Due to the fact that my mom’s family is from Pittsburgh, PA there has been a heavy Eastern European influence in the kitchen. Two of my favourite dishes are pierogies (featured previously) and stuffed cabbage, traditionally made with ground beef and rice smothered in a rich tomato sauce.
Due to the popularity of fusion food, I have often been inspired to take traditional dishes and modernise it with other culinary influences! In this dish, Eastern Europe meets Asia and I’m all about it! The idea came to me while brainstorming what to make with cabbage from Oddbox while also craving PF Chang’s lettuce wraps!
How do you make it plant-based?
Of course, to “vegan-ise” the classic, I had to change the filling of beef or pork. I used my go-to vegan mince base (which I have used in my enchiladas, meatloaf and bolognese). Due to the consistency of the soaked walnuts and the “umami” flavour of mushrooms, they make excellent meat substitutes. Alternatively, if you are avoiding nuts, you could easily substitute marinated tofu.
Next, to get that signature crunch from typical lettuce wrap filling, I added in bamboo shoots and water chestnuts. Instead of rice, I subbed quinoa for added texture and flavour. Then, I finished off with Asain flavours from soy sauce, garlic and green onions.
What type of cabbage should I use?
In the past, depending on what I had in my fridge, I have tried different types of cabbage for stuffing/ rolling. If you are new to cabbage, there are quite a few varieties (three of the most popular outlined below.)
Red and Green Cabbage: This is the quintessential cabbage! It is tough and durable- perfect for slaw. Although it can be softened by boiling, it isn’t the most pliable so would not be the best choice for rolling.
Napa Cabbage: Napa cabbage is one of the most tender varieties with a thinner consistency overall. It is also known as “Chinese cabbage” due to its prevalence in Asian cuisine (including Korean kimchi), so flavour wise would be great for this dish. However, this type of cabbage has quite big ribs which aren’t ideal for rolling. Of course, you could cut out the rib but because it is so large, you end up with less cabbage to work with.
Savoy Cabbage: Now this is the best cabbage variety for rolls! According to Alex Delaney from Bon Apetit worthy of a sculpture or a piece of art erected in its honour haha). The texture is slightly elastic, perfect for rolling and is exactly what we are going for in this dish! We have a winner!
spicy asian stuffed cabbage
Equipment
- high-speed blender or food processor
Ingredients
- 1 large head of savoy cabbage
Filling
- 50 grams walnuts
- 50 grams quinoa uncooked
- 15 ml extra virgin olive oil 30 ml water if avoiding oil
- 35 grams green onions reserve 10 grams for serving
- 120 grams bamboo shoots
- 120 grams water chestnuts
- 75 grams onion
- 5 grams garlic
- 10 grams minced garlic
- 300 grams mushrooms
- 30 ml soy sauce
Sauce
- 60 ml water
- 400 grams plum tomatoes canned
- 60 ml soy sauce
- 45 ml hoisin sauce
- 15 ml rice wine vinegar
- 10 grams garlic
- 15 ml sriracha adjust for taste
Instructions
Filling:
- Pour boiling water over walnuts and let sit for 30 minutes.
- Add quinoa and 187.5 ml ¾ cups water to a saucepan and cook for 15 -20 minutes until al dente but not completely done.
- Finely dice the onion, garlic and mushrooms in the food processor.
- Heat olive oil or few tablespoons water in a pan over medium heat and add onion, garlic, ginger and mushrooms and sauté for about ten minutes.
- Next walnuts, water chestnuts and bamboo shoots too the food processor until finely chopped and when quinoa is almost done, add walnuts, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, green onions and quinoa into a pan with soy sauce and continue to sauté for five minutes.
- Add in salt and pepper and remove from heat.
Sauce:
- Place all sauce ingredients in a blender and blend until combined.
Assembly:
- Preheat oven to 190 C ( 375 F) and have a large casserole/ baking dish ready.
- Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Gently remove the 15 outer leaves from the head cabbage –being sure not to tear or break the leaves.
- Place four to five leaves at a time in the boiling water and cook one to two minutes or until pliable. Rinse with cold water and then transfer to a clean kitchen towel to cool. Repeat with remaining leaves. (Optional: if some leaves have a thick middle spine, cut out with kitchen shears as this part of the cabbage is the least palatable in my opinion).
- Once cooled, scoop one to two large spoonfuls of the mixture into the middle of the cabbage leaf. Fold sides over the middle and roll up until you have a closed roll.
- Place the cabbage seam side down in a large casserole dish. Continue rolling and stuffing until all of the filling is gone.
- Pour the sauce over the cabbage and cover tightly with foil. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, checking half way.
