Cabbage
Napa Cabbage Rolls
Napa (also called Chinese) Cabbage is one of our favorite veggies. It’s great either cooked or raw. You can use it anywhere you would use regular cabbage, and also, with the rib removed, most places you would use lettuce. It makes a great slaw, awesome stir-fry, a topping for tacos, a tasty sandwich addition, or a wrap for spring rolls or leftover rice or tuna salad or the recipe below.
Steam your cabbage for 3-4 minutes. When cool, pull off 8-10 outer leaves. These will be your wrappers. Trim out the bottom of the stalk if it is tough.
Brown 1 lb ground pork, & remove from pan. Dice a small onion and a few garlic cloves (or scapes!) and cook in the pan drippings until soft. Slice a few mushrooms (shiitakes are especially nice) and scallions. Chop finely the rest of the cabbage. Mix it all together. Add a glug of sesame oil and soy sauce. Chinese rice wine or hoisin sauce would also be good additions.
Place a scoop of filling on each leaf, fold in two sides, then roll up. Can be eaten room temp or put in a covered casserole dish and warmed in a 350º oven for 10 minutes or so.
Kimchi
From Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz. Kimchi definitely falls into the “art” rather than “science” category – feel free to adjust ingredients to taste. You’ll want to keep the salt ratio about the same, though, as that’s what makes the environment right to support lactobacteria rather than other, uninvited, bacteria.
For one quart:
Sea Salt (non-iodized)
1 lb Napa cabbage, chopped
1 daikon radish, sliced
1 or 2 carrots, sliced
1 or 2 onions and/or some scallions
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
3-4 hot chiles (or to taste)
3 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
1. Mix a brine of 4 cups water and 4 tablespoons salt. Stir to dissolve salt.
2. Soak the veggies in the brine, covered with a plate or weight to keep them submerged, a few hours or overnight, until soft.
3. Mix the spices into a paste.
4. Drain and reserve the brine. Taste the vegetables for saltiness – you want them to taste decidedly salty, but not unpleasantly so. If they are too salty, rinse them. If you cannot taste salt, add a couple teaspoons and mix.
5. Mix the vegetables with the spice paste. Mix everything together and stuff into a clean quart-sized jar. Pack tightly, pressing down until brine rises. If necessary, add a little reserved brine to submerge the vegetables. Weigh the vegetables down with another jar or zip-lock bag, and cover with a clean cloth to keep out flies and dust.
6. Ferment in a warm place, checking every day. When it reaches your desired level of sourness, put in the fridge. It should keep for at least a month, but will get softer and more sour.
Easy Cabbage Salad
This is one of the staples of my lunchbox over the winter. Making it in the morning for lunch or dinner gives the cabbage a chance to soften up a little, but it's also great fresh and crunchy.
1 cup cabbage, sliced thin
pinch salt
1 Tbsp lemon juice, or to taste
1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil, or to taste
1 scallion, chopped (optional)
Mix it all together, and enjoy! You can also add (or substitute) finely-chopped broccoli or kale to this.
Napa (also called Chinese) Cabbage is one of our favorite veggies. It’s great either cooked or raw. You can use it anywhere you would use regular cabbage, and also, with the rib removed, most places you would use lettuce. It makes a great slaw, awesome stir-fry, a topping for tacos, a tasty sandwich addition, or a wrap for spring rolls or leftover rice or tuna salad or the recipe below.
Steam your cabbage for 3-4 minutes. When cool, pull off 8-10 outer leaves. These will be your wrappers. Trim out the bottom of the stalk if it is tough.
Brown 1 lb ground pork, & remove from pan. Dice a small onion and a few garlic cloves (or scapes!) and cook in the pan drippings until soft. Slice a few mushrooms (shiitakes are especially nice) and scallions. Chop finely the rest of the cabbage. Mix it all together. Add a glug of sesame oil and soy sauce. Chinese rice wine or hoisin sauce would also be good additions.
Place a scoop of filling on each leaf, fold in two sides, then roll up. Can be eaten room temp or put in a covered casserole dish and warmed in a 350º oven for 10 minutes or so.
Kimchi
From Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz. Kimchi definitely falls into the “art” rather than “science” category – feel free to adjust ingredients to taste. You’ll want to keep the salt ratio about the same, though, as that’s what makes the environment right to support lactobacteria rather than other, uninvited, bacteria.
For one quart:
Sea Salt (non-iodized)
1 lb Napa cabbage, chopped
1 daikon radish, sliced
1 or 2 carrots, sliced
1 or 2 onions and/or some scallions
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
3-4 hot chiles (or to taste)
3 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
1. Mix a brine of 4 cups water and 4 tablespoons salt. Stir to dissolve salt.
2. Soak the veggies in the brine, covered with a plate or weight to keep them submerged, a few hours or overnight, until soft.
3. Mix the spices into a paste.
4. Drain and reserve the brine. Taste the vegetables for saltiness – you want them to taste decidedly salty, but not unpleasantly so. If they are too salty, rinse them. If you cannot taste salt, add a couple teaspoons and mix.
5. Mix the vegetables with the spice paste. Mix everything together and stuff into a clean quart-sized jar. Pack tightly, pressing down until brine rises. If necessary, add a little reserved brine to submerge the vegetables. Weigh the vegetables down with another jar or zip-lock bag, and cover with a clean cloth to keep out flies and dust.
6. Ferment in a warm place, checking every day. When it reaches your desired level of sourness, put in the fridge. It should keep for at least a month, but will get softer and more sour.
Easy Cabbage Salad
This is one of the staples of my lunchbox over the winter. Making it in the morning for lunch or dinner gives the cabbage a chance to soften up a little, but it's also great fresh and crunchy.
1 cup cabbage, sliced thin
pinch salt
1 Tbsp lemon juice, or to taste
1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil, or to taste
1 scallion, chopped (optional)
Mix it all together, and enjoy! You can also add (or substitute) finely-chopped broccoli or kale to this.