If you love egg rolls you will love this low carb option, using cabbage for the wrapper!
Boiling the cabbage first will help soften the leaves, making it easier to wrap the filling. I tried regular green cabbage and Taiwanese cabbage which has bigger and flatter leaves. While the Taiwanese cabbage was easier to wrap due to its size, it was more fragile as it’s thin.
TIP: Make sure the cabbage is dry before wrapping as any moisture will result in soggy wrappers. Once cooked and peeled, let it dry and pat them with pepper towels. (Do this ahead of time to give enough time to dry).
Serve with dipping sauce or eat them plain.
Music: Sunny
Musician: @iksonofficial
Cabbage Wrapped Egg Rolls
Ingredients
1 medium head of cabbage
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 lb ground meat ( your preference)
1/2 onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 carrots, grated (optional)
cabbage left over from boiling- finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2-3 Tablespoons soy sauce (or tamari/ coconut animos)
1 teaspoon sesame oil (optional)
1 Tablespoon olive oil for cooking
Dipping Sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce (or tamari/ coconut animos)
2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon brown sugar (other sweetener)
optional: grated ginger / garlic or sliced green onions
optional: red pepper flakes or sesame seeds
Directions
Boil water in a large pot. Cut off the bottom of the cabbage with the core and place the whole cabbage into the pot . Boil for few minutes or until you start seeing the outer layers peel back. Use tongs to help peel back once it’s flexible.
(You can also boil cabbage leaves instead of the whole cabbage for about 30-60 seconds but it was more work, trying not to rip while peeling off the leaves).
Take out the cabbage and once cool enough to handle, gently peel off the leaves. Use the leaves for wrapping and reserve smaller pieces or leftovers for the filling. Set the leaves in a colander to drain or on paper towels while you prepare the filling.
Heat oil in a pan. Cook ground meat until no longer pink. Add onions and garlic and sauté for a couple of minutes. Add in carrots, cabbage, salt, pepper, soy sauce, sesame oil and continue to cook for a few minutes.
Turn off the heat to cool while you pat dry cabbage leaves with paper towels. Before wrapping, remove any oil or liquid from the pan so the filing is dry.
Lay cabbage leaves on your surface and cut off any thick stem from the leaves. Place about 1- 2 Tablespoons (depending on size of leaves) towards the bottom of the leaves. Fold up to cover filling, fold in the sides and continue to roll upwards, tucking in the sides, as shown in video.
Note: if you have smaller leaves, you can overlap the leaves as needed.
Wipe off filling from the pan or use a new pan and heat oil. Place cabbage leaves, seam side down and cook until browned on the bottom. Optional, turn over and brown the other side.
Dipping Sauce: combine all ingredients together.