Napa Cabbage Rolls (in Ginger Broth)

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Asian napa cabbage rolls filled with ground pork, shrimps and mushrooms. in an aromatic chicken ginger broth.

After vegan stuffed sauerkraut rolls or German cabbage rolls, here are some Asian-inspired napa cabbage rolls in chicken ginger broth.

It was the first time I’ve made something like this and although I have to admit that the recipe was rather elaborate, it needed quite a few ingredients, and quite a bit of time, the result was sooooo worth it!

I have rarely eaten such a bold, spicy, and aromatic chicken broth and it was the first time I’ve mixed pork and shrimp together. I wasn’t so sure about that and I had even considered leaving out the shrimps, but then I remembered the dozens of Asian recipes I have read where a mixture of meat and shrimp was used. And I thought that if so many people love that combination then it cannot possibly be bad.

And it wasn’t! It was so good! Soooo good!

Ginger Broth

• You could start one day in advance if desired. Make the broth first and prepare the rest of the dish the next day. This way you will maybe escape that feeling of having spent too much time in the kitchen at one time.
• Making the broth couldn’t be easier and it will not take much of actual working time. Place the stock ingredients in a pot and simmer for about 2 hours. The only thing you have to do is to skim the froth from the broth when it forms, this way you will have a nice, clear broth in the end.
• You can use a whole chicken carcass to make the stock or the bones from several roasted chicken legs. I always have some in my freezer, because I save all the bones when roasting a whole chicken or only chicken legs.
• I usually add a whole fresh chicken leg to the carcass for a meatier taste.
• However, if you do not have any roasted chicken bones, make the broth with 3 or 4 whole chicken legs or a small chicken.
• You can use this broth not only for this recipe but for other Asian soups as well. I had some leftovers and I used those to make a non-vegetarian version of this Soba Noodles Tofu Soup with Lime, Carrots, and Kale. It was great!

Chinese cabbage rolls

• The method of preparing the Napa cabbage leaves for filling doesn’t differ very much from the method used for other cabbage leaves.
• Napa cabbage leaves do not need as much blanching time as the white cabbage leaves require. Two minutes should be enough. Make sure that you prepare a few more cabbage leaves than you think you might need, this sort of cabbage is quite fragile and it can be that you will have to use more than one leaf in order to obtain a hole-free roll.
• I was able to make 10 rolls with this filling, however, I needed almost double as many prepared leaves because many of them tore while I was blanching them.
• To make the Asian rolls, place some filling on the lower part of the leaf, fold the bottom edge over the filling, then fold the sides of the leaf over the filling and roll.
• The filling is also super easy and quick to make. Finely chop all the ingredients, mix them together and you’re done.

Serve these super healthy, gluten-free, low-fat, low-calorie Chinese cabbage rolls sprinkled with the hot ginger broth, sprinkled with coriander or parsley.