Pickled Red Cabbage: Col Lombarda Encurtida
Vibrant in color, pickled red cabbage (col lombarda encurtida) is a delicious, healthy garnish for salads, soups, and sandwiches. It adds a crunchy, sweet tanginess; the perfect punch of flavor to make your dishes stand out.
Servings: 15 two tablespoon servings
Print Recipe
Pin Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ red cabbage
- ½ cup salt
For seasoned vinegar
- 2 cups vinegar (have more on hand, just in case)
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon allspice berries
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon honey (or other sweetener, to taste)
Instructions
Salt the cabbage
- Rinse and dry the red cabbage and remove any ugly outer leaves.
- Slice the red cabbage as thinly as possible.
- Layer the red cabbage in a bowl with salt. Use your hands to mix the cabbage and salt to make sure it is all completely coated. If possible, place a weight on the salted cabbage to help draw out as much moisture as possible.
- Leave the salted cabbage in cool place, undisturbed, for around 2 hours.
- After 2 hours, drain off the released liquid. You can save this brine for adding back salt later, if needed.
Desalt the cabbage
- Rinse the salt off the cabbage and soak it in fresh water. After around 20 minutes, strain off the water and add more clean, fresh water.
- Continue soaking the cabbage and changing the water until the cabbage no longer tastes salty. (It may have a bit of salt, but shouldn't be overwhelmingly salty.)
Prepare the vinegar
- While you are desalting the cabbage, you can begin to prepare the vinegar. Bring the vinegar to a mild boil, and then lower the heat and simmer the vinegar with the spices for several minutes.
Notes
Serving
Once your pickled red cabbage is ready, you can serve it right away. Or, you can let it sit for a day or two before serving it. Pickled cabbage is delicious on its own or on salads, but it's also great on top of grilled meats and sausages, roasted vegetables, and soups. It's very versatile and adds color and a burst of flavors to a variety of dishes.Storage
Once your pickled cabbage is done, refrigerate it immediately. It will keep well for about 2 weeks, maybe longer, depending on how it was made. The shelf life will depend a lot on the remaining acidity of the vinegar, how much salt remains, and how much sugar (or what sweetener) was added. In general, a saltier, more acidic pickle with more sugar will keep longer than one with milder flavors. Toss your batch if you find any mold growing on top or any unusual changes in flavor, scent, or texture. (They could be a sign of bacterial growth.) You can try extending the shelf life by fermenting it with a bit of whey as I did when making fermented ketchup.Nutrition
Serving: 2Tablespoons | Calories: 21kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 3781mg | Potassium: 75mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 314IU | Vitamin C: 16mg | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 1mg
Calories: 21kcal