What is cabbage?

What is cabbage?

Cabbage is a plant of the genus Brassica in the family Cruciferae. It is one of the main vegetables in spring, summer and autumn in Northeast, Northwest and North China. Its aliases also include cabbage, round cabbage, Chinese cabbage, lotus cabbage, fennel, kohlrabi, coconut cabbage, and white cabbage. Although the planting and cultivation of cabbage is divided into three seasons, the harvest season of spring cabbage, summer cabbage and autumn cabbage is from late spring to early winter.

What does cabbage look like?

The cabbage is layered. The smallest heart is the center, and then the inner and outer layers are wrapped together, and there are cross parts on the outer edges of the two leaves. It is very united and strong. The heart is tightly wrapped inside.

How to cook cabbage

1. Stir-fry

(1) Remove the old leaves from the cabbage and discard them. Peel the leaves one by one and soak them in clean water for ten minutes. Add a little salt to the water and wash them with clean water.
(2) Wash the dried red peppers in advance and soak them in clean water. This will prevent the peppers from getting burnt when fried.
(3) Tear the leaves into pieces along the texture of the leaves.
(4) Take out the chili peppers, drain the water, cut into small pieces, and remove the seeds; slice the garlic; prepare the Sichuan peppercorns.
(5) Heat the pan and oil, add the peppercorns, garlic slices and chili segments and stir-fry until they are fragrant and spicy. You don’t need to use high heat at this time, otherwise the aroma will not come out and it will easily get burnt.
(6) After frying until fragrant, turn to high heat, add the shredded cabbage, and stir-fry until each leaf is coated with oil.
(7) Add salt, white vinegar and a little sugar, and stir-fry until the cabbage is cooked.

2. Stir-fry

(1) Select young cabbage leaves, remove the stems, pat them with a knife, cut into cubes, wash and drain, marinate with a little salt, squeeze out all the water, and set aside.
(2) Place salt, sugar, vinegar, chopped green onion and wet starch in a small bowl and mix into the sauce.
(3) Heat the pan and add lard. When the oil is 80% hot, add the Sichuan peppercorns and stir-fry for a while. Then add the dried chili peppers and fry until the peppers turn brown-red. Add the cabbage and stir-fry over high heat until cooked. Pour the sauce in and stir well. Then serve.

The efficacy and function of cabbage

1. Cabbage is rich in folic acid, which has a good preventive effect on megaloblastic anemia and fetal malformations.
2. Cabbage is rich in vitamin C, vitamin E, β-carotene, etc., and has antioxidant and anti-aging effects.
3. Cabbage is rich in vitamin U, which not only has a good therapeutic effect on ulcers, but also can prevent gastric ulcers from malignant transformation.
4. Cabbage is rich in propyl isothiocyanate derivatives, which can kill abnormal cells in the human body that cause leukemia.
5. Cabbage contains a small amount of functional oligosaccharide raffinose, which can directly reach the large intestine and be decomposed and utilized by bifidobacteria, thereby playing a role in proliferating bifidobacteria, moisturizing the intestines and promoting bowel movements, and inhibiting the production of toxins.