Shortcut Cabbage Rolls

My husband loves the taste of Japanese cabbage rolls, which are similar to the ground meat filled rolls we have in Canada. Personally I grew up on Ukrainian cabbage rolls which feature soured cabbage leaves filled with rice, bacon and onions. Though my husband doesn't mind these, he prefers the meat filled version his mom made in his childhood. The Japanese cabbage roll is filled with a mixture of ground pork, ground beef and shiitake mushrooms, flavoured with soy sauce, salt and pepper. The real "Japanese" part of the recipe is the simmering sauce which is a combination of consomme (or chicken stock), soy sauce, sake, sugar, miso (fermented soy bean paste) and an ample amount of ketchup. Carrots cut into matchsticks may be added to the broth, along with more thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms. The cabbage leaves are not soured, but merely blanched until soft and pliable. Regular cabbage can be used, but Napa cabbage works nicely as well. There is no baking with these rolls--simmering only. Now I enjoy the cabbage rolls as much as my husband, but they can be a bit finicky to make, especially after a long day of work. Thus, I developed a cheat method: cabbage roll soup/stew. It's all the goodness of cabbage rolls, without the rolling! It also freezes very well, so you can enjoy it at any time without the labour! I don't really measure the ingredients, except for the liquid. The amount of ground meat and vegetables are entirely up to you. It is a VERY flexible recipe. Here is a general guideline for you:

Cabbage Roll Soup/Stew

Some ground pork and/or ground beef

Chopped cabbage

Chopped onion

Chopped shiitake mushroom (fresh or dry)

Chopped carrot

Liquid:

2 cups chicken stock or consomme

3 tbsp sake

1/2 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp miso

pepper to taste

ketchup to taste

In the photo I have included, I threw in some frozen vegetable mix and some leftover bell pepper. I also added some harusame (rice stick) noodles to absorb some of the liquid, as I was aiming for a more stew-like texture this time. It is really up to you! Enjoy and experiment! Make it a different soup every time, but keep the flavouring cabbage-roll-ish or you will miss the point.