Ingredients:
1 medium/small head of
cabbage
3/4 lb
ground pork
1 stalk
lemongrass of a nice thickness
3 tsp
red pepper flakes
2 tsp ground
black pepper
3 tsp
garlic powder
1 tbsp dried minced onions
1 tbsp
Old Bay seasoning
2 tsp
fish sauce
2 tsp
salt
Step One: Peel and
mince the lemongrass with a knife. Add this to a
Cuisinart with the fish sauce and
pulse three or four times to soften the lemongrass and further chop it.
Step Two: Place the ground pork in a
bowl and add the lemongrass mixture, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, black pepper, minced onions, Old Bay and salt. Using your hands - yes your
hands, think of it as
meatloaf people -
smush it all around and get it fully
incorporated. Once mixed begin pulling small chunks and rolling it into a
ball or
oval shape. Repeat this until all of the mixture is used, putting them back into the bowl and placing them in the
refrigerator until the next step is complete.
Step Three: First set your
oven to 350 F and begin preheating. Once you know how many balls you have you can remove as many usable whole
leaves of cabbage, plus two just in case. You will
steam these leaves for 5-8 minutes, the aim is to retain
flavor while making the cabbage less tough.
Step Four: Remove the pork from the refrigerator. Using one leaf to one ball you will roll the pork in the cabbage until it is fully
encapsulated. I used a small baking pan and stacked the cabbage balls in it until full but you can use any
deep dish pan and make a single layer if prefered. Just know that if layered what's on the bottom will be slightly juicier as the flavors from the top layer run through them. Pop in the oven for 25 minutes, turning the top layer halfway through.
Remove from oven and serve, but be careful they're
hot!
An all me concoction of things I had around the kitchen and my first use of ground pork for a meal. And hey, don't squint at the 'fish sauce' it adds an interesting layer of flavor. Not only did my husband approve but it was equaly as delicious reheated the next night!
Heisenberg tells me my concoction is not original, alas, but very similar to something "called 'kohlrouladen' in Germany. traditional dish from wesphalia"