Can Purple Cabbage Be Eaten Raw? Benefits and Delicious Dishes from Purple Cabbage

Can purple cabbage be eaten raw? Not only delicious when cooked, purple cabbage is also an excellent choice for raw consumption, helping to preserve the maximum amount of valuable nutrients. Let Kamereo explore the surprising benefits and appealing recipes from purple cabbage!

Purple Cabbage Can Be Eaten Raw

Not only can it be prepared into many appealing dishes, purple cabbage can absolutely be eaten raw. When eaten raw, you will retain the maximum amount of vitamins, minerals, and beneficial antioxidants for your body. This is a great choice for anyone pursuing a healthy diet.

However, to ensure safety, you should choose to buy purple cabbage from reputable sources, grown using clean methods, without harmful chemicals. Before eating raw, you need to wash it thoroughly with clean water, possibly combining it with diluted salt water or specialized vegetable wash to remove any remaining bacteria and dirt.

What are the Benefits of Eating Purple Cabbage?

Purple cabbage is a nutritious vegetable that offers many significant health benefits. Here are 5 prominent effects you will get when regularly incorporating purple cabbage into your diet:

• Rich in Antioxidants: The distinctive purple color of purple cabbage comes from anthocyanins, which are powerful antioxidants. This compound has been proven by many studies for its ability to protect cells and help improve conditions related to obesity, such as type 2 diabetes. Additionally, purple cabbage is abundant in other antioxidants like vitamins C, E, and carotenoids.
• Supports Heart Health: Anthocyanins in purple cabbage play an active role in maintaining heart health. Another important component in purple cabbage is sulforaphane, which is a phytochemical with powerful anti-inflammatory properties.
• Contains Anti-Cancer Compounds: Purple cabbage has high levels of sulforaphane and anthocyanins. These compounds are believed to prevent oxidative damage and offer protective effects against the development of cancer cells.
• Improves Digestive System and Nourishes Gut Bacteria: Thanks to its high insoluble fiber content, purple cabbage helps cleanse the digestive system and stimulates bowel movements. Furthermore, isothiocyanates in this vegetable stimulate beneficial bacteria to produce SCFAs, a crucial substance for gut health.

What Delicious Dishes Can You Make with Purple Cabbage?

If you’re wondering how to prepare purple cabbage to be both delicious and nutritious, here are some appealing and easy-to-make dish suggestions:

Purple Cabbage Salad

A cool, colorful purple cabbage salad will be a wonderful highlight for your meal. With just a few simple ingredients and roasted sesame dressing, you’ll have a crispy, light, and healthy salad.

Ingredients:

• Purple cabbage: 200g
• Green cabbage: 100g
• Carrot: 1 (medium)
• Kumquats: 4
• Mayonnaise: 6 tablespoons
• Condensed milk: 2 tablespoons
• Chili sauce: 2 tablespoons
• Olive oil: 2 tablespoons
• Salt, pepper: To taste

Instructions:

• Prepare ingredients:
  • Discard wilted or damaged leaves from purple and green cabbage, cut into small pieces, then wash thoroughly.
  • Wash carrots, peel, and julienne.
  • Place sliced cabbage and carrots in a bowl of cold water and soak for about 15 minutes to make the vegetables crispier, then drain well.
  • Wash onions, slice thinly, and soak in a separate bowl of cold water for 10 minutes to reduce pungency and make them crispier, then drain well.
  • Cut kumquats in half and squeeze out the juice.
• Make the dressing: Combine 6 tablespoons mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons chili sauce, 1 tablespoon condensed milk, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon kumquat juice, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl and mix well.
• Mix the salad:
  • Place the prepared purple cabbage, green cabbage, carrots, and onions in a large bowl.
  • Pour the prepared mayonnaise dressing over them, and use chopsticks to mix thoroughly so the vegetables absorb the seasoning.
  • Finally, arrange the salad on a plate, garnish beautifully, and enjoy.

Purple Cabbage Salad (Nộm)

Purple cabbage salad (Gỏi) with boiled chicken is a great choice for those who love refreshing, flavorful dishes that are not overly rich. The combination of crispy sweet cabbage, onions, and tender flavorful chicken with sweet and sour fish sauce creates an unforgettable taste.

Ingredients:

• Boiled chicken: 200g (shredded into bite-sized pieces)
• Purple cabbage: 100g (shredded)
• Carrot: 50g (shredded)
• Herbs: a little (basil, saw-leaf coriander, Vietnamese coriander, spicy mint, fish mint)
• Sweet and sour thickened fish sauce: 1.5 tablespoons
• Fried shallots: 1 tablespoon

Instructions:

• Shred boiled chicken and mix with 1/2 tablespoon of the thickened fish sauce for flavor.
• Shred purple cabbage and carrots, wash thoroughly, and drain well.
• Place cabbage, herbs, and carrots in a bowl, mix well with the remaining fish sauce.
• Add chicken and gently mix one more time.
• Transfer the salad to a plate, sprinkle with fried shallots, and enjoy.

Purple Cabbage Juice

You can prepare purple cabbage into a delicious and nutritious juice. Purple cabbage juice combined with apple not only has a beautiful pinkish-purple color but also offers a refreshing, naturally sweet taste. This is an ideal drink for supplementing vitamins and effective hydration.

Ingredients:

• Purple cabbage: 1 head (approx. 800g)
• Apple: 1 (180g)
• Salt: a pinch

Instructions:

• Cut cabbage into quarters, remove the hard core, separate the leaves, soak in diluted salt water, then rinse with cold water and drain.
• Wash apples, either leave whole or cut into small pieces as desired.
• Put apples into a slow juicer and extract the juice.
• To enhance flavor and coolness, you can add a little honey and a few ice cubes.

