Stuffed cabbage is one of the most typical winter dishes in Hungary. It spread in Hungary in the 18th century due to Turkish influence. It’s prepared in large quantities as you can eat it for several days and it’s always better the next day, or the day after that. Traditional Christmas dish, but it’s also cooked on pig-killing days. There are countless variations of this dish, so many houses so many recipes.

Ingredients:

• 20 cabbage leaves (1 head of approx. 1,5 kg ~ 3 1/3 lbs)
• 500 g (~1 lb) minced pork
• 100 g (~3 1/2 oz) rice, washed and uncooked
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1/2 tbsp. salt
• 3 tsp. sweet paprika
• 1 tbsp. flour
• 1 kg (~2 1/4 lbs) sauerkraut

Take a cabbage (weight approx. 1,5 kg), remove the outer leaves and core out the head.

Place the head in a pot of boiling water and wait until you can easily peel the leaves with a wooden spoon one by one. Take them out from the water. Cut off the hard rib from the base of each cabbage leaf. Set them aside.

While the leaves cooling, prepare the stuffing. Put minced pork in a bowl, add the rice, eggs, flour and spices and mix them up.

Divide the mixture into 20 portions and stuff each cabbage leaf. Place the filling in an oval shape near the rib edge of each leaf, fold the left side in, roll up toward the outer edge and finally tuck the edge in.

If the sauerkraut is too sour or salty, wash it prior to use (but it’s not necessarily important).

Put half of the sauerkraut in a large pot, place the cabbage rolls, seam sides down, on the top of it, then cover them with the remaining sauerkraut.

Pour water to cover the rolls. Simmer it for 2-2,5 hours at a low heat. Serve the rolls with sour cream.