Cabbage Salad Tossed in Shio Konbu is a super quick dish to make. It is often served at Izakaya (Japanese-style taverns) in Japan, and perfect as a side dish as well as a salad. The umami from the shio konbu (salted dried kelp) converts the plain cabbage into a delicious and tasty vegetable. The saltiness from the konbu and the subtle sweetness of the cabbage go so swell together.
I introduced shio konbu in my post, Sautéed Potato with Shio Konbu. Shio konbu is packed with umami. Combined with a good amount of salt coating the kelp strips, shio konbu is a great ingredient to mix with fresh vegetables.
Cabbage is not only vegetables you can use. You can also use sliced cucumbers, chopped Chinese cabbage, etc. Shio konbu is also great for sautéed vegetable strips to add flavour to it. Try sautéed capcicum with shio konbu.
Cabbage Salad Tossed in Shio Konbu is so easy to make. It is almost embarrassing that today’s post is really short!
What’s in My Cabbage Salad Tossed in Shio Konbu
You only need 3 or 4 ingredients for this dish, because shio konbu contains seasonings that are required to dress cabbage pieces.
- Cabbage leaves
- Shio konbu
- Sesame oil
- Roasted white sesame seeds (optional)
I find that plain cabbage works better than savoy cabbage. Due to the crinkled leaves of savoy cabbage, the other ingredients tend to get stuck in the small cavities, rather than coat all around the cabbage pieces.
White sesame seeds are optional, but they add a different texture to the dish.
I did not use it today, but if you like you can add a few drops of rāyu (chilli oil) to make it a bit spicy.
How to make Cabbage Salad Tossed in Shio Konbu
Today’s dish is so quick to make that you only need to follow 3 steps.
- Cut cabbage leaves into bite-size pieces.
- Put all the ingredients in a bowl and toss.
- Leave for 5-10 minutes to let the cabbage absorb the flavours.
If you are in a hurry, you can serve it immediately after tossing the ingredients. Then it literally only takes 5 minutes to make!
You can keep Cabbage Salad Tossed in Shio Konbu for a day or two in the fridge, but the cabbage pieces start wilting and you might lose the crunchy texture of the cabbage. It’s still very tasty, though.
Yumiko
Cabbage Salad Tossed in Shio Konbu is a super quick dish to make. It is often served at Izakaya (Japanese-style taverns) in Japan, and perfect as a side dish and a salad. The umami from the shio konbu (salted dried kelp) takes the plain cabbage to the next level.
Don't forget to see the section 'MEAL IDEAS' below the recipe card! It gives you a list of dishes that I have already posted and this recipe that can make up a complete meal. I hope it is of help to you.
- 200g/7.1oz cabbage leaves (note 1)
- 1½ tbsp shio konbu (salted dried kelp)
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tsp roasted white sesame seeds
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Cut the cabbage leaves into bite-size pieces (note 2).
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Put the cabbage and the remaining ingredients into the bowl (note 3).
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Mix well until all the cabbage pieces are coated in oil and the konbu pieces are evenly scattered. Ensure that the shio konbu and sesame seeds are not gathered at the bottom of the bowl.
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Leave it for about 5-10 minutes (note 4) to let the cabbage absorb the flavours.
1. I used plain cabbage, not savoy cabbage because plain cabbage gives you a better crunch and the cabbage pieces do not wilt and become limp as easily.
I removed the thick vein of the cabbage leaves, because it is not suited for today's dish.
2. I cut each leaf into about 3cm/1⅛" wide strips, then cut the strips into about 2cm/¾" wide pieces. To make the shape of each cabbage random, I made a cut perpendicular to the first cut for a few strips and at an angle or other strips.
3. Instead of using a bowl, you can put all ingredients in a plastic bag, seal the bag with a sufficient amount of air inside, then shake well. But I find that mixing the ingredients in a bowl gives you more control.
4. It is still tasty even if you eat it immediately after mixing the ingredients. It is assumed that standard shio konbu (not salt reduced) is used.
