Who’s into sweet and tangy food?? I ran out of kimchi one day and I came across 2 heads of cabbages in my fridge. One green and one purple…Hum, how about make some sort of pickled dish with this, and that’s exactly what I did!! This pickled cabbage will be your next best friend, if you are craving something sweet, tangy and crunchy!! It is super easy to make and sure to satisfy your taste buds! Give it a try today!!
are there benefits to purple cabbage?
Purple Cabbage is the powerhouse of dietary fibers, carbohydrates, potassium, plenty of vitamins and other essential minerals. It is also known to help lower the risk of cancer and heart diseases. Great for digestion, maintaining blood pressure and great for skin too!! Wow, sounds like magic food to me!!
What is the secret ingredient?
The secret ingredient for this dish is, palm sugar!! It’s something I recently discovered in an Asian Market and have been testing out on numerous recipes. And you know what? It’s fantastic!! You will be surprised from it’s natural sweetness that sugar does not provide!! Make sure you have a mortar and pesto for palm sugar. They seem moist but hard to break by hand, so need to be pounded before putting it into the jar. I tried to add them straight from the package and it did not work.
what is palm sugar?
Palm sugar is a sweetener that is made from the sap of the coconut palm tree. It is known as natural sugar because it involves minimum processing and without chemicals!! You can taste the difference once the cabbages ferment that the sweetness is not harsh!
where can you use this pickled cabbage?
This dish is totally versatile!! For our family who consumes a lot of side dishes, this can easily become a side dish with Korean BBQ or paired with ramen and sushi. I also plan to use this for kimbap and sushi. You can also use this in buddha bowls or poke bowls! The possibilities are unlimited!!
Can you eat this right away?
If you can take sour food, you can try eat this raw. But I did notice the vinegar was quite pungent at that point. For best flavor, consume 24 hours after making them. You can definitely taste all the flavors infused into the vegetables, and they will be so crunchy!! Plus the sweetness will be balanced well too. I suggest keeping it in the fridge after 24 hours and taking out what you need every time, without contaminating the batch. This will lengthen the freshness. Similar to pickles!! I do suggest consuming them within 3 weeks, afterward the crunchy texture may diminish.
Does the purple cabbage stain?
Purple cabbage will tend to stain your hands, fingers and cutting board, and sometimes your clothing. I suggest wearing disposable gloves, dark colored cutting board and an apron, just for safety.
do you recommend using a glass jar?
Please use a glass jar for pickling. First the purple pickle will stain and second you are using hot boiling water. Third, the food will stay fresh longer!
Why do you mix two types of cabbages?
I wanted to give more texture overall to this pickle. This is why I also added carrots and onion in this recipe. The purple cabbage tends to taste milder than the green cabbage, so works out nicely in my opinion.
Sweet and Tangy Pickled Cabbage
Equipment
- 76 oz glass jar with lid
- mortar and pesto
Ingredients
- 9 oz purple cabbage chopped
- 5 oz green cabbage chopped
- 2 oz onion sliced
- 1 medium carrot julienned
- 2 clove garlic sliced
- 1 cup distilled vinegar
- 3 oz palm sugar
- 5 tsp sea salt
- 2 cup boiling hot water
Instructions
- Sterilize the glass jar, dry completely and set aside.
- Chop and slice all the vegetables, set aside.
- Pound the palm sugar with mortar and pesto. Set aside. Boil Water.
- Into the glass jar, add all the veggies then the rest of ingredients. Pour water last.
- Close lid tight and shake until sugar and salt is dissolved. Leave in room temperature for 24hours. Open the lid and close tight before storing into fridge to let air out. Consume as needed and keep in fridge for freshness. Consume within 3 weeks.
Just wanted to say this tasted yummy!! I made it twice so far. Woohoo!
Oh wow!! that’s awesome to hear!! Thanks for checking out my recipes!!
Cool. Been wanting to make this. If we can’t use palm sugar what else can we use as a substitute? Thank you
Hi there, you can also use raw cane sugar!! Give more of a shake though! lol
😁 thank you
Hope you will like it!!