How to store Chinese cabbage at home, conditions and best methods
The vegetable, which in ancient times was used as a medicine by healers in Southeast Asia and China, relatively recently appeared on the shelves of European stores, but buyers have already managed to appreciate its taste. It depends on how to store Peking cabbage at home, whether the juicy leaves will wither, whether nutrients will be lost. The dietary product contains trace elements and proteins, is rich in glucose, ascorbic acid and citric acid.
Features of storing Chinese cabbage
Fresh, hard heads of cabbage lie in the cellar for about six months, do not rot, do not wither in the refrigerator for several months. However, Chinese cabbage is not stored in a warm room, but it can be dried, frozen, fermented, and the vegetable will not lose its rich composition. At low humidity, cabbage heads dry out, leaves quickly deteriorate when apples are nearby. Grated cabbage wilts the next day and becomes tasteless. It is not recommended to put the product in sealed plastic bags.
How to choose the right one
Late varieties of crops grown in the local climate and not imported from Asian countries are suitable for storage.Until mid-October, cut:
- Astena;
- Glass of wine;
- The witch ;
- The Sorcerer;
- Princess.
It is necessary to leave the Chinese cabbage to freeze, because it will not lie. When optimal conditions are created, tight cabbage heads without damage, uniform in color, do not rot for a long time.Crumpled and sluggish leaves should be torn off immediately, because fungi grow on them, which quickly spread and cause rotting.
Optimal storage conditions
Fresh Chinese cabbage cannot be stored in the cupboard or in the kitchen, as it wilts within a few days.
Temperature
Even dense, tight heads of cabbage do not lie in the heat, they quickly lose their presentation. The forks are normally stored in the basement, where it does not exceed +3°C.
Humidity
Cabbage leaves wither not only from the high temperature in the room, but the heads cannot tolerate dry air. In order for the product to remain juicy, the moisture content in storage should not be less than 93. When the indicator reaches 97-98%, the cabbage heads begin to rot.
Lighting
Before laying Beijing cabbage in the basement or cellar, they are disinfected with special disinfection solutions. The vegetable does not tolerate sunlight, it is better to lie down in a dark place.
Ventilation
Storage of Chinese cabbage should be well ventilated. If the air stagnates, the buds deteriorate rapidly. So that the cabbage heads do not rot, do not wither, it is allowed to remove only 2 leaves from above.
Storage and preparation for winter
In the absence of a cellar, harvest of a good harvest, the vegetables are salted and marinated, we can also transform the Peking cabbage.
Leaven
Most people are used to eating a dietary product in salads, tender and juicy leaves give the popular "Caesar" a special piquancy.Peking cabbage does not crunch in marinade or brine, but it turns out no less tasty than the usual varieties of white cabbage.
For the starter culture you need to take 1-2 heads with a total weight of 3 kg, in addition you will need:
- sugar;
- Chile;
- ginger powder;
- Garlic.
Heads of cabbage are divided into 4 parts, the leaves are rubbed with salt and put in a deep enamel or glass dish, left in the kitchen for a day, after which they are washed under the tap and soaked in hot water. cold water for 3 or 4 hours The liquid is decanted by putting the Peking cabbage in a colander.
Pepper is combined with crushed garlic and ginger powder. Each leaf is treated with hot seasoning separately. The vegetable mixture is transferred to a plastic container, left warm for a day, periodically removing the lid to let the air out. After that, the container is sent to a cool place. Cabbage will ferment in 10-14 days.
Drying
Petsay is stored for a long time, does not lose useful components when harvested for the winter in another way. After removing the top leaves, the head of cabbage is chopped or cut into pieces, put on a baking sheet covered with baking paper, sent to the oven, choose 50 ° C.
Chinese cabbage dries well in a special electric dryer. It is placed on a pallet, the device is on.
Costs
There are several ways.
In vegetable shops
With large volumes of agricultural products, a warehouse is used, in which a cooling system maintains a certain temperature, and ventilation is carried out using exhaust ventilation.In the vegetable store, potatoes, onions and beets do not lose their taste, do not lose their attractive appearance and useful components.
