Splendid Stuffed Cabbage Leaves
A delicious, flavorful and healthy Chinese style dish that is a wonderful balance of veggies and minced meat, using thinly sliced cabbage leaves as wrappers vs traditional dough rounds. Gently steamed so the meat is moist and flavorful. Perfectly tasty served with rice. Delish!
Equipment
- Large Pot or Pan for blanching cabbage leaves
- Food Processor
- Steamer
Ingredients
Cabbage Leaves Wrapper
- 1 Napa Cabbage
- 1 Tbs salt
- 1 Tbs vegetable oil, or any neutral oil of choice
- Water for blanching cabbage leaves
Filling
- 12 oz (340 g) chicken, pork, beef or any lean meat of your choice
- 1 inch fresh ginger, or substitute with 1 tsp of dried ginger powder
- 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
- 3 mushrooms, finely chopped
- 3 stalks green onions, chopped
- 1 Tbs soy sauce, low sodium
- 1 Tbs oyster sauce
- ½ to 1 tsp salt (adjust per taste)
- ½ to 1 tsp fresh ground pepper
- 1 Tbs vegetable oil, or any neutral oil of choice
- 1 large egg
Sauce/Topping
- 6 cloves garlic, minced (or fewer cloves if you don't love garlic)
- ¼ red pepper, chopped, or use red chilies If you like spicier sauce
- 1 tsp soy sauce, low sodium
- ¼ cup dry white wine, Chinese Shaoxing wine, or dry Sake
- 1 Tbs corn starch, diluted in 4 Tbs cold water to make slurry
- 3 stalks green onions, finely sliced
Instructions
- Let's start by preparing the cabbage leaves. Wash and clean approx 12-15 large cabbage leaves. Cut off the leaves on both sides of the cabbage leaf, leaving the middle white stem part. This will be the wrapper for the meat filling.
- Boil a big pot of water. Add 1 Tbs of salt and oil. Blanch the prepared cabbage for about 2-3 minutes or until it has softened. Remove from water and let it cool.
- Prepare the meat by cutting into chunks. Place in food processor together with 1 inch of fresh ginger and blend until the meat is minced. Add in chopped celery, mushroom and green onions together with the soy sauce, oyster sauce, salt, pepper, oil and 1 egg. Mix until well combined. Set aside.
- Prepare the steamer. Next, take the cooled cabbage leaves and slice them thinly to create little wrappers. Fill the wrappers and place in heat-proof plate. Starting on the outer edge of the plate, arrange the wrapped cabbage "petals" in a concentric circle so it looks like a flower. Continue until all the cabbage wrappers are used up. Place the remaining filling into the middle of the plate. Crack an egg in the middle of the filled plate. Place into the prepared steamer. Steam the filled cabbage petals for approx 10-15 minutes.
- When ready, remove the plate from steamer. Drain the juices/steamed sauce from the plate into small pan. Add the chopped garlic and red pepper. Stir until the liquid is bubbly. Add soy sauce, wine and corn starch slurry. Bring to a boil or until the mixture thickens, about 3-5 minutes. Pour over the cooked filled cabbage, top with finely sliced green onions. Serve hot with rice. Let's eat!
Notes
fabfoodflavors.com/chinese-style-splendid-stuffed-cabbage-leaves