Japanese Cabbage Rolls (ロールキャベツ)

Instructions

Prepare cabbage leaves

• 1)

  Flip the cabbage upside down. Cut around and remove the core

• 2)

  Carefully remove the leaves. Try your best to not tear off the leaves but it’s okay if you have small tears here and there. We will need 4 to 6 large leaves for this recipe. My cabbage is relatively large so 4 leaves are enough for me. If you have a smaller cabbage, increase the number of cabbage leaves as needed

• 3)

  Bring a pot of water to a boil. Then add the cabbage leaves. Boil for about 1 minutes or until the core is soft.

• 4)

  When the cabbage is ready, take them out and immediately place into an ice bath to chill

• 5)

  Trim off the thick vein in the middle of the leaves. It’ll make rolling the cabbage leaves easier later.

• 6)

  Finely mince the veins. We’ll add it to the ground pork mixture later

Prepare the ground pork mixture

• 1)

  Finely dice the carrot. Thinly slice the green onion and grate the ginger

• 2)

  In a clean bowl, add ½ lb of the ground meat, green onion, 1/3 cup of diced carrot, 1 tsp of grated ginger, 1/2 tsp of soy sauce, 1/4 tsp of sesame oil, 1 egg, 1/4 tsp of salt, and 1/2 tsp of corn starch. Mix everything together.

• 3)

  Add the chopped cabbage vein we saved earlier. Mix again. Let it sit in refrigerator for about 30 minutes which will help set the ingredients together.

Make the cabbage rolls

• 1)

  Divide the meat mixture into 4 portions

• 2)

  On a cutting board, lay the cabbage flat. Add 1 portion of the meat mixture near the stem end of the leaf. Tightly roll up from the stem end and fold in both sides as you go. Keep rolling until there is no more cabbage. Secure the roll by inserting a toothpick in the middle. Do the same for all the other cabbage leaves

Cook the cabbage rolls

• 1)

  Place the cabbage rolls into a pan

• 2)

  Pour in 2 cups of chicken broth and add ½ tsp of soy sauce. Turn on the heat and bring the broth to a boil. Soy sauce will give this dish the color and flavor

• 3)

  When the broth comes to a boil, cover with a lid, lower the heat to medium high and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes.

• 4)

  When the time is up, turn off the heat and you’re done

Tomato Version

• 1)

  In a pan, add all the ingredients like in the soy sauce version. Instead of 1/2 tsp of soy sauce, add in the chopped tomatoes

Serve Japanese cabbage rolls

• 1)

  To serve, in a shallow serving bowl or plate, place the cabbage rolls then add remaining juice and sprinkle with sliced green onion