Japanese Style Cabbage Rolls is one of the popular dishes originating from Western cuisine. Pork and beef mince (ground meat) is stuffed in cabbage leaves and cooked in chicken stock with a few bacon pieces.
Cabbage roll recipes are everywhere on the internet but many of them are cooked in tomato-based soup. My cabbage rolls are cooked in clear chicken broth. This is the way I have always cooked them and it’s also the original Japanese version, I think.
I must mention to you that in Japan, Cabbage Rolls are called ‘rōrucabetsu’ (ロールキャベツ), meaning ‘roll cabbage’. It is a 100% japanised English word – not only is each English word converted to suit to Japanese pronunciation, but the sequence of words is also swapped!
Anyhow, let’s talk about my Cabbage Rolls.
Filling
I use equal portions of pork mince (ground pork) and beef mince (ground beef). Pork mince makes the filling softer while beef mince adds body to the filling.
I also add finely chopped onions that are sautéed before mixing into the meat. Many recipes don’t cook onions beforehand, but I like them cooked so that the sweetness from the onions comes out and the texture of the onion pieces mix well with the mince.
Add an egg, cornflour/corn starch, nutmeg, salt & pepper to complete the filling. It is very similar to the Hamburg steak in my post Stewed Hamburg Steak (Nikomi Hamburg), but no breadcrumbs.
How to remove cabbage leaves whole without breaking
Cabbage is the star of Cabbage Rolls. As you will need large leaves of cabbage to wrap the filling, buy a whole cabbage if possible and remove the outer cabbage leaves.
It is quite challenging to remove the outer leaves without breaking them. I find that the following method is the easiest to remove a leaf.
- Place a whole cabbage upside down.
- Find the outermost leaf of the whole cabbage. Using a tip or the edge of a knife, make an incision at the core-end of the thick vein where the leaf is attached to the core and detach the thick vein from the core.
- Place the incision under the tap and run the water.
- Hold the core-end of the leaf and gently pull outward while letting the water run through inside the leaf you are removing.
The idea is to use water to help peel the cabbage leaf easily. See the neatly removed cabbage leaves below.
Preparing and rolling cabbage
Cabbage leaves need to be blanched so that the leaves are softer and easier to handle when rolling. Before blanching, you need to shave the core-end of the thick vein off so that the vein becomes a similar thickness to the rest of the leaves. See the bottom photo above – the left cabbage shows the shaved vein.
You will need a large pot to boil the cabbage leaves in so that you don’t scrunch the leaves to fit them in the pot = less chance of breaking the leaves. You will only need to wilt the cabbage leaves. Cool the leaves down before rolling.
Rolling is quite simple. It is almost like wrapping the box of a present with paper. See the step-by-step photo below as well as the recipe instructions.
If your cabbage leaves are broken or very small, you can use a couple of leaves overlapping each other and use them as one leaf.
Simple Broth of Cabbage Rolls
Unlike most of the Western style cabbage roll recipes, I use chicken stock with a small amount of bacon pieces to cook the cabbage rolls. Bacon gives a good flavour to the broth. It is such a simple broth but while cooking the cabbage rolls, the good flavour from the filling and the cabbage also come out converting the broth to something very flavoursome.
Japanese Style Cabbage Rolls are meant to be served with broth. Slightly pink bacon pieces add a colour to the dish as well as play a role as garnish.
You can keep Cabbage Rolls in the fridge for a few days. They can also be frozen. To defrost, you could use a microwave, but I find that heating the cabbage rolls in a saucepan with a lid on over medium low heat works the best.
Cabbage Rolls are considered to be a winter dish, but I can eat them throughout the year, except really hot days.
Yumiko
PS: I added a new section ‘MEAL IDEAS’ below the recipe card. It gives you a list of dishes that I have already posted and the new recipe in this post that can make up a complete meal. I hope it is of help to you!
WPRM
Japanese Style Cabbage Rolls is one of the popular dishes originating from Western cuisine. Pork and beef mince (ground meat) is stuffed in cabbage leaves and cooked in chicken stock with a few bacon pieces.
- 4 large cabbage leaves (note 1)
- 30g/1.1oz bacon , cut into short 1cm/⅜” wide strips
- 250ml/0.5pt chicken stock (salt reduced) (note 2)
- 50ml/1.7oz water
- Salt to adjust flavour
- 1 onion , minced
- ½ tbsp oil
- ½ tbsp butter
- 200g/0.5lb pork mince
- 200g/0.5lb beef mince
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp cornflour/corn starch
- A large pinch of ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp salt
- Pepper
- Parsley finely chopped
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Heat oil and butter in a frying pan over medium heat and sauté the onion for about 3 minutes until some onion pieces start browning around the edges. Turn the heat off and let it cool.
