Grocery store romaine lettuce is boring. It’s the beige sedan of greens. Napa cabbage is the neon convertible with fluffy dice.
Its actual name is “Chinese cabbage,” which is both wrong and right. It’s been around for thousands of years, mostly in Korea and China. They use it for kimchi, which is the ultimate raw-adjacent snack.
Kimchi is fermented Napa cabbage. It’s raw-ish. It’s spicy. It’s alive with good bacteria. Your gut will send you a thank-you burp.
The Weirdest Part: It’s Actually a Fruit?
Botanically, cabbage is a brassica. It’s cousins with broccoli, kale, and Brussels sprouts. That includes the little fart-clouds we discussed earlier.
What is Napa Cabbage and Why Should I Eat it? | Kids Are Great Cooks
But the flowers? You can eat those too. If you let Napa cabbage bolt (grow tall and yellow flowers), you can eat the buds raw. They taste like sweet broccoli. Nature is a strange, glorious mess.
Also, the white part near the stem is denser. It’s like the brain of the cabbage. It’s sweetest raw, almost like a mild radish. Don’t throw it away. That’s the best part, you monster.
