The uniquely stimulating taste of umeboshi can be used to enhance simple braised cabbage.

Serves 3

Ingredients

1/2 a head of white or red cabbage
1 tbsp Clearspring Toasted Sesame Oil
1^1/2 tbsp Clearspring Umeboshi Puree OR a chopped pitted Clearspring Umeboshi

Method

1. Cut the cabbage half in half again lengthwise. Remove the hard stemmy core, and shred the leafy part thinly into 0.5cm slices. Heat the oil over a medium heat in a frying pan, add the umeboshi, and sauté briefly, stirring with a wooden spoon. At first, the umeboshi won’t mix evenly, but as you keep mixing, it will evenly coat the cabbage. Keep cooking like this for about 5 minutes.

2. After sautéing, if no juice has come out of the cabbage, add a very small drizzle of water, cover, lower the heat, and simmer over a low heat for 15-20 minutes, or until tender. Serve hot on the side with braised tofu or roasted buckwheat.