Napa cabbage
Brassica rapa subsp. pekinensis · Brassica
Top 10 pairings
Napa cabbage is the tall, barrel-shaped Chinese cabbage of kimchi, hot pot and stir-fries — an oblong head of crinkled, pale green-to-cream leaves on broad white ribs, far milder, sweeter and more tender than European head cabbage. Botanically it belongs to the turnip species Brassica rapa, not to the cabbage species, which is why its flavour is so gentle and its texture so juicy.
Picking a good onedrag
Field freshLong stored
SolidBuy itThe standard trimmed head: dense and heavy. Braise, roast, ferment or eat raw.
ColourEven pale green, tight and smooth
HeftFirm and dense, no give
StemCream, dry, clean-cut
SqueakSqueaks
SmellNothing at all
These cues are Cabbage's, and hold across its varieties; where this one differs, its own page says so.
What you get from one
80%
Edible part
908 g · outer leaves, core out
1135 g
Weight each
each one
Keeping ittap a temperature
A domestic fridge holds it about 12× longer than the counter.
98–100%
Humidity
Ventilated
Airflow