The benefits and harms of Chinese cabbage. Calorie content, composition and recipes from this vegetable. Origin story. Note! During lactation, you can use Peking cabbage in stewed and boiled form, in order to avoid colic or flatulence in the baby. In all other respects, it is a source of nutrients.
The harm of Chinese cabbage and contraindications to use
There are very few contraindications for Chinese salad, but we will consider all of them so that you can fully enjoy this crispy and nutritious vegetable without harm to your health.
Peking cabbage should be used with caution in such cases:
- Dairy products … Eating this vegetable with milk, cheese, or milk sauces will lead to an upset stomach.
- Increased acidity … Petsay can cause heartburn, and if abused for such stomach problems, pancreatitis.
- Binge eating … Even though it is light and low in calories, it can cause nausea, bloating and heaviness due to its herbal origin.
Absolute contraindications to the use of Peking cabbage:
- Acute inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract … With this diagnosis, raw cabbage will exacerbate the disease.
- Gout … A high purine content is contraindicated in this diagnosis, as it will cause an increase in uric acid concentration and a worsening of the condition.
Chinese cabbage recipes
For consumption, only the leaves of Chinese cabbage are used: the stem accumulates salts and toxins that have fallen into the ground where the vegetable grew. Not very loose heads of cabbage are suitable for cooking, they should also be free of dark spots and sluggish areas. If, in the process of improper storage, the top of the cabbage wilted, it's not scary. You can just cut it off and use the rest.
You can eat Chinese cabbage either ready-made or raw: you just need to rinse the leaves and use them as a snack with any vegetables.
Slightly curved leaves of this type of cabbage, in combination with a delicate structure, but a rigid frame, can be used as "edible plates" for any cold salad: it looks quite original and adds useful elements to the treasury of this dish.
There are simply endless recipes for salads with the addition of Peking cabbage, but in fact there is a lot of what to cook from Peking cabbage, the range of application of this vegetable in cooking is wide: it can be fried, stewed, and even the most delicate stuffed cabbage can be cooked.
Chinese cabbage recipes:
- Stuffed pancakes … Sift 500 grams of flour, mix with a pinch of salt and a few grains of soda. Add 250 ml of mineral water to the mixture, stir until smooth. Pour in another 250 ml of mineral water and knead the dough. Fry thin pancakes in a little vegetable oil. For the filling, peel and rinse 350 grams of Chinese cabbage, 500 grams of mushrooms, 150 grams of onion and 1 clove of garlic. Chop the cabbage, cut the mushrooms and onions into small cubes, crush the garlic. Fry the ingredients all together in a pan, adding a new one in this order: onions, mushrooms, garlic, a pinch of salt, a pinch of sugar, a tablespoon of soy sauce, Chinese cabbage. Simmer until mushrooms are fully cooked, but the cabbage should retain its crispness. Put the cooled filling in pancakes, wrap and fry in vegetable oil until light brown. Serve with sour cream and herbs.
- Peking cabbage and croutons salad … Rinse 300 grams of Chinese cabbage, put in a colander and drain off excess moisture, pick into equal small pieces with your hands. Boil the chicken breast in salted water, cut into strips. Finely chop a bunch of green onions. Peel 200 grams of cucumbers and cut into thin strips. Boil 2 eggs, leaving the yolk liquid, cut into small slices. Grate 100 grams of cheese on a coarse grater. Cut 100 grams of loaf into small cubes or strips, dry in the oven. If desired, you can use a pack of purchased crackers. Lay all the ingredients in layers, season with mayonnaise, salt and ground pepper, put eggs on top, sprinkle with herbs.
- Chinese cabbage and chili soup … Peel 100 grams of fresh shiitake, cut into thin slices. Cut 100 grams of Chinese cabbage into thin strips. Carefully peel one small chili pepper from seeds, chop very finely. Boil 1 liter of chicken broth, put cabbage and pepper in it, after 4 minutes add 50 grams of rice noodles and shiitake. Cook until the noodles are ready, without removing from the heat, pour in the beaten egg, stirring without fail. Serve hot with cilantro.
- "Chinese cabbage rolls" … Boil 250 grams of buckwheat until half cooked. Prepare 300 grams of minced meat, add 300 grams of finely chopped onion, undercooked buckwheat and salt to taste. Divide 1 head of Chinese cabbage into leaves, wash and dry. Wrap the minced meat in them, fold the resulting cabbage rolls into a baking dish. Fry 100 grams of onion and 100 grams of carrots in a pan, add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and 4 sour cream. Add water to the pan, dilute to a creamy state. Add salt, pepper and herbs to taste, bring to a boil. Pour the resulting sauce into a baking dish with cabbage rolls. Bake in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 40 minutes. Can be served with sour cream and bacon cracklings.
- Vegetable soup … Cook two liters of broth, taking any poultry meat as a basis. Finely chop 100 grams of onions. Cut 100 grams of carrots and 100 grams of turnips into thin and short strips. Finely chop the parsley, parsnip, green onion and dill in separate cups. Peel 300 grams of potatoes and 150 grams of sweet pepper, cut into strips. 4 large Chinese cabbage leaves and 150 grams of tomato, peel and cut into small pieces. Fry onions, carrots and turnips in a little vegetable oil. Add vegetables to broth, boil. Place green onions, parsnips, parsley, potatoes and peppers there. Cook until potatoes and peppers are almost cooked. Add tomato, petsai, chives and salt. Bring to a boil, cook for another 4 minutes. Serve hot with sour cream and dill.
Interesting facts about Chinese cabbage
Peking cabbage as a gastronomic plant was first seen in northern China. The first written records date back to the 5th century AD. From that time to the present day, it is actively cultivated in the central and southern parts of China.
Then this vegetable appeared in Korea, and a little later in Japan, from where it came to the countries of Indochina. It was there that he gained the greatest popularity and great importance in culture. So, in Korea, spicy sauerkraut, kimchi, is very popular.
In Europe and the United States, this culture did not receive much distribution until the middle of the last century. Japan changed the situation by creating a selection, high-yield and early maturing variety from various Chinese and Japanese varieties. At the moment, it is extremely popular in all European countries and is actively being introduced into the vegetable growing of the CIS countries.
In Russia, Peking cabbage is also grown at home, but the housewives do not get the same neat store head of cabbage. This is due to one subtlety of the technology, which has been actively and for a very long time practiced in China: in the early stages of ripening, the head of cabbage is tied at the top with a ribbon. This technique makes cabbage less vulnerable to pests, such as slugs, and allows you to maintain an elongated shape without separating the leaves from the stem.
What to cook with Chinese cabbage - watch the video:
At the moment, many housewives prefer lettuce rather than Peking cabbage: there is no stiffness and the price does not bite so much. However, it is worth trying petsai, because it has a much brighter taste, the shelf life is much longer, and there are a lot of dishes in which it can be used.
