Pickled Purple Cabbage
Blog: www.nextinlime.com
Servings: 8 servings
Ingredients
- 3 cups thinly sliced purple cabbage - aka red cabbage, around ⅓ of a medium head or 300 grams or 10.5 ounces. (Note A)
- 1.5 cups (355 ml) water
- 1 teaspoon salt - non-iodized (Note B)
- 5 teaspoons granulated white sugar - (Note C)
- 1 cup (237 ml) distilled white vinegar
- ½ cup (118 ml) apple cider vinegar - (Note D)
Spices (see Note E)
- 1.5 teaspoons coriander seeds
- 2 teaspoons black peppercorns
- 1 piece of cinnamon stick - piece size: around 1 inch
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Add water, spices (all 4 of them), salt and sugar to a saucepan. Bring to a simmer on "medium" heat, then turn the heat down to "low" and leave at this gentle heat for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. We want the water to get infused with flavors from the spices.
- Meanwhile, pack the cabbage into a glass jar that's the right size (see Note F below for info on jar sizes). Place the jar on kitchen paper towel or in the kitchen sink to catch any splashes of hot pickling liquid later.
- After 10 minutes of gentle heating (from step 1), add both types of vinegar to the saucepan and give a quick stir. Increase the heat to "medium" again, let the pickling liquid reach a simmer and then turn off the heat.
- Pour the hot liquid through a strainer/sieve into the jar containing the cabbage (be careful please). Gently press the cabbage down with a spoon ensuring it is completely submerged in pickling liquid.
- Cover the jar with lid. Leave at room temperature for 30 minutes - so it cools a little.
- Then refrigerate for 2 hours before using. This pickled purple cabbage is at its best in the first 5 days, but will remain fine in fridge for upto 2 weeks.
Notes
Note A: Cabbage — you can also use regular green or napa cabbage instead of purple cabbage.
Note B: Salt — use non-iodized varieties like sea salt, pink Himalayan salt, kosher salt or pickling salt.
Note C: Sugar — alternatives like coconut sugar, honey or maple syrup will also work.
Note D: Apple cider vinegar — if you don't have it, swap out with distilled white vinegar, red wine vinegar or rice vinegar (use 1:1 replacement ratio).
Note E: Spices — feel free to experiment with other spices like mustard seeds, allspice berries, cloves, bay leaves, caraway seeds and star anise. Use these on their own or make your own combos.
Note F: Jar size — the jar size you need will depend on the amount of cabbage you're pickling. I use a 34-ounce (2 pints or 1 liter) jar for this recipe. You might need a different size if scaling the recipe up or down. Feel free to split the quantity in smaller jars.