9 Recipes with Napa Cabbage (2024)

FAQs

Can Nappa cabbage be eaten raw? ›

Do you eat napa cabbage raw or cooked? You can enjoy crunchy napa cabbage raw in salads, as a sandwich topping and as healthy wraps. The leafy vegetable is also a mainstay in stir-fries, soups, stews and casseroles. Napa is a great choice for pickling too.

Stored unwashed in the refrigerator, Napa is fresh up to a week. Wrapping in plastic wrap can help prevent wilting, and if a recipe calls for just part of a head, I would suggest just plucking the leaves from the outer layer instead of using a knife to chop it all at once.

Once it's washed and cut up, cabbage can be frozen, but for longer-term storage, it's best to blanch it first. Blanched cabbage can be frozen for up to nine months, while unblanched cabbage will only keep for one to two months.

Slicing amps up flavor and possibly nutrients, but the vitamin content diminishes when cabbage is stored after cutting, so stay away from the pre-cut packaged stuff. A whole head of Napa cabbage will keep for a week or longer when stored unwashed in the fridge and sealed in plastic.

Napa cabbage offers a wide range of health benefits:

Folates: Napa cabbage is an excellent source of folic acid, one of the essential components of DNA. Vitamin C: The cabbage is rich in vitamin C, which can help the body fight infection and can also inhibit inflammation and free radicals.

Napa cabbage is widely grown in eastern Asia and is commonly used to make kimchi, a traditional Korean dish made of spicy fermented vegetables. It is also cultivated in the United States and elsewhere as a salad vegetable. Napa cabbage is a cool-weather crop that will rapidly flower if grown in warm temperatures.

Cabbage Prices Explained. Cabbage prices soared in the market as the after-effects of extreme weather temperatures largely contributed to the crop yield which reduced its supply in the market.

Both work well in salads and slaws, but it's not a good idea to substitute one for the other in cooked dishes. For example, napa's texture and flavor make it an ideal choice for quick stir-fries. Regular cabbage isn't as delicate as napa, so it's a better choice for slow-cooked recipes.

Worst: Broccoli, cabbage, kale

Kale, broccoli, and cabbage are cruciferous vegetables, which contain raffinose — a sugar that remains undigested until bacteria in your gut ferment it, which produces gas and, in turn, makes you bloat.

Today's Superfood: Napa cabbage

Even if it weren't such a nutritional superstar, Napa cabbage would be very high in my own ranking of green and leafy veggies. Napa cabbage is delicious cold or hot.

Is napa cabbage as healthy as regular cabbage? ›

Napa and regular cabbage are both low-fat, low-calorie and low-carb, but the nutritious profile of napa cabbage offers higher levels of vitamins C, K and folate than green cabbage. It also delivers higher levels of essential minerals.

Napa cabbage offers a wide range of health benefits:

Antioxidants can help neutralize free radicals and may protect against diseases such as heart disease and cancer. Folates: Napa cabbage is an excellent source of folic acid, one of the essential components of DNA.

Keep the white and the green parts separated. Cook the white part first before adding the greens, for the perfect cooked texture. (Optional) You can further slice or dice the white or green parts into smaller pieces, for example, long thin strips for making salad and coleslaw, or a small dice for dumpling filling.