Stir-fried Purple Cabbage

Stir-fried purple cabbage with beef is a perfect combination of the natural sweetness of the meat and the fresh, crunchy texture of the cabbage. Although it’s a stir-fry, it doesn’t contain too many calories, making it very suitable for those who want to eat healthily. At the same time, nutrients from purple cabbage like vitamin K and B vitamins will help keep the body healthy and promote metabolism.

Ingredients:

• Purple cabbage: 300g
• Pork: 100g
• Minced shallots: 1 teaspoon
• Minced garlic: 1 teaspoon
• Oyster sauce: 1 teaspoon
• Ground pepper: a little

Instructions:

• Slice pork thinly against the grain, marinate with a little fish sauce, salt, and ground pepper.
• Sauté shallots until fragrant and cook the pork until done.
• Cut cabbage into bite-sized pieces.
• Sauté garlic until fragrant, then add cabbage and stir-fry until cooked.
• Add the cooked pork, mix well, and season with oyster sauce.
• Transfer to a plate, sprinkle with more ground pepper, and enjoy.

Pickled Purple Cabbage

Pickled purple cabbage is both an effective side dish to cut through richness and a wonderful way to preserve and enjoy the distinctive flavor of purple cabbage. Its mild sourness, crispy texture, and beautiful color will enrich your meal.

Ingredients:

• Purple cabbage: 500g
• Sea salt: a little
• Apple cider vinegar: 100ml
• Filtered water: 300ml
• Red wine: 50ml
• Sugar: 80g
• Peppercorns, chili peppers, bay leaves,…
• Glass jar: 1

Instructions:

• Shred cabbage, rinse with water, then sprinkle with a little salt and mix well. Let it sit for about 1 hour for the cabbage to release water and soften. Next, squeeze and rinse several times with cold water to remove the saltiness, then drain well.
• Cook a mixture of water, vinegar, red wine, sugar, along with your preferred spices (peppercorns, star anise, cloves, etc.) over low heat for about 5 minutes, then turn off the heat.
• After sterilizing the glass jar, put the drained cabbage into it. Pour the cooked vinegar mixture over the cabbage, and use a bamboo stick or a heavy object to press down so the cabbage doesn’t float on the surface.
• Seal the lid tightly, keep at room temperature, and check after 4-5 days.

What Should Purple Cabbage Not Be Combined With?

Although purple cabbage offers many benefits, you should also be aware of some foods that should not be combined with it to avoid reducing its nutritional value or affecting nutrient absorption. Here are the foods generally advised against eating with purple cabbage:

• Purple cabbage should not be combined with apples: When purple cabbage is combined with apples, components in the two foods can affect each other’s consumption and absorption of nutrients. As a result, your body will not receive maximum benefits.
• Purple cabbage should not be combined with cucumbers: Eating purple cabbage with cucumbers can affect vitamin C absorption. This simultaneously reduces the nutritional value of both foods, preventing the dish from fully exerting its benefits.
• Purple cabbage should not be combined with animal liver: According to research, combining purple cabbage with animal liver is not as nutritious as you might think. The nutritional value of the dish can be significantly reduced when these two foods are consumed together.

Kamereo – Your Supplier of Fresh, VAT-Compliant Cabbage for Businesses

From partner farms to the chef’s kitchen, Kamereo provides fresh, clean, and consistently high-quality cabbage for restaurants, hotels, and industrial kitchens. Every product at Kamereo undergoes a three-layer inspection process before reaching the customer, is stored in modern cold storage, and delivered quickly to your location, ensuring your kitchen is always ready to operate on time with the best ingredients.

In addition to ensuring product quality, Kamereo is transparent in all orders. With electronic VAT invoices sent immediately after payment, Kamereo helps businesses easily maintain financial transparency and accurate tax declarations, eliminating worries about handwritten invoices or lost documents.

Different from traditional suppliers, Kamereo applies technology to the entire ordering, management, and cost analysis process. Through the ordering app and website, businesses can easily order cabbage along with thousands of other ingredients, manage multiple branches with just one account, approve orders remotely, and track order status in real-time. Technology makes every operational step simpler, more transparent, and more efficient than ever before.

With over 3000+ F&B businesses trusting us, Kamereo is the ideal partner for entities needing reliable ingredients, clear pricing, and transparency!

Frequently Asked Questions

What should purple cabbage not be eaten with?

Purple cabbage should not be eaten with apples, cucumbers, mangosteen, or animal liver as it can cause indigestion and hinder nutrient absorption. Additionally, avoid cooking purple cabbage for too long at high temperatures as it will lose nutrients. Purple cabbage should not be left overnight as it may produce harmful nitrates.

Who should limit eating cabbage?

People with goiter or thyroid disorders should avoid it because cabbage contains goitrin, which affects the thyroid gland. People with sensitive stomachs or poor digestive systems may experience bloating and indigestion when eating cabbage, especially raw. Furthermore, people with allergies, subconjunctival hemorrhage, kidney disease, or cold body constitutions should also limit consumption due to potential undesirable reactions.

Conclusion

We hope the information above has helped answer your question “Can purple cabbage be eaten raw?” and allowed you to discover many more appealing dishes from this ingredient. Don’t forget to choose fresh vegetables from Kamereo and follow our Food and Lifestyle section for more helpful tips!

References:

1. 8 Impressive Benefits of Purple Cabbage
2. 16 Delicious and Nutritious Purple Foods
3. Cabbage Juice: Uses, Benefits, and Side Effects