Cabbage Ohitashi (Japanese Blanched Cabbage Salad)
キャベツのおひたし · Kyabetsu no Ohitashi
By Aoi, licensed nutritionist · From a Japanese preschool lunch menu
Ohitashi is one of the most everyday side dishes in Japanese home cooking: vegetables are quickly boiled, cooled, squeezed, and lightly dressed. Here it is made with cabbage and a little carrot, tossed with soy sauce and katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes), which give a gentle savory depth without adding much salt. Blanching softens the cabbage and rounds off its sharpness, so even children who avoid raw vegetables tend to take to it. It is a quick, low-fuss way to get a serving of greens next to a bowl of rice.
Wheat-free, but uses soy sauce (made with wheat). Japanese school-lunch allergy menus usually allow it, so check with your doctor. How to read the labels
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Ingredients
Amounts for 1 child (1 serving). An adult counts as 2 servings.
One serving here is 1.5× the portion served to a child in a Japanese preschool, sized for Western appetites. An adult counts as two servings. Tap an ingredient to check it off.
Ingredients
- 72 gcabbage
- 12 gcarrot
Seasonings
- 2 gsoy sauce
- 1 gkatsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)Paper-thin shavings of dried, smoked skipjack tuna that add a savory, smoky depth as a topping or stock base. Substitute: A pinch of dashi powder, or omit.
About the Japanese ingredients in this recipe
- katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) (かつお削り節)
- Paper-thin shavings of dried, smoked skipjack tuna that add a savory, smoky depth as a topping or stock base. Substitute: A pinch of dashi powder, or omit.
Directions
- 1
Cut the cabbage into short rectangular strips and the carrot into short, thin matchsticks. Boil each separately, then rinse under running water to cool.
- 2
Squeeze the excess water out of the vegetables, then toss with the bonito flakes and soy sauce.
Nutrition
| Per | 1 serving | 1 adult serving | Your total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 25.5 kcal | 51 kcal | 25.5 kcal |
| Protein | 2 g | 3.9 g | 2 g |
| Fat | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g |
| Carbohydrates | 4.9 g | 9.9 g | 4.9 g |
| Fiber | 1.7 g | 3.3 g | 1.7 g |
| Salt equivalent | 0.3 g | 0.6 g | 0.3 g |
| Calcium | 33 mg | 66 mg | 33 mg |
| Iron | 0.3 mg | 0.6 mg | 0.3 mg |
| Potassium | 189 mg | 378 mg | 189 mg |
| Energy | Protein | Fat | Carbs | Fiber | Salt equiv. | Calcium | Iron | Potassium | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 serving | 25.5 kcal | 2 g | 0 g | 4.9 g | 1.7 g | 0.3 g | 33 mg | 0.3 mg | 189 mg |
| 1 adult serving | 51 kcal | 3.9 g | 0 g | 9.9 g | 3.3 g | 0.6 g | 66 mg | 0.6 mg | 378 mg |
Values are per serving (1.5× the Japanese preschool portion); an adult serving is double. They were calculated by a licensed Japanese nutritionist using the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan. "Salt equivalent" is sodium × 2.54, the standard Japanese measure. Allergen flags cover egg, milk and wheat only and come from the nutritionist's records. Soy sauce and miso are made with wheat but are usually allowed on Japanese wheat-free school menus, so check with your doctor.
