A delicious Japanese cabbage salad that’s better than your favorite restaurant’s
There are several schools of thought when it comes to making cabbage salad, from a simple vinaigrette to a quick maceration to full fermentation. Welcome to the fascinating world of Tsukemono, or Japanese pickled vegetables.
What is Japanese cabbage salad?
As explained earlier, Tsukemono is a generic term for a very popular method of preparing vegetables in Japan. It is a pity that many restaurants and bloggers simply call this dish ‘cabbage salad’, as if tsukemono were a dish in itself rather than a technique.
Japanese cabbage salad is a tsukemono, but not every tsukemono is a cabbage salad.
This can mislead people who might otherwise explore a whole universe of incredibly tasty dishes. I won’t ramble on with an endless, auto-generated table of contents about the origins and other blah-blah of tsukemono; you can read my dedicated article for that. Let’s get straight to the point.
Recipe origins
This recipe is a quick shiozuke-style tsukemono, which means it is salted. Basically, the vegetables are cut up and then macerated in salt.
Feel free to use whatever you like, but I’ve been wanting to share a new recipe with shiso leaves for some time, and I think everything works really well together. For extra punch, add a little goma dare sauce.
The main ingredients of Japanese Cabbage Salad
Shiso: it offers a bright citrus flavor with hints of mint and cinnamon
Chinese cabbage: the foundation of the recipe; grate it or chop it as described, depending on your preference.
Japanese cucumber: You can substitute a regular cucumber, but use only half the amount
Togarashi: I sprinkle a little on top for a spicy kick; it is entirely optional
Japanese Cucumber and cabbage salad
Ingredients
- 350 g of Chinese cabbage leaves
- 1 Japanese cucumber these are half the size of regular cucumbers
- 1 tablespoon of ginger freshly chopped
- 3 leaves of shiso
- 7 g salt
Instructions
- Cut the cabbage into 1 cm by 4 cm strips350 g of Chinese cabbage leaves
- Cut the cucumber into 3 mm thick rounds1 Japanese cucumber
- If using a European cucumber, peel it, cut it into quarters lengthwise and remove the seeds, then cut it into approximately 3 mm thick slices
- Cut the shiso leaves into 0.5 cm pieces3 leaves of shiso
- Put the cucumber slices in a bowl, sprinkle with salt and let rest for 5 minutes7 g salt
- Add all the other vegetables and mix them with your hands until they become tender and watery350 g of Chinese cabbage leaves, 1 Japanese cucumber, 1 tablespoon of ginger, 3 leaves of shiso
- Rinse the vegetables lightly with water until the amount of salt is reduced to your preference
- Squeeze out as much water as possible, then put the vegetables in a serving bowl
- Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes
- Sprinkle with a little soy sauce just before serving
