Cabbage Pickle

When rice is served in the home, pickles and miso soup are usually served with it. These three items in themselves constitute a complete meal and used to be all that most families ate in less prosperous times. There are many types of pickles: each locality has its own specialty, and each family will make its own variation. While the remembered taste of mom’s apple pie is what makes Americans yearn for home, in Japan it is the taste of homemade pickles.

1 small head Chinese cabbage, as fresh as possible, about 1 pound

water

salt

ice-cold water

• Remove the leaves from cabbage, keeping them whole. Fill a large pot two-thirds full with water. Add 1 tsp salt and bring to boil. Add cabbage and blanch for 1 minute.
• Transfer blanched cabbage to a large bowl half-filled with ice-cold water. Leave cabbage to chill.
• Meanwhile, prepare pickling brine in the proportion of 1 cup water to 1 tsp salt. (Prepare about 16 cups initially; you may need to prepare more, depending on the size of the cabbage and the bowl. The cabbage must be completely submerged in the brine.) Boil the pickling brine and let cool.
• Drain the cabbage and place in layers in a large bowl. Pour cooled brine over. Place a clean plate above, and top with a heavy can to weigh the cabbage down so that all are completely covered by the brine. Cover all with foil or plastic wrap. Set aside for 2–3 hours.
• Drain leaves; stack 3–5 leaves on top of one another. Cut into neat bite-size squares, leaving the stacks intact. Repeat until all the leaves have been cut, keeping the squares as uniform as possible.
• For each diner, make up two stacks of pickled cabbage, each roughly 11⁄2 inches in height.
• In four small, shallow bowls (preferably with a dark glaze), lay the stacks on their side so that the layers face up.
• Pass around some soy sauce for each diner to drizzle just a few drops over the pickles, if desired.