LCBO Food & Drink Autumn 2025

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COLD RAMEN NOODLE SALAD WITH NAPA CABBAGE & GINGER-MISO DRESSING P. 122

That’s a Wrap For a sturdier alterna tive to lettuce wraps, try the Korean technique of steaming cabbage. For yangbaechu ssam , a green cabbage is quar tered and steamed until tender, 12 to 15 minutes. The leaves are separated and used to wrap up steamed rice plus ban chan (Korean side dishes) and spicy condiments. markets from midsummer to late fall, this cabbage has many aliases includ ing pointed, sweetheart and arrowhead. It’s simi lar to green cabbage, but with thinner, looser leaves and a more delicate fla vour. It can be swapped into recipes that call for green cabbage, or try it roasted or steamed in wedges to highlight its unique shape. CONE HEAD Available at farmers’

CLOSE SHAVE To cut cabbage into impossibly thin julienne, Japanese chefs have a unique tool in their arsenal. The double-bladed Noji Cabbage Peeler ($13.99, amazon.ca) will make quick work of any head for okonomiyaki or katsu sandos.

Four Basic Kinds of Cabbage

Napa Popular in Asian cooking, napa cabbage is juicier and more tender than its round relatives. Use it raw in slaws or noodle salads. It’s great briefly wilted in stir-fries, or buy a big head and try your hand at kimchi.

Red Red has a more earthy, peppery flavour than its green sibling, which makes it more suited to cooking. Whether it’s quick or slow, heat will amplify the sweet ness and bleed out the vibrant purple hue.

Savoy This loose, crinkly cabbage is also better cooked. The dark, outer leaves are similar to Tuscan kale and terrific in hearty soups. The inner leaves are excellent quickly steamed with stock and butter.

Green The most versatile of cabbages, it can be shaved raw for coleslaw, braised for hours until meltingly tender, blanched to wrap up as cabbage rolls or fermented for sauerkraut. Pro tip: Green cab bages get sweeter into winter in farmers’ cold storage.

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