3 Mistakes to Avoid When Cooking Cabbage (2024)

FAQs

3 Mistakes to Avoid When Cooking Cabbage? ›

Baking soda does help green vegetables retain color, but it causes undesirable color changes in red cabbage—it turned blue. The science can be distilled to this: Adding baking soda to cooking water makes it slightly alkaline, which stabilizes the green color of chlorophyll.

Baking soda does help green vegetables retain color, but it causes undesirable color changes in red cabbage—it turned blue. The science can be distilled to this: Adding baking soda to cooking water makes it slightly alkaline, which stabilizes the green color of chlorophyll.

Boil it. In general, cooking makes vegetables easier to digest, which can help reduce gas. To retain the nutrients in the cabbage that would be lost when you drain the water, try cabbage soup or Mexican cabbage roll soup.

Bring the water to a boil. Add cabbage wedges to the steamer basket. Cover and steam until the cabbage is tender-crisp, 10 to 12 minutes. Season and serve.

A New York Italian friend of mine told me to parboil it first. That will take the bitterness out. Just dunk in boiling water for a couple of minutes. If you are worried about crispness you can plunge it in ice water after parboiling it.

Green is the heartiest variety; it takes well to all cooking methods. Red can turn a funny blue color when cooked, so it's best used raw. If you do want to cook it, add a touch of acid like lemon juice or vinegar to lessen the effect.

Toss 1 head of prepared cabbage with 1 tablespoon kosher salt. Let it sit. Place salted cabbage in a colander over a bowl for 1 to 2 hours. 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.

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

Cabbage is sweet and aromatic when cooked correctly.

Overcooked cabbage is rather unappetizing as it becomes too soft and attains "that" annoying smell that dissuades many from cooking cabbage. When cooking cabbage, let it cook at a simmer or gentle boil and keep an eye on the clock.

The central vein in each leaf is tough, particularly on the outer leaves, so you may wish to cut this away, too, especially if you want to cook the cabbage quickly as this part is very dense and will take a long time.

Why does my cabbage taste bad? ›

Minimize heat exposure: Exposing cabbage to heat will speed the enzyme activity and flavor development. The longer the exposure to heat, the stronger the flavors and aromas. Short and quick cooking over high heat will minimize bitter and pungent notes and create pleasing caramelized sugar flavors.

Methionine is the rare amino acid that contains sulfur, an element known for its pungent odor. And when methionine isn't metabolized properly in your body, it can result in large amounts of dimethylsulfide, which produces a smell similar to boiled cabbage.

The cabbage juice is called an indicator because it can tell you the pH of a solution based on the color that it changes. The vinegar will turn the cabbage juice red because it is an acid (acetic acid). The baking soda will turn the cabbage juice greenish-yellow because it is a base (sodium bicarbonate).

Will baking soda kill cabbage worms? While this is a widely used and touted method, it will not harm the worms.

Growing aromatic plants amongst the cabbage-type plants — like hyssop, thyme, wormwood, celery, dill, sage and onions — will all help to confuse these insects. BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) or Dipel, if you spray each week, can also control these insects.

As an alkaline compound, baking soda will start to break down more delicate fruit and vegetable skins and surfaces after the recommended 12–15 minutes, and can even soften beans and other pulses under longer exposure.