Rolled Cabbage

This boiled cabbage roll with stuffing is a very popular winter dish in Japan. 

In my family there, they cook rolled cabbage pieces in chicken stock then top with ketchup to serve. 

I modify it slightly with the western infusion by using tomato puree and sour cream.

Rolled cabbage, miso cod, salad, rice and miso soup with aubergine

 Ingredients

• 8-20 large cabbage leaves (I usually use pointy cabbage)
• 50g of minced pork or minced meat
• 1/3 of round onion
• 1 tablespoon of cornflour
• black pepper
• 1/4 of carrot
• 1/3 bunch of shimeji mushroom or 3-4 large mushrooms
• 1 cube of chicken stock
• 200g of canned tomato puree (preferably without seeds) or tomato juice
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of ketchup

<toppings>

• Dill 
• Sour cream

Directions

1. Boil plenty of water in a large pan. Cook cabbage leaves for 15-20 seconds then take them aside to cool down 

2. Chop round onion as small as possible. Put chopped onion, minced meat, half cube of chicken stock, black pepper in a bowl and combine them well with hands

3. Remove the bottom edge of shimeji mushrooms and tear off into pieces. If using large mushrooms, slice them thinly. Slice carrot thinly as well 

 4. To make the core part of cabbage flat, place a leaf on a cutting board and slice the hard edge horizontally to the board from two sides as shown in photos. 
This makes the rolling up process easier

5. Put a bite sized portion of minced meat stuffing, pieces of carrot and mushroom on the flattened edge of cabbage leaf

6. Roll up from the edge and fold each side over to the centre. Then complete to the end. Entire parts must be done tightly

7. Place the rolled cabbage pieces on the bottom of semi-deep pan. Make sure the end of leaves are facing down on the pan

8. Add tomato puree, ketchup salt and the rest of chicken stock. Close the lid and cook them for 15-20 mins over medium temperature 

This seeds-less tomato puree was frozen stored from the occasion of Anchovy and Tomato Spaghetti

9. Serve the rolled cabbage topped with sour cream and dill.

By cooking cabbage lightly, we can use lots of cabbage at once. Also rolled pieces can be stored in the freezer.

The rich tomato sauce, sweet flavour of cabbage, the surprise of stuffing and the hint of sour cream and dill are all combined beautifully. The harmony of juice and texture of cabbage roll amuses the mouth!!

Total time to prepare: 40 mins
Total cost of 9 pieces of rolled cabbage: 1.8 pounds (cabbage 0.7, pork minced 0.8, other veggies 0.3)