I love Napa, but I think it would be a mess for stuffed cabbage; the leaves are the wrong shape.

I love Savoy, too, and red cabbage, but I think plain old green cabbage is your best bet for stuffed cabbage.

I do like Savoy and Napa in soups and stir fries, though.

Another vote for plain old cabbage. freeze the head good and solid, then thaw and the leaves will separate like magic.
Linda C

The Napa leaves are not the wrong shape for cabbage rolls, except for the smaller inner ones. The outside leaves were perfect and easy to roll, although the rolls were a bit small (which I liked). I'll look for Savoy, but I do not like the flavor of the plain cabbage as much. However, I did not bake these very long (only about 30-40 minutes), and the plain cabbage might improve with a longer baking time. The advantage of Napa is that it cooks very quickly.

Lars

Napa is an ideal vegetable. Cheapest, stores a long time, use cooked or use raw in a salad.

A couple I have done in the past.

dcarch

Stuffed Tilapia

Stuffed Meatloaf

I stand corrected!

Wow, dcarch, those are gorgeous! You are really talented.

Will you tell us how?

Looks like the trick is to use the napa leaves like "siding" rather than wrap up a bundle in a single leaf. Why not?

Lars, my cabbage of choice is Savoy. I use it for all the variations of stuffed cabbages that I make. Including a whole stuffed cabbage.

Ann

Ann, I looked for Savoy cabbage yesterday and couldn't find it, and so I had to buy some more Napa cabbage. The rolls end up being a bit small, but they cook quickly, and I like the flavor of Napa cabbage. I guess I'm going to have to freeze some of them, and I already have several other dishes I have made earlier in the week. It's probably time for me to stop making things.

I had sent Kevin to the Farmers' Market in Culver City yesterday to buy cabbage and lettuce (and a few herbs), but he lost the cabbage and lettuce somehow. I don't know how he managed to do that, but I had to go to another market (our neighborhood fruit & vegetable market) for the cabbage, and so the meal ended up being a bit late.

Lars

Savoy is my cabbage of choice, too, ever since I used it with one of Ann's recipes.

Dcarch, I meant to thank you for your photos and also request your methods for making the cabbage (I couldn't see the photos yesterday). I have a recipe for Chinese meatballs (from the Frugal Gourmet) that I like, and I think it could be adapted for cabbage rolls as well. I used Korean chili flakes in the tomato sauce for the rolls I made last night, but the filling used parsley and dill for flavoring, which is very different from the meatball recipe I use.

Lars

Here is how I made the meatloaf stuffed Napa cabbage:

The stuffing is a typical meatloaf recipe. Any meatloaf recipe should work. I added chopped Kimchi in the meat. I thought Kimchi is pickled Napa and it would make it interesting.

After I filled the Napa leaves, I just tied strings around the leaves to keep them in shape and baked. Fairly easy thing to make.

Here is how I made the Tilapia stuffed Napa:

After I peeled the Napa leaves, I steamed the leaves a little to make them pliable, using tooth picks, the Napa leaves were wrapped around the seasoned Tilapia filets and steamed.

I have a video on how I peel cabbages so that the leaves come apart in good shape for stuffing. I use the same methods for Napa cabbages.

dcarch

Here is a link that might be useful: Peeling Cabbage

I've tried Linda's method of freezing the cabbage and found it left the leaves on the tough side, even after long, slow cooking. It's more of a pain, but boiling the head is your best bet - at least with plain ole green cabbage.

"I've tried Linda's method of freezing the cabbage and found it left the leaves on the tough side, even after long, slow cooking. It's more of a pain, but boiling the head is your best bet - at least with plain ole green cabbage. "

Yes, boiling works wonders, just make sure you don't overcook the cabbage. In my video (second method), you can see how easy it is to peel the leaves.

Also, a quick microwave in a container works very well.

dcarch

Yes, Pauline, guess it's not just me. I had that problem too.

I love Savoy cabbage and do prefer it, except that it can be two or three times as expensive as regular cabbage here. Loved your video DCArch. [really, reallly loved the pounding a tall stake trick...going to do that one for sure. Thanks] Savoy cabbage is much more tender and it's pretty. Smiles. For something that is going to take the time it takes to make stuffed cabbage I usually manage to afford the Savoy.

Lars, I think using the Napa is a great idea. So what if they make a smaller roll. Sounds good to me and I'm going to try it. Being more tender/quick cooking makes them similar to the Savoy in that respect. Thanks for the idea. I can be either very lazy or unable to sit for long times rolling cabbage so more often I make a stuffed cabbage casserole by just layering the cabbage, filling and tomato juice/sauce. Tastes great.

I'm thinking of trying the napa and giving the stuffed cabbage leaves an Asian flair. Maybe chop up some water chestnuts into ground pork, add garlic, soy and ginger. Add some chili sauce into the cooking sauce-what could be bad, lol

Pictoral of cabbage rolls

Sorry the photos are blurry - I should have changed the settings on my camera. For the final batch of the rolls, I added more parsley and dill to the filling, and I added a bit more Korean chili flakes to the sauce.

Lars