5. Nutrition per serving as a side.
serving: 57g calories: 43kcal fat: 2.9g (4%) saturated fat: 0.4g (2%) trans fat: 0g polyunsaturated fat: 1.2g monounsaturated fat: 1.1g cholesterol: 0mg (0%%) sodium: 187mg (8%) potassium: 136mg (4%) carbohydrates: 4.1g (1%) dietary fibre: 1.7g (7%) sugar: 1.6g protein: 1.3g vitamin a: 5% vitamin c: 31% calcium: 3% iron: 3%
Meal Ideas
A typical Japanese meal consists of a main dish, a couple of side dishes, a soup and rice. I try to come up with a combination of dishes with a variety of flavours, colours, textures and make-ahead dishes.
Today’s side dish goes with almost anything, but it has a salty flavour, so I picked a sweet main dish – Sweet and Sour Pork Meatballs (Subuta).
There is not a lot of meat in Subuta is not a lot. Adding a tofu dish such as Atsuage (Deep Fried Tofu) or Agedashi Tofu would make the meal perfect.
- Main: Sweet and Sour Pork Meatballs (Subuta) – make ahead meatballs.
- Side dish 1: Home-made Atsuage (Deep Fried Tofu) – or Japanese Fried Tofu (Agedashi Tofu).
- Side dish 2: Cabbage Salad Tossed in Shio Konbu – today’s recipe, you can make ahead.
- Soup: Miso Soup of your choice from Miso Soup Ingredient Combinations or your favourite ingredients.
- Rice: Cooked Rice
Hi
i bought some Gagome kombu (Google translated) from Hokkaido on a whimp due to short of time not knowing it’s Shio konbu that’s needed for this recipe. can I still use it in this cabbage recipe?
how to use it?
there’s not much instruction on on the packet too
thanks.
Hi Polly, shio konbu comes with great seasoning that is much needed for this dish. I never heard of Gagome Konbu, so I Googled it. The only product that came up was Gagome Tororo Konbu. Is this what you bought?
If so, you could mix it with chopped cabbage and get a similar effect on the dish. You will need to add a small amount of soy sauce or salt as tororo konbu is not as salty as shio konbu. Tororo konbu becomes very slimy when wet, so the dish will be a bit slimy.
Tororo konbu is made by shaving the surface of kelp that is seasoned with vinegar. It contains a great degree of umami too. You can also add a handful of tororo konbu to a clear soup or miso soup in place of wakame seaweed, use it as a topping for cooked rice, warp onigiri (rice ball) with it instead of a sheet of nori, add to salad, etc.
If it’s not tororo konbu, please let me know what it looks like so that I might be able to work out what exactly you bought.
I made this the first time using a brand of seasoned konbu shreds, and it was delicious. The second time, I bought unseasoned dried konbu shreds (because it was less expensive), and seasoned the salad myself, but the texture of the finished salad was completely different, in a bad way. The konbu turned very slimy. I know konbu does that naturally, but somehow the seasoned version was not noticeably slimy. Can you plain why the seasoned version was not slimy?
Hi Susan, shio konbu is made by cooking shredded konbu strips with seasonings first, then dried. The sliminess gets removed in the process of cooking. On the other hand, dried konbu shreds are uncooked konbu strips are dried.
Thank you for explaining that! Today I bought more seasoned konbu shreds. The store had two kinds: Kurakon Otokuyo Shio Konbu Sho, and Kurakon Mutenka Genen Shio Konbu. I bought them both, not knowing which is better. They’re the same brand and *look* the same, but the ingredients list is different. Can you recommend one over the other?
Susan
Hi Susan, ‘Mutenka’ means no chemical seasonings such as monosodium glutamate and sweetener. Also, ‘genen’ means salt reduce. So, I’d recommend Mutenka Genen Shio Konbu, if you need to be careful of salt intake and be cautious of aditives.
Thank you so much, Yumiko!
So simple and nice. Will try. Love your meal ideas💕
Hi Poornima, thank you. Simple but very tasty. I hope you try this.