Caramelized Cabbage Recipe - Cookin Canuck (2024)

FAQs

What does baking soda do to cabbage? ›

You don't add baking soda. Adding baking soda to your boiling cabbage can help reduce the objectionable smell and maintain the green color long after when it typically turns grayish from cooking for too long. However, this may rid the cabbage of its nutritional value.

From what I understand, when cabbage is cooked, the acid that the cabbage has evaporates, causing it to turn blue. To keep it red when cooking, try adding vinegar or lemon juice to retain the acid levels.

Whatever cabbage you are using, cut off the dry end of the stalk. If using Hispi, quarter the cabbage lengthways through its core. If using a regular white cabbage, cut it into manageable wedges, again through the core. Steam for about 10 minutes until it looks rather relaxed and easy to cut through.

To reduce the likelihood of experiencing gas after eating cabbage, consider cooking it thoroughly. This can help break down the fibers and make it easier to digest. Additionally, try adding caraway seeds or fennel seeds to your cabbage dishes, as these spices are known to help reduce gas.

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.

The key to cooking cabbage: Don't overcook it.

Cabbage is sweet and aromatic when cooked correctly. But the same sulfuric compounds that provide many of its health benefits can turn saboteur when overcooked, creating a pungent, unpleasant smell.

Overcooking cabbage releases sulfur compounds that can give it a bitter taste. Another possible reason is that the cabbage was not fresh.

You want to cook until tender, but err on the side of caution—overcooked cabbage will turn limp and give off a less-than-pleasant smell.

The salt pulls moisture out of the cabbage, seasons it, and leaves you with a super-crunchy texture that isn't raw or tough-tasting.

What happens when you pour salt on cabbage? ›

The salt also helps to draw out moisture from the cabbage, which creates a brine that helps to protect the cabbage from harmful bacteria while allowing the lacto-fermentation process to occur. Depends on how you have it chopped. I like mine sliced thin on a cabbage cutter “Banjo” and then salted.

Simmer, covered, until the cabbage begins to soften, 5 to 7 minutes. Turn the cabbage carefully, and continue to simmer until the cabbage is tender, an additional 5 minutes. The cabbage is ready when a small paring knife inserted into the thickest part of the cabbage near the core slides through easily.

Melt the butter in a 12-inch high-sided saut pan over medium-high heat. Cook for 2 to 4 minutes or until the butter browns. Add the cabbage, kosher salt, and the pepper to the pan with the brown butter. Saut for 7 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage is tender and lightly browned.

Chebotar recommends adding garlic cloves, bay leaves and peppercorns to the pot of boiling water as this may help reduce gas. Bay leaf tea can help ease an upset stomach, so boiling it with the cabbage can prevent gas after eating the cabbage.

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.

Submerge the fruit or vegetables in the baking soda water. Let soak for 12 to 15 minutes. The time will help the baking soda do its job. Swish the produce around in the water or push it down several times to ensure all sides of the produce is being cleaned.

Sarah House, the food innovation chef at Bob's Red Mill, explains that baking soda “helps to remove any residue left on the exterior of produce.” House elaborates: “I would recommend rinsing in cool, clean water before drying and storing.” Rinse and dry.

Turns out cooking food with baking soda (a.k.a. sodium bicarbonate) can indeed damage a number of nutrients, such as vitamin C, vitamin D, riboflavin, thiamin, and one essential amino acid. Yet it doesn't hurt others, including vitamin A, vitamin B12, niacin, and folic acid.

Because most pesticides aren't stable at an alkaline pH, soaking them in a baking soda solution can break down their compounds, and together with a rinse under tap water, can help to wash them away. Note: The baking soda solution will remove only certain classes of pesticides, and only from the produce's surface.