Mushroom Walnut Stuffed Cabbage
Ingredients
1 head of savoy cabbage
8 oz package of cremini mushrooms small diced
¾ cup chopped walnuts
½ tbl of finely chopped ginger or ginger paste
½ tbl of finely chopped garlic or garlic Paste
1/2 cup of chopped scallions
1 ½ cup of cooked rice
pink Himalayan sea salt to taste (regular sea salt is fine)
1- 1 1/2 tsp of ground black pepper
¼ tsp of seasoned rice vinegar
1 ½- 2 tbl tamari
1 ½ tbl sesame oil
⅛ cup of ghee or good butter
Dipping Sauce Ingredients
½ cup tamari
1 tbl rice vinegar
1 1/2 tsp Agave
½ tbl sesame seeds
⅛ cup sesame oil
1 tsp of thinly sliced bird’s eye red chilies
2 tsp of rice vinegar
chives for garnish
Kitchen Equipment
large mixing bowl
mixing spoons
cutting board
knife
tasting spoons
medium size saute pan
steam basket
Pot that holssteam basket
tongs
blender
1 small bowl
measuring cups
measuring spoons
How To Make It
Place enough water in bottom where it hits the bottom of steam basket. Turn to low-medium heat and bring to boil.
Heat sesame oil in saute pan on medium heat, add ginger and garlic and mix evenly together. Add tamari to ginger-garlic mixture in pan and then add ghee or butter, mix in and then the chopped walnuts.
Let walnuts become al dente. Add cremini mushrooms. Once cremini mushrooms are soft and adding its juices into the tamari mixture, lower the heat.
Mix the cooked rice into mixture, add red chili flakes, add sea salt to taste. Throw in the chopped scallions, mix well, add seasoned rice vinegar. Taste to make sure all flavors that you desire are there. Let the mixture cool.
Grab your savoy cabbage and peel each leaf off keeping them as whole and intact as possible (no rips or broken off leaves). Discard the first layer as it tends to collect the most dirt and residue. Place these leaves into a large mixing bowl to be ready for use. Grab few of the savoy leaves and cover the bottom of the steam basket with leaves. Using any broken pieces of cabbage would be useful here for layering the basket. The cabbage leaves in steam basket protect the future cabbage rolls from sticking straight to the basket.
Lower steam basket into boiling pot of water, make sure water reaches to touch just the bottom of basket. If water has evaporated, add more.
Use a cutting board for rolling and stuffing cabbage. Grab a whole cabbage leaf and place on board. Scoop about 1/4 cup of the mushroom rice mixture from pan and place near the base of the cabbage leaf. Gently fold in the sides and start rolling, tucking in the sides as needed.
Place these rolls in steam basket, seam side down. Adjusting the filling amount as needed for smaller leaves, until all the filling is used. The rolls can be crowded, just not overlapping. Steam these in batches if you run out of room in basket. Continue to add more water to the bottom and add new cabbage leaves placed at bottom of steam basket if they start to tear.
Remove steamed cabbage rolls gently with tongs and plate. They are ready to eat with dipping sauce.