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Stuffed Cabbage

A cabbage head filled with a mixture of beef, bacon, bread crumbs, and spices, then steamed.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Cabbage and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,081 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Stuffed Cabbage

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the cabbage

  1. Select a firm head of cabbage and cut a square wedge from the top.

  2. Fold back three layers of leaves and remove the center of the cabbage, chopping it finely.

Make the filling

  1. In a skillet, cook the bacon with some drippings, then add the onion, salt, and chopped cabbage; fry until tender.

  2. Stir in the beefsteak, bread crumbs, beaten egg, red pepper, and ginger; mix well.

Stuff and steam

  1. Stuff the mixture back into the cabbage, fold the leaves over, place the wedge back, and tie firmly with string.

  2. Place in a steamer and steam for 4 hours.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,081 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Cabbage + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,001 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Cabbage + gingertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together545 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Pepper + gingertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,800 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Onion + gingertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,595 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Cabbage
Forms the edible shell that holds the filling and becomes tender as it steams.
Egg
Binds the filling so it holds together when sliced.
Bread crumbs
Absorb moisture and help give the filling a soft, cohesive texture.
Bacon
Adds fat and savory flavor from its drippings to the filling.

The step that matters

Tie the cabbage firmly before steaming. A loosely tied cabbage can open as the leaves soften and the filling escapes. Firm tying keeps the filling packed and the shape intact during the long steam.

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, onion, pepper, egg, bread):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Garlicfits better
  3. Celeryfits better
  4. Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, onion, pepper, egg, bread. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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