Easy and Delicious Boiled Cabbage Recipe - The How-To Home (2024)

FAQs

How long does it take to boil cabbage? ›

Step 1Cut cabbage into wedges or slice it thin. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, then add cabbage. (It's OK to crowd the pot because the cabbage will shrink!) Step 2Boil until tender, about 5 minutes for shredded cabbage and 10 minutes for wedges.

Red cabbages can be stored in a cool, dark place for a week to ten days. Before cooking, remove any tired or discoloured leaves and always cook red cabbage with a little vinegar. This preserves the beautiful purple colour – without it, the cabbage will turn blue!

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.

A few whole cloves added to the boiling water forcabbage impart a delicately complementary flavor and aroma and may help to prevent gas during digestion. Other sweet spices that may be carminative include allspice, cinnamon and ginger.

Get a pot of water up to nearly boiling. The pot should be large enough to hold the head of cabbage and enough water to nearly cover it.

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.

Before you cook that cabbage, studies suggest you wash it before beginning to cook it.

How to boil cabbage. Put the cabbage leaves or shredded cabbage in a large pan and cover halfway with water. Bring to the boil and cook for 3-5 mins or until tender.

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!

Why is my cooked cabbage tough? ›

If leaves are not pliable enough after parboiling for 1 minute, return them to simmering water another 1-2 minutes to desired softness. Are you salting the water before parboiling? Salt can help soften cabbage.

Substances such as lemon juice and vinegar turn the cabbage juice red because they are acidic. Ammonia turns the cabbage juice into a blue/green color because it is a base, a material that tastes bitter and makes an acid neutral. Water does nothing, as it is a neutral.

Cabbage is rich in fiber and glucosinolates and helps the body retain water. It helps maintain the bulkiness of the food as it moves through the bowels and thus treats constipation.

The negative side of cabbage

While cabbage offers lots of vitamins and minerals your body needs, there can be a downside to eating cabbage. Cruciferous vegetables like cabbage can cause gas, bloating and diarrhea. It's best to slowly introduce these vegetables into your diet and gradually increase your intake.

The team found that the dietary irritant that activated this response most strongly was allyl isothiocyanate – a sulphur-containing compound found in… wasabi, horseradish, cabbage and broccoli. These foods are known to affect gut movements and cause abdominal grumblings when eaten in excess.

It's Packed With Nutrients

Half a cup of cooked cabbage has about a third the vitamin C you need for the day. It also gives you doses of fiber, folate, potassium, magnesium, vitamins A and K, and more.

A cup of boiled cabbage has just 33 calories. It is low in fat and high in fiber. Furthermore, cabbage increases excretion and detoxification, which speeds weight reduction and improves liver health.

My granny used to drink buckets of cabbage water, and her generation used it as a cure-all for digestive health. Cabbage is full of fibre and water. So it's a pretty simple explanation as to why it's good to get the bowels moving.