Peking cabbage cut in dry weather is placed in containers, boxes or in bulk with the stump up. Fruits that emit ethylene should not be near petsai. At 0-2°C, the dietetic product remains fresh for more than 3 months, at 4°C it germinates and rots.
Basement or cellar
A vegetable storage facility equipped with a ventilation and cooling system is usually rented by the farmers who cultivate the fields. Owners of summer cottages and vegetable gardens put their products in the cellar.
In limbo
If there is not enough space in the basement and everything is stuffed with boxes of root crops, some owners stretch a thin wire or rope under the ceiling, hang the Peking cabbage with the leaves facing the bottom.
in the sand
If you need to keep the petsai fresh as long as possible, you don't need to cut the sprouts, but dig up the vegetable with the root, put it in a cellar, plant it in the sand and put it in the ground. regularly water a little.
In the box
Housewives want to delight the family longer with vitamin salads from Chinese cabbage, and they wrap each head in foil, put it in bags that are not very tight in a box.
Balcony
In an apartment, the leaves of a dietary product wither quickly, it is illusory to replenish the entire harvest harvested in the garden in the refrigerator. Peking cabbage sits nicely on the glazed balcony. Cabbage heads should be constantly examined, dried or rotting should be removed.It is necessary to protect the heads from frost, protect from direct sunlight.
In the fridge
The temperature on an unheated balcony or loggia often changes, it rises to 20, then drops below 0, which negatively affects the appearance of Peking cabbage. Vegetables keep best in the refrigerator. Heads that cannot be washed are cut from a stump, wrapped in paper, left to cool for 3 hours, then placed on a shelf or in a refrigerator drawer.
Freezer
You can store Chinese cabbage until the next harvest. Dense ripe cabbage heads are washed under the tap, juicy leaves are separated, cut into pieces and immersed in salted boiling water for a few minutes. Coming out of the liquid, the sliced cabbage is dried on a towel, cooled to subzero temperatures, put in bags, which are placed in the freezer.
Salting and pickling
A delicious healthy snack made from petsay that lasts until winter if the proportions of the main ingredients used are respected. 1/2 cup of rock salt is taken per kilogram of cabbage. Also required:
- Bay leaf ;
- peas;
- clove buds.
Petsay is cut into thin strips with a knife, mechanical or electric grinder. Slices are mixed with salt, combined with spices and transferred to a glass container. The container is wrapped with gauze, the oppression is settled. For a month the cabbage is salted, but over time it becomes even more tasty and spicy.
Storage does not spoil much longer than fresh vegetables. Pickled Chinese cabbage will not leave anyone indifferent. For white we take:
- head weighing 0.5 kg;
- ½ cup of vinegar;
- 40 g of sugar;
- Chile;
- salt - 3 tbsp. I.
The head of cabbage is washed under the tap, chopped with straws. 0.5 l of water is poured into the dishes and a marinade is prepared with spices, vinegar is sent to the boiling liquid.
The cabbage is placed on the bottom of the glass container, a hot solution is poured in, sealed tightly and insulated with a blanket.
Common Mistakes
To keep the vegetable fresh longer, it does not need to be cut, but dug up and harvested in late September at mid-latitudes, in the south - in October. Some gardeners wait for the Chinese cabbage to freeze, believing that it will become tastier, but this is a big mistake, such cabbage heads will quickly rot. It happens that summer residents wash their heads before laying them in the cellar, the dirt needs to be cleaned, the wet vegetable is not stored.
Additional tips and tricks
Peking cabbage is washed only for pickling, pickling, freezing. Dry heads of cabbage, cleared of dirt, went down to the basement. To keep the vegetable fresh longer, you can't remove a lot of leaves, put it next to the bananas. Do not put herbal products in airtight packaging.
In the cellar or basement, where Chinese cabbage is soaked, a minimum temperature, a certain humidity, must be maintained. If the juicy leaves begin to wither, the product no longer needs to be stored, it is better to use it for making salads or appetizers.