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To Cook Cabbage Without Odor

A method for boiling cabbage to reduce its odor using salt and baking soda.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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To Cook Cabbage Without Odor

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the cabbage into quarters and wash it.

  2. Place the cabbage in a colander to drain.

  3. Boil enough water in a kettle to cover the cabbage.

Boil

  1. Add the cabbage to the boiling water along with the salt and baking soda.

  2. Once boiling, remove the cover and keep it off, pushing the cabbage under the water occasionally.

  3. Boil for 25 minutes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Cabbage
Forms the main body of the dish, becoming soft and tender as it cooks.
Baking soda
Raises the water's alkalinity, which helps the cabbage soften and keeps its color bright.

The step that matters

Keeping the lid off once boiling. Leaving the cover off lets volatile sulfur compounds escape, reducing the strong cabbage odor, and pushing the cabbage under keeps every piece submerged so it cooks evenly.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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