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Trim the thick vein from the core-end of the leaf so that the thickness of the vein becomes similar to the rest of the leaf.
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Bring a large pot of water to a boil with a pinch of salt. Add the cabbage leaves to the boiling water and cook for about 3 minutes until the leaves become soft. (note 6)
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Transfer the leaves to a bowl of cold water to cool them down quickly, then pat dry with paper towels.
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Put the cooked onion and the rest of the Filling ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
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Divide the filling into 4 equal portions and shape them into a barrel shape.
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Spread a cabbage leaf on a cooking bench with the core-end pointing to you (note 3) and place one of the fillings in the middle closer to the vein end (see the step-by-step photo in the post).
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From the core-end, roll the leaf up tightly. When the core-end reaches to the other side of the filling covering the filling completely, fold each side of the cabbage leaf over to the centre so that the width of the unrolled cabbage leaf becomes the same as the filling.
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Continue rolling the filling with the leaf until the end. If the side of the roll is sticking out, gently push it in to the centre and shape the roll into a fat log shape.
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Place the cabbage rolls, the end of roll facing down, into a deep medium size frying pan that can snuggly fit the cabbage in.
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Spread the bacon strips over the cabbage rolls. Pour the chicken stock as well as water over them and bring to a boil over medium high heat.
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When it starts boiling, reduce the heat to low and cook for 30-40 minutes with a lid on until the broth reduces to less than half (note 4).
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Transfer the cabbage rolls to serving plates and pour over the broth. Garnish with parsley if using. Serve while hot.
1. Each of my cabbage leaves was about 20cm x 20cm (8" x 8"). If you have smaller cabbage leaves, you can make small cabbage rolls but increase the number of leaves to use up the filling.
To remove a leaf without breaking, hold the whole cabbage upside down, make an incision to the thick vein near the core using the tip or the corner of a knife and detach the thick vein from the core. Then run water over the incision, trying to get the water inside of the outer leaf while pulling the core-end of the leaf off.
2. Instead of chicken stock, you can use a stock cube or powder. Use the required amount of cube/powder to make up 250ml of stock.
3. If the leaf is a bit broken, overlap the broken pieces and use it. A small slit or a hole should not be a problem as the cabbage wraps around the filling twice. If the hole is large, rip a piece off the side of the cabbage and patch it.
4. Depending on the size of the pot, temperature of the heat, the amount of reduction varies. Check the liquid quantity after 30 minutes and stop cooking if the broth is reduced sufficiently. If too much liquid is remaining, remove the lid and continue to cook.
5. Cabbage Rolls can be kept in the fridge for few days. They can also be frozen. To defrost, place the cabbage rolls in a saucepan, add a small amount of water and heat over medium heat with a lid on for 10-15 minutes until the centre of the cabbage rolls become soft and heated up.
6. A couple of readers mentioned to me different methods of softening the cabbage so I am adding them here.
Instead of boiling the cabbage leaves you can either steam them or freeze the leaves then thaw them. The latter method requires a bit of planning to allow time for the leaves to freeze and thaw.
7. Nutrition information per serving:
serving: 198g calories: 219kcal fat: 15g (23%) saturated fat: 5.3g (27%) polyunsaturated fat: 1.5g monounsaturated fat: 6.9g cholesterol: 82mg (27%) sodium: 630mg (26%) potassium: 291mg (8%) carbohydrates: 9.3g (3%) dietary fibre: 1.3g (5%) sugar: 3.5g protein: 11g vitamin a: 2.9% vitamin c: 20% calcium: 2.7% iron: 6.7%
Meal Ideas
A typical Japanese meal consists of a main dish, a couple of side dishes, a soup and rice. I try to come up with a combination of dishes with a variety of flavours, colours, textures and make-ahead dishes.
As the amount of mince per cabbage roll is only 100g, I suggest a small amount of seafood as a side, i.e. Bonito Tataki in appetiser quantity or Kingfish Tataki. To add bright colours to the meal, I chose Mixed Vegetable Salad Dressing that can be poured over boiled cauliflower or vegetables of your choice. Surprisingly, people eat Cabbage Rolls with rice and miso soup in Japan.
