Cabbage Rolls

Hello Lovely Readers,

Today is my first recipe article and I’m excited to share it with all of you. The first recipe is a healthy alternative to deep fried eggrolls. Raise your hands in you love eating eggrolls! Anyway today I’m going to share with you how to make delicious steam cabbage rolls. So, let’s get started!

Ingredients:

1 large cabbage head

2 packs of ground pork

1 pack of bean thread vermicelli noodle

1-2 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of pepper

2 eggs

Water

Optional ingredients:

Chopped onions

Chopped cilantro

Shredded carrots

Utensils Used:

Pot (big enough to hold the cabbage and to turn the cabbage)

Two wooded spoons

Knife (a small and curved one would be perfect)

Cutting board

Two large plates (I used large plastic white ovals plate)

Drainer

Large bowl

Scissors

Steamer

Procedures:

Fill your pot halfway with water and boil it on high heat and soak the noodles in lukewarm water. Then remove the first few (2-3) leaves off the cabbage and cut the stem. Now we are going to remove the core of the cabbage. This will take a little bit longer if it’s your first time and be careful.

With your small knife you want to poke it around the core of the cabbage and carefully rotate your knife around the core. Repeat this step at least three times in the same slice that you have made. Now you may or may not be able to remove the core, if you can that’s great. If you can’t like me in this picture cut the core into tiny pieces and it should come out. After you remove the core, with your knife again trim inside of the hole to make sure that you can remove most of the edges of core and to create a nice smooth hole so that you can work easier in the next few steps.

Wait for the water to boil (it should by now) and we are going to blanch the cabbage. You may need to turn down the heat if the steam is burning your hands. With the two wooden spoons, used to help you turn the cabbage. After a few seconds to a minute you should be able to remove the first few layers of the cabbage. Do so carefully with the wooden spoons to make sure that you’re not poking the leaves and creating holes. We don’t want holes (but of course there are going to be few leaves with holes).

Do not immediately remove the leaves right after another; you need to let the cabbage sit in the hot water to blanch the next few layers. If it isn’t completely blanch the cabbage leaves will not roll perfectly. And remember to rotate the cabbage during the blanching process. Now that we remove most of the layers, you should end up with something like this.

Set the leaves aside to cool downs.

With the same pot you use to blanch the cabbage, clean it and fill it with water again (1/2 the pot). This time we need to cook the noodles. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, drain your noodles. Now, while I wait for the water to boil and cabbage leaves to cool down. Since I only bought one pack of ground pork and am too lazy to run to the store I’m only going to chop three of these pork slices. You can use a food processor to ground it for you, but because my family doesn’t have one I’m going to do it the old fashion way with a big knife and cutting board. I’m going to first slice these into thin and tiny strips.

Then it’s time to get chopping. You want to get nice and small texture as close to the ground pork that you can get and the grocery. This took me only ten minutes to do. And this is what your final result looks like.

By now or during the chopping process the water should be boiling. Pour the water over the noodles and let it sit for 5-15 seconds. After 15 seconds, drain it and rinse the noodles in cold water. And place the noodles in a drainer to eliminate any excess water.

 

Time to remove the stems from the cabbage leaves. I don’t know how to explain this part so use the diagram below to understand my language (LOL). Lay out the cabbage nicely on your cutting board and find the stem. I added some black dash line on my pictures so you can see what I’m talking about.  Follow the stem on one side of the leaf and cut it all the way to the top. Now the stem should on the other side. And all you have to do is cut the stem off the other side.

  

Time to do the filling. Get your scissors and grab some noodles, cut them into 3-4 inches into a big bowl. After you’re done cutting, toss in your chopped veggies and herbs. Add in salt and pepper. Mix it and taste. Add extra seasoning if you have too. After you have obtain the desire seasoning, add in the meat, two eggs and mix really well.

 

Before we start rolling, get your steamer and fill it with water ½ full. I actually fill mine a little bit over half. I’m going to use my mom’s steamer and this is what hers look like. The first two are the steamer and the last one is for the water.

Okay, so it may be challenging for the first time wrapping these, but practice makes perfect. Choose a cabbage leaf, and lay it on your cutting board. Now grab a handful of the mixture, about 1-1.5 tablespoon. Place it at the end towards you and slowly roll it. Make sure that the mixture is lay out nicely and long.

 

While you’re rolling you may encounter something like these:

        

 

For the first one you can just cover up the tiny slit with the end of the cabbage. For the second one, it’s okay since it’s only a little slit on the top. As for the third one, we won’t be using it.

Almost done, after you’re done rolling and put them in your steamer; your water should be boiling by now. Steam the rolls for 30-35 minutes. You can check at the thirty minute mark by taking a roll out and cut it in half to see if it’s done cooking. If you have leftover stuffing like I do here, just put in a small bowl or container. You can also wrapped it in foil and steamed it, or fried it in a pan.

After, 30I would say serve it hot, but I don’t want you to burn your mouth. So, serve it nice and warm.

I would say serve it hot, but I don’t want you to burn your mouth. So, serve it nice and warm.

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