Cabbage is a leafy green, and leafy greens tend to offer many health benefits. It is an ample source of dietary fiber and antioxidant vitamins. Not only that, its crunchy texture and bittersweet taste make it a favorite ingredient in plenty of dishes.
However, it’s tricky to prep cabbage. It does take a lot of time and effort if you don’t know how to shred cabbage. The physical structure of cruciferous vegetables often causes confusion among home cooks, especially the novices.
With a food processor, things are a bit easier, but we imagine you still might need a little help.
Related post: The Best Food Processors
So, here are things that will help when you go face to face with cabbage.
How to Shred Regular Cabbage
First, remove the outer layers that are usually damaged and dirty. Next, rinse the cabbage under running water to make sure that it’s clean. Sometimes, there are signs of worms or insects in the cabbage. Simply soak the head in salt water or vinegar for about 15 minutes.
Now, we cut.
Tip: Use a knife that is longer than the diameters of the cabbage.
Lay the cabbage on its stem, flat on the cutting board and cut it in half vertically. A straight down cut should do it. Do not cut the cabbage horizontally since they will start falling apart. We want them all connected. Here you can choose either to remove the stem or leave it there until a bit later.
Cutting vegetables in half creates surfaces that stable them on the cutting board.
Cut the two halves into smaller halves, straight in the middle of the stem. It should be simple to remove the stem, now. If the chunks already fit the chute, proceed them into the machine. You can keep halving them or trim slightly if they don’t.
The more you halve the cabbage, the smaller the slices will be. So if long slices are the aim, we wouldn’t go further than quarters.
If your food processor is too small then it’s quicker to slice the cabbage with a knife or buy a larger food processor.
How To Slice Napa Cabbages
With napa cabbages, it is going to take some time to wash and make sure they are clean. Because of their texture, napa cabbages are more likely to have insects in between the leaves.
Instead of rinsing or soaking them, we suggest taking the leaves off one by one and wash them separately. It’s cleaner that way.
Tip: cut off the stem where the leaves root from and they will fall apart instantly.
After cleaning all the stalks, you can stack them on one another and cut them with a knife or even a pair of scissors. Or, you can try your food processor. It can save a lot of time especially when you’re prepping for a large meal. So instead of handworks, you can do this:
- Cut the stack of leaves into halves or thirds, depend on the feeding chute depth.
- Roll the newly cut stack vertically in the shape of a cylinder. If it doesn’t feel thick enough, add more stalks.
- Proceed them into the chute one cylindrical stack at a time.
Cabbage’s Bitter Taste
A touch of bitterness in the taste of cabbages is often a good thing when it comes to our physical health.
Despite the fact that commercial food industries usually tries to remove the taste to increase consumption, you should know that a number of bitter-tasting constituents can be anti-cancer.
Rather than getting rid of the so-called unpleasant taste, it would do us well to mix cabbages with varied flavor ingredients, letting cabbages retaining its signature taste within a multi-flavored, delicious dish.
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