Japanese Pickled Napa Cabbage Food

JAPANESE-STYLE PICKLED NAPPA CABBAGE

Steps:

• Halve the Chinese cabbage vertically (note 6) to have two quarters of cabbage wedges.
• Place the cabbage wedges on paper (baking paper, newspaper, etc) and dry them in the sun for ½ day (note 7).
• Weigh the cabbage and calculate the quantity of salt required (note 2).
• Lightly rinse the Chinese cabbage and pat dry outside.
• Sprinkle some salt on the bottom of the container. Sprinkle 1/3 of the konbu, chilli and lemon rind.
• Take a wedge of the Chinese cabbage and sprinkle some salt between the stalks, particularly the bottom part where the white stalks are thick. I do this in the container.
• Sprinkle the salt around the cabbage and rub, then place the cabbage in the container/pot, cut side down.
• Repeat for the other cabbage wedge and place next to the first wedge in the opposite direction so that the tip of the cabbage wedge meets the stem-end of the first cabbage (note 8).
• Scatter the remaining ingredients, including salt over the cabbage.
• Place the plate over the cabbage and press down.
• Place Weight 1 on the plate and place the lid on or cover with cling wrap. Leave it in the dark cool/cold place for 3 days.
• You should see water has risen in the container (note 9). Replace the weight with Weight 2, place the lid on or cover with cling wrap and leave for further 3 days.
• Transfer the pickled cabbage with the liquid to a smaller container or a zip lock bag and keep in the fridge until required.
• Lightly rinse the cabbage (note 10) and squeeze the water out.
• Place the cabbage on the cutting board, trim the end of the stem off and cut it into 4cm wide pieces.
• Squeeze residual water out of each bunch of cabbage pieces and transfer to the serving plate/bowl. Scatter with the julienned lemon rind if you want.

JAPANESE PICKLED NAPA CABBAGE (HAKUSAI TSUKEMONO)

Steps:

• Cut napa cabbage: Cut it into small pieces.
• Put in a bag: Put napa cabbage, shio koji, and shio kombu in a plastic bag.
• Massage: Massage them until napa cabbage gets a little softer.
• Pickle: Close the bag, put it in a container, and let it sit in the fridge for 2 hours.

PICKLED NAPA CABBAGE

Steps:

• Toss together cabbage, carrot, and salt in a bowl. Put kombu in a narrow straight-sided container (5 to 6 inches in diameter) and top with cabbage mixture. Cut a piece of cardboard to fit just inside container and enclose it in a sealable plastic bag. Top cabbage with plastic-covered round and stack 4 to 6 pounds of canned goods on top to weight it. Chill weighted cabbage at least 3 hours.
• Discard kombu. Squeeze excess liquid from cabbage and toss with shiso.

JAPANESE-STYLE QUICK-PICKLED CABBAGE SLAW

Steps:

• Whisk first 6 ingredients in a medium saucepan.
• Bring to boil; pour into a large bowl.
• Add cucumber, carrot and red bell pepper.
• Add cabbage to vegetable mixture.
• It can be made up to 4 hours ahead.

PICKLED NAPA CABBAGE

Steps:

• In a large heatproof bowl, combine cabbage, cucumber, and onion.
• In a medium saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups water, vinegar, sugar, and salt; bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve salt and sugar. Immediately pour over vegetables; using a dinner plate, press down on vegetables until they are submerged.
• Let cool to room temperature; transfer vegetables and liquid to an airtight container, and refrigerate up to 2 weeks. Use as you would sauerkraut or pickles, such as in Open-Face Ham Reuben Sandwiches.

PICKLED NAPA CABBAGE WITH UMEBOSHI PLUMS

Steps:

• Transfer cabbage to a large bowl and separate leaves, then toss with kosher salt. Let stand at room temperature, stirring occasionally, 1 hour.
• Stir together umeboshi plums, mirin, and rice vinegar in a small bowl.
• Rinse cabbage with cold water in a colander and drain.
• Firmly squeeze 1 handful cabbage several times to remove excess water and transfer to cleaned bowl. Repeat with remaining cabbage. Stir in umeboshi mixture, then chill, covered, stirring once or twice, at least 1 hour.