A cabbage roll is a dish consisting of cooked cabbage leaves wrapped around a variety of fillings. It is common to the cuisines of the Balkans, Central, Northern, Eastern Europe, and Iran, as well as West Asia and Northern China.
Meat fillings are traditional in Europe, often beef, lamb, or pork seasoned with garlic, onion, and spices. Grains such as rice and barley, eggs, mushrooms, and vegetables are often included. Pickled cabbage leaves are often used for wrapping, particularly in Southeastern Europe. In Asia, seafood, tofu, and shiitake mushroom may also be used. Chinese cabbage is often used as a wrapping.
Cabbage leaves are stuffed with the filling which is then baked, simmered, or steamed in a covered pot and generally eaten warm, often accompanied with a sauce. The sauce varies widely by cuisine. Always in Sweden and sometimes in Finland, stuffed cabbage is served with lingonberry jam, which is both sweet and tart. In Eastern Europe, tomato-based sauces or plain sour cream are typical. In Lebanon, it is a popular plate, where the cabbage is stuffed with rice and minced meat and only rolled to the size of a cigar. It is usually served with a side of yogurt and a type of lemon and olive oil vinaigrette seasoned with garlic and dried mint.
Popular among Europeans, and traditionally served among the Jewish on Simchat Torah, stuffed cabbage is described by Gil Marks to have entered Jewish cooking some 2,000 years ago. Recipes vary depending on region; Romanians and northern Poles prefer a savory sauce, while Galicia and Ukraine favor sweet-and-sour, for example.
Holubtsi (Cabbage Rolls)
Ingredients
- 1 large cabbage
- 1 cup long grain rice
- 1 cup boiling water
- t tsp salt
- 3 strips cooked bacon diced
- 1 1/2 cups diced onion
- 1/2 lb ground pork
- 1/2 lb ground beef
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 tsp garlic salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 1/2 cup tomato juice
- salt
- pepper
- sour cream
Instructions
- Core cabbage. Place head in a deep pot of boiling water. Let stand until leaves are soft and pliable. Remove from water, separate leaves. Return head to boiling water if inside leaves require softening. Pare down hard center rib on each leaf.
- Add salt and rice to the 1 cup of boiling water; cover and turn off heat. Let stand until rice absorbs all water.
- In a large frying pan prepare the bacon, remove and sauté onion in bacon drippings until tender. Add pork and beef, cook until lightly browned. Combine with rice; cool slightly then add beaten egg, garlic salt, and pepper.
- Line bottom of a large baking dish with cabbage leaves.
- Place a heaping mixture of the meat mixture onto a cabbage leaf. Roll once, tuck in sides and roll completely. Arrange rolls in layers in casserole. Season each layer with salt and pepper.
- Pour tomato juice over rolls. Cover with 2 or 3 cabbage leaves.
- Cover tightly. Bake in a 350° F (180° C) oven for 1 hour. Uncover. Continue baking and basting for another 1/2 hour.
- Serve hot with chopped crisp bacon, sour cream or tomato sauce.
Notes
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