Brined in salt, kombu, and chili flakes, crunchy Japanese Pickled Cabbage makes a refreshing palate cleanser to accompany any Japanese meal. This tasty and quick pickle (tsukemono) recipe is so easy to make at home. Ready in about 2 hours!
When we eat Washoku (和食), a traditional Japanese meal with rice and miso soup, we almost always serve a small dish of Japanese pickles called Tsukemono (漬物). Today I’m sharing a quick and easy Japanese Pickled Cabbage (キャベツの浅漬け).
What’s Tsukemono?
Tsukemono (漬物, literally translates to “pickled things”) are Japanese preserved vegetables that are usually pickled in salt, brine, or a bed of rice bran called nuka.
During a meal, Tsukemono cleanses the palate and provides refreshments to counter the other flavorful dishes. It also offers color, texture, and fragrance to a meal. In fact, it is sometimes also called Kounomono (Kho no mono, 香の物) or “fragrant things”.
“Asazuke” – A Quick Tsukemono
In Japan, all types of tsukemono are available at grocery stores and specialty stores; however many people make Asazuke (浅漬け) at home, which is “quick pickling”. I serve this type of tsukemono with steamed rice and miso soup for my traditional Japanese meals.
Among the different types of Asazuke, shio-zuke (塩漬け), or salt pickles, is one of the easiest pickles to make. With shio-zuke, vegetables are salted first, then the heavy object is placed upon the vegetables. The pressure causes the vegetables to release liquids, and the vegetables are pickled in the brine. Making shio-zuke usually requires just a few hours; therefore it’s a popular pickle for home cooks.
Keep in mind that Asazuke typically needs to be consumed within 2-3 days as it’s pickled in a very small amount of salt that’s not enough to keep it for a longer time without spoiling.
What can I make into Tsukemono?
There are quite a bit of ingredient options for making tsukemono. I personally like using vegetables like cabbage, napa cabbage, cucumbers, eggplants, daikon radish, turnips, gobo (burdock root), carrots, ginger, and more. What I recommend is to pickle 1 to 2 ingredients at a time. When I make my own vegetable tsukemono, I know it’s fresh and absolutely love the crispy texture!
How much salt to add?
My general rule of thumb for Asazuke is that salt should be 2 to 2.5% of the vegetable’s weight. It’s easy to calculate when you have a kitchen scale (I like this kitchen scale).
If you use Diamond Crystal kosher salt, 1 tablespoon is about 10 grams and 1 teaspoon is 3 grams.
Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
Japanese Pickled Cabbage
Video
Ingredients
For the Vegetables
- ½ head green cabbage (9.9 oz, 280 g)
- ½ Japanese or Persian cucumber (1.8 oz, 50 g)
For Quick Pickling
- 1 dried red chili pepper
- 1 piece kombu (dried kelp) (1 x 3 inches, 2.5 x 7.6 cm per piece)
- 2 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (use 2% of the vegetables’ weight; multiply the weight of the cabbage and cucumber by 0.02)
For the Toppings (optional)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Discard the core of ½ head green cabbage. Cut the cabbage into 1- to 2-inch (2.5- x 5-cm) pieces.
- Cut ½ Japanese or Persian cucumber in half and peel. Cut in half lengthwise then into thin slices diagonally.
- Remove and discard the seeds from 1 dried red chili pepper. (You can save the seeds to add in if you prefer a spicy taste.) Avoid touching the seeds with your bare hands/fingers. Cut the chili into rounds.
- Toast 1 piece kombu (dried kelp) over an open flame to make the kombu tender. Then, cut it into thin strips (I used kitchen shears).
To Brine
- Put the cabbage, cucumber, chili pepper, and kombu in an airtight plastic bag and add 2 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt.
- Rub together the ingredients from outside the bag until the cabbage softens. Remove the air and seal the plastic bag tightly.
- Place the bag under a heavy object. Place it in the refrigerator or a cool spot and let it pickle for 2–3 hours.
- Once the cabbage is pickled, take it out from the brine and squeeze out the excess liquid with your hands.
To Serve
- Transfer to a bowl or plate. Sprinkle with toasted white sesame seeds and drizzle with a little bit of soy sauce.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 2–3 days.
Naomi hello.
After trying the recipe I’ve noticed slimy strings between some of the vegetables after two hours.
Is that normal or should I discard the batch?
Hi Marco! Hmm it can be kombu – kombu gets slimy as you soak for a long time (but usually overnight). But there is sliminess when you touch the kombu after 2 hours for sure. It should be okay. I can’t tell 100% sure without looking at myself, but my guess is it’s from kombu and it should be okay. 🙂
Hi Nami,
I’ve tried out this recipe and it turned out great! Thank you very much!
Just wondering if the leftover Kombu and chilli should be thrown away ? Or kept together with the cabbage?
Thanks!
