How to cook cabbage for stuffed cabbage in the microwave? Culinary secrets

In a house where there are many different kitchen appliances, cooking becomes a pleasure. If you show imagination, then some devices can be found not quite standard application. For example, not everyone knows how to cook cabbage for cabbage rolls in the microwave. It turns out that this is not at all difficult.

Minutes of waiting

Before starting to cook cabbage rolls, each housewife first thing goes to the store or to the market. The choice of products must be treated very carefully, because they will mainly affect the result. Among the general list, special attention is paid to cabbage. First you need to remember two conditions:

1. You should not take a head for round cabbage rolls. The leaves in it are powerful and tough. It is better to take one that is slightly flattened and looks like a pill. Such cabbage leaves will be thin and long enough.
2. The head should be without damage: mechanical in the form of cracks and diseases in the form of black dots inside.

Now the hostess is faced with the task of preparing him for work. It is necessary to make the leaves soft and supple. Few people know how to cook cabbage for cabbage rolls in the microwave.

There is no secret here. This is done as follows:

1. A cabbage weighing 2 kilograms must be put in the oven and the door closed.
2. Set the timer for 10 minutes, and it is better to choose the maximum power (900 watts).
3. After the call, get the product and immediately put it under a stream of cold water.
4. After that, it must be wrung out by hand. If it is still not quite soft, then the procedure can be repeated (2-3 minutes).

This is the easiest option on how to cook cabbage for cabbage rolls in the microwave. Minimum labor costs in a short time.

Slow and confident

Those who are not used to hoping for a chance can take another option. There is another way that will teach you how to cook cabbage for cabbage rolls in the microwave. It, in principle, is similar to the previous one. True, there are some clarifications:

1. First you need to turn the head of cabbage upside down and make four deep cuts around it with a sharp knife.
2. Put the cabbage in the oven for 10 minutes.
3. Remove the vegetable and gently peel off the top few leaves. You need to remove only those leaves that themselves are behind.
4. Once again, make incisions around the base and again send the product to the microwave, but for about 5 minutes, no more. This must be done until the last leaf is removed.
5. Gather the separated products together and send them back into the oven for 4-5 minutes. After that, they will become generally transparent. Wrapping minced meat in them will be easy and simple. Soft thin leaves retain their plasticity, and the filling will never fall out of them.

This option is longer, but reliable.

Hot water effect

But a microwave is not the only option for removing cabbage leaves for cabbage rolls. After all, this dish was prepared long before the cunning machine was invented. And the mistresses found another way out of this situation. It is clear that the product softens at elevated temperatures. And how to create such conditions? The easiest way to use boiling water. This was the secret of our grandmothers.

Everything was done like this:

1. First, use a sharp knife to cut the stump.
2. At this time, boil water in a large pan.
3. Dip the prepared product into it and wait 7-10 minutes.
4. Take out the head of cabbage, put it on a plate and gently separate the top leaves.
5. Again, make incisions, but already deeper, and repeat the procedure.

Each time, the head will become smaller. At the last stage, the process can be considered completed. Too large pieces can be divided in half, and thick stems just cut. This method of removing leaves from cabbage for cabbage rolls is good because it does not require re-processing of the leaves. But he also has flaws. The hostess has to constantly deal with boiling liquid and a hot product, and this is not at all safe.

Cooking

Having mastered the method of processing cabbage, you can take on the dish itself. How to cook cabbage rolls? The recipe will step by step explain how to do this.

First of all, you need to collect all the necessary products on the table: a kilogram of meat, 2 heads of fresh cabbage, onion, a glass of rice, 1 carrot, 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil, 500 grams of tomato, a bunch of parsley, pepper, salt and any spices.

To make cabbage rolls, the recipe (step by step) involves the following steps:

1. Pour rice with boiling water and leave for half an hour.
2. By any of the selected methods, divide the head into leaves.
3. Fry chopped onion lightly in a pan. A little later add grated carrots, tomato, salt and pepper. The mixture should boil well.
4. Grind the meat with a blender. You can use a meat grinder, but then it is better to scroll the mass twice.
5. Strain the rice and add to the meat along with the stewed vegetables. Mix foods well. This will be the filling.
6. Lay a little stuffing on each cabbage leaf, and then, wrapping the edges, squeeze tightly and form a cabbage roll.
7. Place the semi-finished products in the poultry bowl or on the pallet, placing them seam down. After that, pour tomato diluted in water, sprinkle with chopped herbs and put in the oven.

After a couple of hours, tender and fragrant cabbage rolls will be ready.

Simplified version

For those who do not want to waste time and mess with leaves, there is another way. They can make lazy cabbage rolls from fresh cabbage.

And they turn out no worse than usual. For work you will need: 400 grams of minced meat and a head of about the same mass, a glass of rice, carrots, an egg, 2 onions and a tablespoon of tomato paste.

The cooking method is not at all complicated:

1. First, cabbage should be arbitrarily cut with a knife, pour hot water and leave for 5-7 minutes, so that all bitterness leaves it.
2. During this time, boil rice. Water must be salted.
3. Stuffing mix with half the prepared cabbage and rice. Then add one chopped onion, egg and spices. Mix the products.
4. From the resulting mass, mold the cutlets and lay them on a pallet previously lined with the remains of cabbage.
5. Fry the remaining onions with carrots and put on top.
6. Pour everything in a glass of water and put in the oven. In an hour, everything will be ready.

Those who do not want to suffer from cutlets can take meat instead of minced meat and simply cut it into small pieces.

Cold working

It turns out that elevated temperature is not the only way with which you can change the state of the product. The same results can be achieved with the reverse action. So, cabbage leaves for cabbage rolls need to be cooled very much. An ordinary refrigerator can easily cope with this problem.

You just need to put the cabbage in advance in the freezer for 10-12 hours, and then get it and defrost it in natural conditions. Surprisingly, in this case, the cabbage becomes simply unrecognizable: soft, tender and very plastic. You can wrap anything in it. It is very convenient and absolutely safe. But this method also has its catch. Cabbage leaves processed in this way will subsequently be unsuitable for other dishes. Only cabbage rolls can be made of them, so you will have to make so many fillings to use up the whole head of cabbage. And they can not be stored. Even in the refrigerator, this product will deteriorate very quickly.

Technical capabilities

It is not necessary to pre-process cabbage leaves for cabbage rolls in the microwave. In the kitchen there are many other equipment, which is also always at hand. Take, for example, a double boiler.

Everyone knows her ability to speed up the preparation of many dishes. This can be used at the preparatory stage. The procedure is very similar to the option with boiling water in a pan. But everything is done much faster. After all, time is an expensive pleasure, and they do not need to scatter. The sequence of actions remains the same. You just need to lower the head of cabbage into a double boiler for a couple of minutes. After that, get it and carefully cut the top leaves. Further, the procedure is repeated until the bare stump remains in the hands of the hostess. After this, it remains only to carefully review the prepared product. Some leaves can cut off the thickening on the stem. If the veins are too large, then it is better to completely remove them with a sharp knife.