Amp Up Sad Cabbage And Start Making It Japanese-Style

Yamitsuki cabbage is quite a name for a side dish, directly translating to 'addictive' cabbage from Japanese. While the name does put a lot of pressure onto a rather humble side dish, yamitsuki cabbage is indeed hard to stop eating once you start.

This side dish first came out of Japanese izakayas, which are similar to casual gastropubs in America where people can meet for simple snacks and drinks to unwind after work. It's a simple concoction of chopped cabbage mixed with bouillon powder, toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar, brown sugar, and sesame seeds for an umami-packed side dish to serve alongside a variety of Japanese dishes. 

You can often find it served alongside grilled meats, pot stickers, noodle dishes like ramen, or even on its own with a cold beer. Seriously, it's just as good of a drinking snack as bar peanuts in the States. Just about any Japanese meal is improved with this crunchy, flavorful side salad. It's also a great way to use up that head of cabbage you have languishing in your fridge crisper drawer, turning an oftentimes blah vegetable into an inconceivably flavorful dish.

Start with compiling your ingredients: bouillon powder, toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar, and brown sugar create the base of the dressing, plus cabbage (of course) for the bulk of the salad and sesame seeds for a crunchy garnish. Chicken bouillon is traditional, but vegetarians can use mushroom bouillon instead. Any type of cabbage you have on hand will work, but smooth, green-leafed cabbage works best because of its crisp, hearty texture.

Start by chopping your cabbage into small pieces, not as small as coleslaw but similar in size to chips so they can easily be picked up with chopsticks. There is not a set ratio of ingredients for the recipe — a spoonful of bouillon here, a dash of vinegar there, simply taste as you go and you'll soon find yourself with a big bowl of the good stuff. Yamitsuki cabbage makes for a great side dish, but it honestly works just as well on its own alongside a bowl of fresh steamed rice and miso soup.