Hi Shelwyn! I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe. Thanks for trying it and for your kind feedback. Yes, you have to discard them. They are well-used already for making one batch and not much flavor left. 🙂
I never thought of using regular cabbage since I watched my mom make this using Chinese cabbage all the time.
Hi Ben! Asazuke is often made with cabbages in Japan. Probably availability and affordability. 🙂
Is there a place/brand of kombu you would suggest? If I read this right the kombu is kelp in this instance, but a lot of places list kombu seaweed which doesn’t have the thickness. And thoughts on why they’d call it kombu instead of nori?
Hi Alissia! I don’t have the specific brand that I can suggest as there are so many kombu brands/kinds available in Japan, and outside of Japan, the type is kind of limited and I don’t have favorite ones. Kombu is kelp, but it’s a type of seaweed. Nori, wakame, hijiki… they are all a type of seaweed but in English, but many western people just say “seaweed” as if it’s the same thing. We have so many kinds of seaweed. It’s like calling everything “leafy green” when we have so many types of green leafy vegetables. Hope this makes sense.
Aloha,
Thoroughly enjoy your recipes. Easy Peasy.
Mahalo, Kai
Aloha Kai! Thank you so much for your kind feedback! 🙂
Thank you for this recipe Nami. I made it and it was soooo good! Quick, easy and delicious. I had never sliced white cabbage this way and it makes for a totally different eating-experience. Crunchy and lucious. I have been on a few trips to Japan (lucky me) and found out that the flat cabbages there are so much better than the round ones we can get in Holland, so the last two times my most important souvenirs were two heads of cabbage 😀 and I made a friend bring me two Japanese cabbages from his trip! So it’s fair to say this recipe was right up my alley, made even the dutch cabbage taste wonderfull.
Hi Ina! I’m so glad you liked this recipe! Awww I’m so happy to hear that! Haha you brought the Japanese cabbages to Holland! Every summer after spending 2 months in Japan, we feel the produce tastes so much better in Japan (hence the food tastes better). Each vegetable has good taste. Thank you so much for your kind feedback, Ina!
Just made this and sort of over-toasted the kombu. It made crunchy crumbles instead of strips but still tasted very nice.
Hi JtP! Thank you for your feedback! 🙂
Hi Nami! thank you for sharing so many recipes!
Today, I’ve made these tsukemono. It was easy to make but mine ended very salty. Is it supposed to be this way or did I mess it up? Also, how am I supposed to eat those? Can I put them in onigirazu? thanks!
Hi Igor! You’re welcome and thank YOU for following along!
Thanks for trying this recipe. Hmm… one thing I am not sure is that if you measure the ingredients by the size or the weight. What I meant is that your 1/2 cabbage can be smaller than my cabbage I listed. Other than that, only way to control the saltiness is to remove the cabbage from the solution earlier. It’s supposed to be salty (it’s salt pickles), but it shouldn’t be excessively salty. You can put in onigirazu but it may release water inside, so make sure it’s well drained/squeezed out. 🙂
Hi Nami,
Sorry for the ultra late response, I’ve definitely messed it up! I’ve read tbsp instead of tsp which in fact made it way too salty. I’ve done it again and it turned out well this time. Thanks for the great work as always.
Hi Igor! Ohhhh! It makes sense! Thanks so much for your kind feedback. I’m so glad that you figured it out and enjoyed the recipe! 🙂
[…] Pickled Cabbage […]
I am trying to use fewer plastic bags. What would be a good substitute for the plastic bags in your pickle recipes?
Hi Jennifer! I used a glass container, plate, and weight in this recipe and you can do the same: https://www.justonecookbook.com/tsukemono-shiozuke-salt-pickling/. 🙂
[…] Pickled cabbage […]
[…] Pickled Cabbage […]
Hello!
I adore your blog! So glad to get my hands on some Japanese pickles!! They were some of my favourite things when I visited Japan.
I was wondering, if I don’t have a gas stove to dry the kombu, would you recommend another method? Or should it be ok to cut the kombu without this step?
Thank you! Keep up the amazing work!
Hi Alexandra! Thank you so much for your kind words, and I’m sorry for my late response here. You can skip the step – it’s just a “nice to have”. 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
Could you post a recipe how to make shibazuke? I went to Kyoto and love this type of pickle!
Hi Jos! Here it is: https://www.justonecookbook.com/shibazuke-pickles/. Hope you enjoy! 🙂
Thank you for this recipe. My ex-mother-in-law was from Japan and made salted cabbage weighted down by a plate. This is it! She recently passed away and left us without any idea of how to make the dishes we had loved. I will save this one and pass it down to her great grandchildren.
Hi Diane! I’m sorry to hear about your mother in law passing. 🙁 Hope this recipe will keep her memory alive in your kitchen! 🙂
For the cabbage shiozuke, are you using the Dashi Kombu?
Thank you!
Yes, I’m using kombu that’s for making dashi. Mine looks like these.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry_items/kombu/