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is the most common. Red cabbage looks like green cabbage, except for its vibrant maroon color; it tends to be tougher in texture than green cabbage and turns a blue-purple when cooked. As a color accent in a salad, red cabbage is exceptional. Savoy cabbage has tender, crinkled leaves with a mild flavor. Savoy cabbage is increasingly rare in U.S. markets but worth seeking out. When cooked, it holds its green color well, making it an attractive choice for a stirfry or sauté. It is the cabbage of choice for cabbage rolls. Chinese cabbages fall into two groups: Brassica rapa chinensis and Brassica rapa pekinensis (sometimes you just have to resort to Latin to keep it all straight). The chinensis group includes bok choy (also called pac choi) and has juicy white stems with dark greens attached. The pekinensis group includes napa cabbage, which is a mild-flavored cabbage with long, oval-shaped bunches of pale green leaves. Both types of cabbage are excellent in stir-fries, and napa cabbage makes excellent salads. Baby bok choy is a treat that should be lightly steamed and enjoyed with a drizzle of soy sauce and sesame oil.

Availability

Cabbage of every type is available in supermarkets all year long; it is grown and harvested year-round in California. Savoy cabbage is not commonly stocked in supermarkets, so you are much more likely to see it in the fall at farmers’ markets.

Storage

Solid, firm heads keep well in a root cellar at 32° to 40°F and 90 percent humidity (the same conditions root vegetables require). Place the heads on shelves, several inches apart, with the root ends up, or suspend them from rafters by the root. You might consider wrapping the heads in newspaper, which will help them retain moisture. If your root cellar is in your basement and not well ventilated to the outdoors, you may find that green cabbage releases an unpleasant odor that creeps into the house (Chinese cabbages do not).

Green and red cabbages keep better and longer than savoy cabbage and Chinese cabbage. If you’ve grown Chinese cabbages, simply pull up the plants, roots and all, and replant them in boxes of dirt in your root cellar for long-term storage. Or refrigerate in a perforated plastic bag for a week or two.

The conventional wisdom is that unwashed, firm heads will keep up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator. In reality, cabbage keeps for at least a month. As cabbage ages, it loses its vitamin C content. It also toughens and is best suited to being cooked rather than used in salads.

How to Buy

Buy whole heads when possible. Choose unblemished, compact heads that are heavy for their size, which means they have not lost their moisture.

Preparation

Remove the outer leaves of the cabbage, then rinse the head under cold water. Slice the cabbage into quarters and cut out the core, then slice, grate, or shred as the recipe requires. Specialized cabbage slicers are available, but a food processor or a sharp knife works just fine.

If a cabbage you want to use raw is tough, sprinkle it with salt and let it drain in a colander for at least 30 minutes. Then taste for saltiness. If it is too salty, rinse under cold running water. If it isn’t too salty, just use it as is, but adjust the salt the recipe requires and season with more salt only if needed. Salting and draining cabbage in this manner before dressing it softens the cabbage and prevents the dressing from becoming watery.

Cabbage loses volume when cooked, so don’t worry when a dish calls for 8 to 12 cups of sliced cabbage; it will quickly cook down.

Cooking Ideas

Above all, do not overcook cabbage, which results in a mushy texture and a strong flavor. Cabbage can be delicious boiled (think corned beef and cabbage), but overcooked boiled cabbage is what has given cooked cabbage a bad name. It can also be steamed. It really shines when briefly cooked in a stir-fry. Both green and Chinese cabbage can be stir-fried with every kind of meat or tofu and are compatible with any Asian sauce or seasoning. They are used as the filling for spring rolls, egg rolls, and all