS? ›

Red cabbage contains a chemical called anthocyanin. This pigment is a natural acid-base indicator. It is blue in neutral substances, like plain water. When an acid like lemon juice gets in the water, a reaction makes the indicator molecule change shape and it looks pink.

What can I add to cabbage to reduce gas? ›

Add herbs. Adding the right herbs can also help ease digestion. A few of Cording's favorites that pair particularly well with cabbage include ginger and turmeric.

Why do you soak cabbage before cooking? ›

Crisp it up: Shredded cabbage stays perky if it's soaked in cold water. This also helps cut the pungent edge. Drain well before combining with other ingredients.

What is a cabbage slang for? ›

Chiefly British Informal. a stupid, dull, or spiritless person.

What is the old name for cabbage? ›

The headed cabbage variety was known to the Greeks as krambe and to the Romans as brassica or olus; the open, leafy variety (kale) was known in Greek as raphanos and in Latin as caulis.

What is the old word for cabbage? ›

The word cabbage itself is thought to have derived from an Old French word 'caboche' meaning 'head'.

What does pouring salt into a cabbage do? ›

The salt then draws moisture out of the cabbage's cells through osmosis, forming a salty brine. This brine is important because it submerges the cabbage and deprives the Lactobacillus and other microorganisms of oxygen – the second step!

What happens if you drink too much cabbage juice? ›

Cabbage juice can cause abdominal discomfort in some people. Some people may experience intestinal discomfort when drinking cabbage juice. Cabbage is a rich source of fructans, a type of carb that people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) often find difficult to digest.

Why does my cabbage smell like vinegar? ›

Cabbage and onions contain sulfur-based compounds and enzymes that are kept apart — and nonreactive — in separate cells when the plants are whole. But when you cut the vegetables, the compounds and enzymes mix, creating pungent, bitter and foul-smelling compounds that repel insects (and people!).

Can you drink red cabbage water? ›

While the thought of drinking water infused with cabbage may not immediately sound appealing, the health benefits it offers are truly remarkable. Packed with essential nutrients and powerful antioxidants, cabbage water can work wonders for your overall well-being.

What is the turmeric indicator? ›

Turmeric is a natural acid-base indicator which changes colour from yellow to red-orange when added to a basic solution. It stays yellow in acidic solution.

Is purple cabbage natural? ›

This type of cabbage gets its purple-reddish color from the plant compound anthocyanin and the acidity level of the soil where it's grown. Like most colorful vegetables, it has many health benefits. Some people disagree on whether certain foods are truly healthy.

Why does baking soda turn cabbage blue? ›

contain anthocyanin, a molecule that is a reddish colour in its naturally acidic environment: fruit. But, when it comes into contact with alkaline ingredients (the baking soda in a cake batter, for ex.), the anthocyanin turns blue.

What can you put on cabbage to stop bugs from eating it? ›

Apply Diatomaceous Earth for Bug-free Cabbage

I've had good luck using diatomaceous earth if I end up with the cabbage moth larvae, plus you can use products with Bt such as Thuricide.

What is the disadvantage of using baking soda to vegetables? ›

This is a bad practice, however, and you should avoid adding baking soda when boiling any type of vegetable. It has various unwelcome effects, such as softening the vegetable, altering the vegetable's flavor, destroying thiamine content, and hastening the loss of vitamin C.

How do you take the bitterness out of cabbage? ›

Chop and soak: Soaking chopped cabbage in cold water for about 15 minutes will leach out most of the bitter and harsh flavor compounds, while also making the cabbage crisper. This is especially vital for leaf cabbage, but also works with firmer head cabbage varieties.

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