Polish Gołąbki: Stuffed Cabbage Roll (Seafood Version)

Stuffed cabbage rolls are a common Polish cuisine typically made of pork or beef and rice filling. However, I decided to experiment a little with this recipe - this version of stuffed cabbage uses seafood instead of ground beef, but you can change it up and choose your own filling. It is a filling, yet also simple and healthy meal to prepare.

Step 1: Ingredients

Ingredients

• Cabbage Leaves
• Tomato / Pasta Sauce
• Fish balls or fish tofu
• Rice
• Egg

Condiments

• Margarine
• Salt
• Pepper
• Sriracha

Kitchen Supplies

• Wok
• Bowl
• Plates
• Cutting board and Knife

Step 2: Mise En Place

There's quite of lot of separate ingredients for the filling, so plenty of preparation work is needed!

1. Egg: Crack the egg to a small bowl and scramble until it looks uniformly yellow
2. Fish Balls: Defrost the fish balls (30-45sec to defrost) and slice them into smaller pieces (see picture)
3. Sauce: Add about 250mL of pasta sauce and water each and stir in 2 teaspoons of sugar

Step 3: Making the Rice Filling

Time to make the filling!

1. Add some margarine on a non stick pan and heat on medium
2. Once the margarine is melted, add in the rice and stir
3. Add the beaten egg
4. Cover for 2-3 minutes

Step 4: Adding the Fishballs

Now for the exciting part - seafood!

1. Add the cut up fish balls into the rice
2. Add in a tablespoon of salt and pepper each and Sriracha to taste

Step 5: Making the Cabbage Roll

Now that the filling is done, we can make the actual cabbage rolls.

1. Spread the leafy portion apart, then add a couple of spoonfuls of filling
2. Fold both sides inward
3. Fold the top and bottom (you may need to crack the stem of the cabbage)

TIP: If the roll isn't staying in form, you can wrap it in cling wrap and freeze.

Step 6: Boiling It With Tomato Sauce

Final step! Cabbage rolls are traditionally served in a type of tomato sauce.

1. In a saucepan, pour the diluted pasta sauce and set to medium heat
2. Place the cabbage rolls stem side down
3. Let it boil until the sauce thickens and leaves soften.

Enjoy!