Stuffed cabbage rolls is a traditional dish in my country and not only as you can find it in most European countries and not only (Romania, Hungary, Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, Croatia, Lithuania, Poland and also Finland, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Jewish communities).
Historically cabbage rolls has roots in ancient middle east and spread to Eastern Europe as trade roots developed and people migrated. Some Jewish historians has found indications that stuffed cabbage rolls were part of Jewish food tradition as early as 1500 years ago. source
For us it's a traditional dish that is made at Christmas, New Year's Eve and Easter as well. It's very easy to make and extremely delicious. Today I'd like to show you how it's done. As I'm Hungarian, this is töltött káposzta for me :)
Ingredients
- 1 sauerkraut cabbage (2 kg in my case)
- 800 g minced pork meat,
- 1 chopped onion,
- 100 g rice,
- 2 - 3 tbsp olive oil,
- 1.3 kg ham,
- salt,
- pepper.
Let's go through the process step by step. No worries, it's super easy.
Place the 800 g minced pork meat in a bowl. You can use beef if you can't eat pork but I prefer the first one as it's not so dry.
Add salt and pepper and any other spice you like. You can also add chopped garlic. Mix it well.
In a frying pen heat the oil, add chopped onion, steer and let it for 2 - 3 minutes.
Add 100g uncooked, previously washed rice, steer and let it cook for another 2 minutes.
Add mix to minced meat and mix well.
I'm using sauerkraut cabbage as that's the original but you can also use fresh cabbage if you like. Fresh cabbage is not so heavy to the stomach, it is digested more easily.
Sauerkraut cabbage: cut the middle of the cabbage, the hard part, take off the leaves and cut the hard part if necessary.
Fresh cabbage: cut the middle of the cabbage, let it soak in boiling water for about 3 minutes to soften, then you can take off the leaves and cut off the hard parts.
The middle of the cabbage, where the leaves are too small, will be left for slicing.
How To Make The Rolls
Take one leaf, add approximately 1.5 tbsp meat, cover with one side of the leaf and start rolling, then close the other end.
Ready To Go Into The Pot
Cover the bottom of the pot with one big cabbage leaf.
Cover the leaf with one layer of sliced cabbage.
Place the smoked ham in the middle of the pot. If you don't want to use ham, you can use smoked sausages or a piece of smoked meat or nothing. It's not mandatory to use these, but the smoked meat gives the cabbage a good flavor.
Fill the pot with the cabbage rolls.
Cover with sliced cabbage leaves.
Cover with a big leaf, add water to cover and let it cook at medium heat till everything is soft. That will take about two or so hours.
And voilà! You can serve with sour cream.
Stuffed cabbage Roll Versions
When I'm using fresh cabbage, that is not sour, so I need something to make it sour. There are certain mixtures at the market you can use for that but I prefer my own way and use homemade tomato juice made of homegrown tomatoes. This does the job perfectly and gives the rolls a nice color as well.
If you're a vegetarian, instead of meat you can use a mix of mushrooms, quinoa, rice and carrots.
Make Your Own Sauerkraut Cabbage
My brother is usually making the sauerkraut cabbage at home from fresh cabbage each year but last year he was too busy during that period and missed the deadline. Now I had to buy from the store and I was lucky to find a brand with thin leaves.
It's healthier and better to make your own as you can use the best cabbage you want and make is as sour as you like. All you need is a big barrel, cabbage, salt, thyme, dill, horse-radish.