Tenderise Tough Brussels Sprouts With A Little Salt

Though I never tire of roasted Brussels sprouts, I’m always looking for new ways to consume the little cabbage-like orbs. Shredded sprouts make a nice, sturdy salad base, but they’re almost too sturdy. To make salad that’s both tender and crisp, you’ll need to grab the salt shaker.

Daniel Gritzer of Serious Eats discovered the softening power of salt while perfecting his Brussels sprouts salad. As Gritzer explains in the article below, this approach makes a lot of sense, especially if you’ve ever made sauerkraut:

As it happened, though, I’d just been working on a sauerkraut how-to. The method starts by tossing and kneading shredded cabbage with salt, which wilts it through the powers of osmosis (the salt draws out moisture from the cabbage’s cells, collapsing them) and the mechanical crushing of the cells through the kneading itself.

But it doesn’t do to salt-wilt an entire salad’s-worth of sprouts — you don’t want your salad to be too soft and moist. Instead, sprinkle salt on half of the (shredded) sprouts, toss to coat, and massage and squeeze until you feel them soften up a bit. Toss the salt-wilted shreds with the plain shreds, and top with all sorts of tasty goodness. (I recommend Gritzer’s aforementioned salad recipe; it is quite bomb.)

Salt-Rubbed Brussels Sprouts Make a Salad That’s Both Tender and Crisp [Serious Eats]