Any time I learn about a new culinary technique that will improve digestion, I literally eat it up. Pressed salads are a Japanese tradition that is rooted in Macrobiotics. In short, a pressed salad is made by combining raw vegetables with salt and then using pressure to press down on the vegetables for two to twelve hours.
The combination of salt and pressure softens the vegetables and draws out some of their moisture. This process creates a natural dressing and predigests the vegetables. Since pressed salads are naturally flavorful on their own they generally don’t need a dressing. So pressing vegetables helps increase the digestibility of food similarly to how cooking does, but since it doesn’t involve heat the food is still raw so all of the live enzymes and nutrients are still in tact.
In this salad, I borrowed the aspect of pressing to treat the cabbage, but I then paired it with raw carrot and celery to ensure that the salad had some crunch. This salad has a zesty and savory flavor with a crunchy and chewy texture. The ginger miso dressing gives life to the cabbage. On top of the salad itself being good for your gut, ginger has many health benefits.
I know you are going to enjoy it just as much as I did.
Pressed Cabbage Salad With Ginger Miso Vinaigrette
Ingredients
Ginger Miso Dressing:
- 1/3 rd C Rice Wine Vinegar
- 1 C Toasted Sesame Oil
- 2 T Mellow White Miso
- 4 T Ginger Chopped
- 2 Pinches Red Chili Flakes
Pressed Cabbage Salad:
- 1 C Forbidden Black Rice Cooked
- ½ Cabbage Chiffonade, Yields 4 C
- 2 Carrots Chopped into Matchstick
- 2 Celery Stalks Sliced Thinly on the Bias
- ¼ C Sesame Seeds
- ½ C Mint chopped
- Salt to Taste
Instructions
Ginger Miso Dessing:
- Emulsify all of the ingredients in a Vitamix until smooth.
Pressed Cabbage Salad:
- Cook the rice according to the packaging. Or Add 1 and 1/3rd C of boiling water to 1 C of rice with 1 teaspoon of salt. Bring the water to a boil, then immediately reduce to a simmer and cover. Allow the rice to cook for 25 minutes or until all of the water has been absorbed by the rice. Then allow the rice to sit covered to steam for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
- Mix the cabbage with about 1 Tsp. of salt. Place it in a large bowl and then put another heavy pot on top of the cabbage to weigh it down. I also like to add a mason jar filled with water to make the weight as heavy as possible. Allow the cabbage to sit this way for 2 hours to ½ a day. Pour off the excess water and salt.
- Mix the cabbage with the rice, sesame, carrots, celery and mint. Mix well and season to taste.
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