red cabbage
See also: cabbage
A cabbage variety with deep red-purple leaves and a slightly peppery flavor, eaten raw in slaws for crunch and color or cooked, where its color often shifts dramatically with acid or heat -- turning bluish with alkaline exposure and staying vivid red-purple with an acid like vinegar. That color sensitivity is worth knowing before cooking it, since an unexpectedly blue pot of cabbage is a common surprise.
Buying guidance
Choose a head that feels heavy and dense for its size with tightly packed, unblemished leaves; a head that feels light or has loose, papery outer leaves has dried out. Raw red cabbage can bleed color onto other ingredients once cut, so add it close to serving in a dish where the other colors matter.
Substitutions
- Green cabbage -- same crunch and cooking behavior, no color, slightly milder flavor.
- Savoy cabbage -- more tender, crinkled leaves, milder flavor, no color.
- Napa cabbage -- cooks faster and is milder, useful where a quicker-wilting cabbage is wanted.
Tips & common mistakes
Red cabbage is denser and takes noticeably longer to soften when cooked than green cabbage, so timing meant for green cabbage often leaves red cabbage still a little crunchy -- give it extra time rather than assuming the two cook at the same rate. For a raw slaw, salting the shredded cabbage and letting it sit for 15 to 30 minutes draws out water and mellows its raw, peppery edge.
Storage
A whole, uncut head of red cabbage keeps remarkably well refrigerated, often several weeks, thanks to its dense, tightly packed leaves -- much longer than more delicate leafy vegetables. Once cut, wrap the exposed face tightly, since it dries out and discolors faster than the rest of the head.