- Main: Cabbage Rolls – today’s recipe, can be made ahead or freeze and defrost
- Side dish 1: Bonito Tataki (Seared Bonito) in appetiser quantity or Japanese-style Kingfish Tartare (Kingfish Tataki)
- Side dish 2: Boiled Cauliflower and tomato (and/or other vegetables) with Mixed Vegetable Salad Dressing – make ahead cauliflower and dressing
- Soup: Daikon and Aburaage Miso Soup
- Rice: Cooked Rice
Angela Murray says
I can`t let a day pass without looking at Nagi and Yumiko recipes. They are so delicious and I love the helpful tips, which have often remedied recipes that don`t work too well from other sources.
However, can I ask what cabbage you use, as in the pictures it looks like lombok/chinese cabbage?
Would like to rate the recipe, but I haven’t made it yet!
Yumiko says
Hi Angela, the cabbage I used is not Chinese cabbage but a normal cabbage. Have a look at the photo of the cabbage in the post.
Carmen Evans says
Hi there Yumiko, I have been making cabbage rolls for quite some time but using the tomato sauce recipe to cook them in but will definitely try the chicken broth way for a nice change. Thank you.👍
Yumiko says
Hi Carmen, I thought so. When I goole searched cabbage rolls, most of them were cooked in tomato sauce. That’s the very reason why I posted it even if it is not a traditional Japanese dish.
Susan says
I grew up on the Hungarian version of cabbage rolls, which do use tomato sauce. I like the sound of these much better. And had no clue that Japanese cuisine included them. The way I learned to get the cabbage leaves off is to boil a large pot of water, and immerse the whole cabbage in it for a short time. That makes the outermost leaf/leaves soft enough to remove without tearing. Just repeat that process until you have the number of leaves you need.
Yumiko says
Hi Susan, when I make may cabbage rolls, I boil the whole cabbage like the way you described. But when only several leaves a needed, I take the leaves off the cabbage first per the recipe. There are different ways to do it, aren’t there?
Bonnie Hill says
These look fabulous! I make Sarma often, European cabbage rolls with tomato sauce. I picked up a tip about the cabbage from an elderly lady. Freeze the cabbage head for about 2 or 3 days. Remove from freezer and thaw. The leaves are so pliable and quickly come loose. Of course you need to plan ahead before you make them so the cabbage has time to freeze and then thaw. It makes stuffing and rolling them a breeze. I’m anxious to try this recipe!
Yumiko says
Hi Bonnie, freezing to soften the cabbage! I need to add this method to my recipe, too.
Becky says
I find that if you use Savoy cabbage the leaves come apart much easier
Yumiko says
Hi Becky, that’s soy true. Thanks for a tip!
Peter Nichol says
Hi Yumiko. When I make cabbage rolls I find it easier to soften the cabbage leave in a steamer. Plus I always pop in a few eggs so as I can have hard boiler eggs with the cabbage rolls.
Yumiko says
Hi Peter, steaming is another great way of softening it. I should add that to the recipe. Thanks for a note.
Anna says
I am very curious as to the reason for the corn starch in the filling for these cabbage rolls. I made them as your recipe detailed and they were extremely good but my curiosity got the better of me and I do hope you’ll tell me why you included the corn starch. Many thanks
Anna
Yumiko says
Hi Anna, corn starch makes the filling sticks together better. In theory, it also helps keep the good flavour of the meet inside when coated with corn starch. Many recipes don’t add corn starch to the filling but I am just used to it.
Anna says
Thank you.
Carol says
This was really good. Took sometime to make but was well worth it. No tomatoe sauce in sight and it made all the difference. Great dish, Thank you Nagi.
Yumiko says
Hi Carol, I’m glad you liked it.
Rossi says
Really appreciated your thoughfulness in all the easy to follow and understand receipes. I enjoy following and tried some. Thank you so much.🤗
Yumiko says
Hi Rossi, thanks a lot!
Sulvieri says
I am just loving your meal ideas! These are wonderful additions to each amazing recipe! I can’t wait to try this when I am finally back home.
Yumiko says
Hi Sulvieri, thank you. I am glad that meal ideas is helping people.
Carol says
What I love about getting your daily emails is that I don’t have to stand at the freezer looking in.to find something to cook for tonight’s dinner. You have it all planned for me. Thank you. Now all I have to do is take out the mince and make sure I have cabbage. Brilliant!
Yumiko says
Hi Carol, enjoy Japanese-style cabbage rolls!