this post was submitted on 14 Feb 2026
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I pickled cabbage with just salt and I think a lot of Japanese pickling tells you to coat the vegetable(s) in salt, wrap in plastic and then stick in the fridge for a few hours.
I find pickling fascinating since everyone has recipes and assumptions handed down for probably generations. I ended up still just guessing as to who is right or not. Maybe you're not supposed to use just salt? I don't know, it's hard to find much info on it online.
You can, but you need a high enough concentration to fight off disease causing microbes while still encouraging the interesting microbes (lactic acid bacteria and certain yeasts) that make the distinct flavors of pickling apparent. And you need to work with temperature and time to make sure you don't make the vegetables mushy.
Follow an established sauerkraut/choucroute or kimchi recipe that has already been shown to be safe, rather than trying to wing it on your own. This stuff can make people sick.
The only Japanese thing I know is made by just packing something in salt is soy sauce (which isn't pickling it, it's fermenting). Even pickled cabbage is usually in a brine, you just don't soak it for a long period of time. You rub the cabbage down in salt initially, but then you also would add lemon juice or vinegar to it.
This isn't the recipe I used, but it's similar.
https://pickledplum.com/salted-pickled-cabbage/
Til. Never heard of this style before.
I am not sure what chemical process is happening to know if sugar would work the same or just end up feeding bacteria.