Taiwanese Pickled Cabbage (Super easy!)
If you ever wondered how to make the sweet and sour Taiwanese Pickled Cabbage stuffed inside the famous night market Stinky Tofu, this is the recipe for you.
Crunchy, refreshing, healthy, and super easy to make at home, I always have Taiwanese Pickled Cabbage in the fridge at all times as it is the perfect side dish for every meal. Our family friend, an AMAZING chef, shared her secret tips in this recipe to EXTRA crunchy Homemade Taiwanese Pickled Cabbage.
Believe it or not, my favorite part of Stinky Tofu is the refreshing Taiwanese Pickled Cabbage.
Every time I go to the night market, I have to order stinky tofu with EXTRA cabbage. The cabbage is sour, sweet, and super refreshing. We make Taiwanese Pickled Cabbage in bulk, as it pairs well with every side dish and can last in the fridge for up to 3 weeks!
The secret tip to crunchy, long-lasting Taiwanese Pickled Cabbage is to cook the vinegar, sugar, and water versus pouring it straight in the jar.
By pre-cooking the vinegar with sugar and water, not only does the cabbage last longer, but it also gives the cabbage a better and smoother flavor.
I also like to use both sugar and salt to pull out the water from the cabbage and season the cabbage.
I prefer to use Taiwanese Cabbage versus regular cabbage, as the leaf is much more tender and sweeter. However, if you can’t find Taiwanese Cabbage, make sure to salt and sugar pulls the cabbage for an extra 15 minutes.
Recently my go-to 10-minute lunch has been a bowl of rice with Taiwanese Pickled Cabbage, Asian Honey Garlic Potatoes, Taiwanese Cucumber Salad, Kimchi, and a fried egg on top.
I love having healthy side dishes in the fridge to make a rice bowl that is nutritious, delicious, and filling! Preparing side dishes also helps me save tons of time and prevents me from wasting any ingredients. I like to meal-prep all my sides dishes every 4-5 days.
Do you want more easy Asian Side dishes recipes? Here are some of my favorite go-to side dishes!
- Asian Honey Garlic Potatoes (Only 5 Ingredient!)
- Authentic Braised Tea Eggs (Easy and Inexpensive)
- Two Types of Asian Cucumber Salad (Spicy Garlic, Sweet and Sour)
- Korean Bean Sprout Side Dish – Kongnamul Muchim
Ingredients
- 2 lb Cabbage
- 1 Carrot
- ⅛ cup of Salt
- ⅛ cup of Sugar
- 2 Thai Chili (optional)
Sauce
- 1 cup of Rice Vinegar
- 1 cup of Sugar
- 2 cups of Water
(the ratio is always 1:1:2) \
- Clean and cut the cabbage into bite-sized pieces; you can also hand-rip the cabbage as well. Add in ⅛ cup of salt and ⅛ cup of sugar, toss everything together, and set it aside for at least 20 minutes. To speed up the process, you can also add a heavy object on top of the cabbage.
- Slice the carrots into thin strips, add in 1 tbsp of salt, and 1 tbsp of sugar, toss and set it aside for 20 minutes.
- Add 1 cup of vinegar, 1 cup of sugar, and 2 cups of water to a pot. Turn the heat to medium-low, and simmer until the sugar is cooked. Let it cool down completely on the side.
- After 20 minutes, squeeze out all the excess water from the cabbage and carrot. Add in 2 chopped Thai chili (optional), and toss everything together.
- Pour in the vinegar mixture, and massage everything together.
- Store in an air-tight container overnight, and enjoy! It can last in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.
Taiwanese Pickled Cabbage
By Tiffy Cooks
Ingredients
- 2 lb Cabbage
- 1 Carrot
- ⅛ cup Salt
- ⅛ cup Sugar
- 2 Thai Chili optional
- 1 cup Rice Vinegar
- 1 cup Sugar
- 2 cups Water
Instructions
- Clean and cut the cabbage into bite-sized pieces; you can also hand-rip the cabbage as well. Add in ⅛ cup of salt and ⅛ cup of sugar, toss everything together, and set it aside for at least 20 minutes. To speed up the process, you can also add a heavy object on top of the cabbage.
- Slice the carrots into thin strips, add in 1 tbsp of salt, and 1 tbsp of sugar, toss and set it aside for 20 minutes.
- Add 1 cup of vinegar, 1 cup of sugar, and 2 cups of water to a pot. Turn the heat to medium-low, and simmer until the sugar is cooked. Let it cool down completely on the side.
- After 20 minutes, squeeze out all the excess water from the cabbage and carrot. Add in 2 chopped Thai chili (optional), and toss everything together.
- Pour in the vinegar mixture, and massage everything together.
- Store in an air-tight container overnight, and enjoy! It can last in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.
This looks so delicious.
If you don’t mind me asking do you think napa cabbage be a better substitution for Taiwanese cabbage or white cabbage? Thank you
Hi Caroline,
I would recommend white cabbage instead 🙂 just salt for another 15 minutes
Tiffy
Hi Tiffy, I had the same question as I can only find either Napa cabbage or regular cabbage, but by white cabbage do you mean the standard American green cabbage? Thank you.
Thanks for the detailed instructions. Very easy to make and I know it is very tasty.
Gave this recipe a try and really enjoyed it! I will now have a jar all the time in my fridge
I ended up finding this in your recipes while researching the different types of cabbages world wide. I’m a Canuck of Asian descent with a hubby to is allergic to most spicy varieties of chilis & peppers so I’m always searching for different recipes to try out, particularly those from the different Asian cultures & regions (I was adopted & raised by my extremely Canadian/Anglo-Irish mum and my Canadian/Scottish Dad (aka: loads of “neeps”, haggis and potato with boiled everything else lol).
Made this two nights ago and had it tonight along with our favourite recipe for stinky tofu. Yes, this is simple to prepare but oh SO good! Absolutely love and will be keeping some on hand from here on out as well (although I may have to wrest the jar out of my husband’s hands at 2 am, lol. Which is actually high praise; he’s not a huge cabbage fan, but this? This he loved as much as I did).
Thanks so much for sharing not only this but also so many other yummy recipes.
So good and refreshing on a hot day!