Cabbage rolls are a familiar, but not quite simple dish. Sometimes cooking cabbage envelopes with meat causes a lot of difficulties. It's a shame and annoyance when cabbage rolls do not work. Why are they falling apart, dry, ugly looking?
Cabbage steamed?
The main thing in stuffed cabbage is not only the filling, although much attention is paid to it. It is much more important to prepare the cabbage correctly, otherwise it will not work at all. No need to try to wrap stuffing in raw sheets, nothing will come of it. Head out required to boil. To do this, it is first removed from the upper sheets, then around the stump are made deep cuts with a knife. It is necessary that the water gets inside, and the sheets are easily removed.
How to boil cabbage:
- Boil water in a large saucepan.
- Dip head out, boil for 2-3 minutes. If the cabbage is wintery and tough, then you can cook longer.
- Remove the cabbage, remove the top sheets. Put the rest of the head of cabbage into the water and boil for a few more minutes. Repeat.
- Each shot leaf straighten, a thick core in the middle cut with a sharp knife.
You can put a head in a bag, make some holes and roll 5-7 minutes in the microwave. The cabbage will soften, the sheets can be removed, if necessary, warm up longer. The core with small leaves is not thrown away, it is cut and laid on the bottom of the pan in an even layer so that the cabbage rolls do not burn.
By the way, sometimes Chinese cabbage sheets are used for stuffed cabbage. They can be used raw, but it is better to fill in boiling water for a moment. Thick veins are required to be immediately cut, you can make an excellent vitamin salad from them.
Meat is not lean?
Classic stuffed cabbage cooked with meat stuffing. But not every mince is good. Beef dish is not very tasty, as well as from dry chicken breast. Therefore, it is necessary to add fat or any other fat. Ideally, mix pork with other meats. Delicious and juicy stuffing comes with the addition of duck, lamb. In any case, there should be a lot of fat, as vegetables and rice will be added in addition.
By the way, sometimes the hostesses for some reason add an egg to the mince. Allegedly for mass fastening. In no case can this be done. The egg stuffing is hard and dry. The stuffing in the stuffed cabbage will not fall apart, rice will fasten it perfectly.
Rice cooked?
Dry and tasteless cabbage rolls are obtained if you use raw rice. Sometimes the hostess just soaked it in water, allowed to swell, then sent to the stuffing. But this is not enough. Groats will begin to draw juice out of meat and vegetables, which will greatly affect the taste.
How to cook rice:
- Rinse the cereal, pour it into a large amount of water, about 700-800 ml per 100 g.
- Bring to a boil, can be salted.
- Boil for 6-7 minutes, drain into a colander.
Due to the large amount of water, rice will cook very quickly. If a pit or small grass is used, then five minutes is enough. Dissolve the cereal does not. As soon as the water is drained from it, shift into mincemeat. If there is no time to cool down, then you can wash the rice, like pasta. Since the cabbage rolls will continue to be cooked, there is nothing terrible in the raw water.
By the way, you can cook stuffed cabbage not only with rice. Buckwheat will also fit perfectly. Boiled pearl barley, which is incredibly useful for any organism, is also suitable.
Vegetables added?
In addition to rice, beef must be added to the stuffing. In addition to a pleasant taste, they give the filling juiciness. It is advisable to fry the vegetables first in oil or in fat, but not to full readiness. It is enough to lightly brown. If you use butter, you get even tastier.
Which vegetables to use:
- onions;
- carrots;
- roots;
- Bulgarian pepper;
- Tomato or pasta.
You can add a small eggplant or zucchini, it will definitely not spoil the filling. Often cooked vegetable steaming, and then divided into two parts. Half is sent to the sauce, and everything else is mixed with meat. It is advisable to cool the vegetables before this, hot them should not be added.
Good advice! In addition to vegetables, it is important to add spices and herbs to the filling, you can use seasonings for meat or kebabs, ravioli or meatballs.
Sauce prepared?
You can pour a little water into the cabbage rolls and stew it under the lid. It will taste better if you use tomato juice or diluted pasta. For saturation, meat, mushroom or chicken broth is used instead of water. But it’s best to cook a real sauce for pouring. It will saturate the cabbage, in addition to the main course we get a great gravy. What sauce (gravy) can be made to stuffed cabbage:
- Red with vegetables. Tomatoes or tomato paste are introduced into roasted vegetables, all this is diluted with broth or water, seasoned with spices. It is advisable to sprinkle with sauce all the layers of cabbage to evenly distribute the vegetables.
- Sour cream sauce with garlic. Dilute sour cream with water, add garlic and spices, the concentration is arbitrary. Sometimes they introduce soy sauce, it also turns out very tasty.
- From sour cream with tomato. Sometimes they mix sour cream and tomato sauce or tomato juice. You can add sour cream in the finished red sauce. This is one of the most successful options with a bright but delicate taste.
Often stuffed cabbage cooked in the oven. In this case, less sauce is required, but it is still needed. You can just pour sour cream or cream, sprinkle with cheese. Otherwise, the cabbage dries.
Cooked or extinguished?
Last, but not least, is the cooking of cabbage. Yes, they somehow decided to cook. In fact, cabbage envelopes are better to put out and do it on the smallest fire. Perhaps the process will take more time, but the result will certainly please.
Why is it better to stew rather than cook:
- envelopes will not turn, will not collapse from active seething;
- cabbage will not become limp, cabbage rolls will not turn into porridge;
- The sauce will not curdle, there is such a feature when adding sour cream;
- liquid does not boil out;
- cabbage rolls do not burn.
It is advisable to take a thick-bottomed dish and put at least two layers of cabbage rolls into it. To extinguish you will need a tight lid. Cabbage rolls are brought to a boil over high heat, then it must be reduced to a minimum. Preparing a dish with a low boil will be 45-60 minutes.
