When I was still in Singapore, each trip back to Vietnam to visit my family was also one for food replenishment. Given the short duration of the flight, my mom and aunt would fill my suitcases with so much stuff: from cooked and raw food to herbs, chili and sundries. “Just in case you need them and are lazy to buy,” they said. We (They) never learned the lesson, instead taking chances of encountering easygoing airport staff that would let the (slightly) excess baggage slip.
Once I reached Singapore after three hours, my mom would call me, checking on the status of the food and nag me to store it all in the fridge. She then gave me a briefing (again) of how to prepare or heat up the food and how long each would last, with my aunt chiming in in the background.
The little packets of braised meat, gutted fish and blanched pork bones could cover my food expenditure for at least a month. Among the goods in the food consignment were cabbage rolls, which my mom would make the night before my flight and freeze. Often, I helped her blanch the cabbage leaves, which she then stuffed with a mixture of ground pork and shrimp. When I was too busy to cook, I thawed the rolls and simmered them in a vegetable broth with carrots and onions, and voila, a wholesome meal! As much as I resented the suspense when the numbers on the airport’s digital scale jumped, I felt grateful for my family’s insistence in making me lug the 20+ kilo suitcase all the way to Singapore. I also felt grateful to my flat mates for tolerating my invasion of their fridge space, especially after every trip back to Vietnam.
Right now, it’s only fitting to celebrate the cabbage season in the most meaningful way I can: making my mom’s cabbage rolls. When I’m done wrapping these, I’m calling her to let her know that I’ve lined the rolls up in a box and frozen them, just like she always did.
Cook’s notes:
- Somehow my mom never faced any problems with detaching cabbage leaves from their core, but if you do, try submerging the whole cabbage head in hot water. The leaves soften and it is easier to separate them from the core without tearing.
- How large your cabbage is will decide how many leaves you can use to wrap. The remaining can be shredded to cook in the broth to make it sweeter. Otherwise, slaw is good too.
What you’ll need:
For the filling:
400 gr ground pork
15 gr dried shitake mushroom, rehydrated and diced
Half an onion, diced
1 tbsp bread crumbs
1 tsp sugar
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp fish sauce
½ tsp soy sauce
Freshly ground black pepper
For the wrappers:
9 cabbage leaves
About 2 stalks of spring onion, leaves separated
For the broth:
1 carrot, julienned
One onion, roughly cut into wedges
Here’s how:
- Prepare the filling: in a mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the filling and mix well. Let it rest for at least 30 minutes.
- Prepare the cabbage leaves: Blanch the leaves in boiling water for about 1 minute (until they turn slightly translucent) and cool them down in cold water. Likewise, blanch the spring onion leaves for 6-7 seconds (their color will turn dark green).
- In a medium pot, cook carrot and onion in 1.5 liters of water.
- Meanwhile, start wrapping the rolls, use about 1 tbsp of filling for each leaf. Tie a knot around the roll with the spring onion to keep its shape.
5. Simmer the rolls in the broth until the cabbage leaves soften (about 25-30 minutes).
