Better Than All Vegetables, Cabbage
Song Dynasty poet Fan Chengda wrote in "Rural Miscellaneous Verses": "Pulling up winter-snow-covered cabbage, flat on the ground, its flavor as sweet as lotus root, richer and more succulent." Here, "cabbage" refers to the "King of Vegetables," large cabbage or yellow head cabbage.
Many literary figures have praised cabbage. Su Dongpo once wrote: "White cabbage tastes like lamb, emerging from soil like bear claws." He compared cabbage to delicious lamb and bear meat. Modern painter Qi Baishi, in a painting titled "Cabbage and Chili," lamented for cabbage: "Peony is the king of flowers, lychee the first among fruits—but why isn't cabbage recognized as the king of vegetables?" In fact, common people have their own judgment: "Better than all vegetables, cabbage."
Cabbage is a prominent cruciferous vegetable with rich nutrition. Besides carbohydrates, fats, proteins, crude fiber, calcium, phosphorus, and iron, it contains abundant vitamins. Its vitamin C and riboflavin content are five and four times higher than those in apples and pears, respectively. It contains more zinc than meat and substances like molybdenum that inhibit absorption of nitrosamines. Recently, Japanese researchers found that cabbage's antioxidant effect against oxidation is comparable to asparagus and broccoli, especially in young, fully expanded leaves. No wonder the U.S. National Cancer Institute ranked cabbage second only to garlic in its list of cancer-preventing foods. New studies also show that cabbage increases levels of beneficial estrogen metabolites (2-hydroxyestrone) in the blood, helping prevent breast cancer.
Traditional Chinese medicine views cabbage as slightly cold and sweet, capable of nourishing the stomach, generating fluids, relieving irritability and thirst, promoting urination, clearing bowels, clearing heat, and detoxifying. "Yinshan Zhengyao" states it aids intestinal movement, relieves chest distress, and eliminates alcohol toxicity. "Dian'nan Bencao" records it moves through meridians and promotes urination. Folk wisdom suggests using 120g of cabbage with roots, combined with 10g of ginger and 10g of green onion, simmered into a decoction to prevent colds and coughs. Blanch the cabbage heart briefly, chop finely, mix with salt, vinegar, sugar, drizzle with sesame oil, and serve cold—it's excellent for sobering up after drinking. Regularly stir-frying 250g of cabbage with 20g of shrimp can help with kidney deficiency and erectile dysfunction. Dishes such as cabbage and vermicelli stewed meatballs, vinegar stir-fried liver with cabbage, cabbage meat dumplings, pickling cabbage stalks, or slicing cabbage stalks for salads are all crisp, flavorful, satisfying, and health-promoting. "Better than all vegetables, cabbage" truly reflects the people's wisdom!