Thai Coconut Curry Cabbage Rolls: Stuffed, Simmered and Worth Every Fold

⏱ Prep: 35 min 🔥Cook: 45 min 👤Serves: 4 🌏Thai-inspired

Thai coconut curry cabbage rolls are cabbage leaves stuffed with spiced pork and soaked jasmine rice, rolled into tight parcels and simmered in a coconut milk and red curry sauce built with lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and fish sauce. The sauce soaks into the rolls as they cook, the rice finishes inside from the steam, and everything emerges tender, aromatic and deeply flavoured.

The cabbage leaves need blanching until pliable, the rib needs trimming so they fold without cracking, and the rice goes in raw and soaked, not cooked, so it doesn’t turn to mush inside the roll during the long simmer. The curry paste gets fried in oil first, not stirred into liquid, which is the difference between a sauce that tastes flat and one that tastes genuinely Thai.

Ingredients

For the cabbage and filling

• 1 large green cabbage or savoy cabbage, savoy preferred, its crinkled, more flexible leaves blanch more pliably and tear less easily than tight green cabbage. Napa cabbage also works. You need 12 large intact outer leaves.
• 500g ground pork, pork is the traditional filling choice with Thai flavours. Ground chicken or turkey both work. Lean mince makes for a firmer, less greasy roll.
• 100g (½ cup) jasmine rice, soaked in cold water for 30 minutes then drained. Raw soaked rice, not cooked, it finishes cooking inside the roll during the 40-minute simmer, absorbing the sauce flavour. Cooked rice added to the filling turns mushy.
• 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely grated
• 2 stalks lemongrass, tender inner part only, very finely minced, or 1 teaspoon lemongrass paste. Finely minced so it disappears into the filling rather than leaving fibrous chunks.
• 2 tablespoons red curry paste, goes into the filling as well as the sauce. Mae Ploy or Maesri are the most reliable brands.
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce, or soy sauce for a non-fish version
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, finely chopped
• 2 kaffir lime leaves, very finely shredded, optional in the filling; essential in the sauce
• ½ teaspoon white pepper

For the red curry coconut sauce

• 2 tablespoons neutral oil
• 3 tablespoons red curry paste, fried in oil before the liquid goes in, this is the critical step. Curry paste fried in hot oil blooms its spices and develops a depth that paste stirred straight into coconut milk cannot produce.
• 400ml (1 tin) full-fat coconut milk, full-fat only. Light coconut milk splits during the long simmer and produces a thin, greasy sauce.
• 300ml chicken stock
• 2 stalks lemongrass, bruised and cut into 5cm pieces, left in large pieces for easy removal before serving
• 4 kaffir lime leaves, torn, dried work if fresh are unavailable; fresh are significantly more fragrant
• 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, sliced
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon palm sugar or brown sugar
• Juice of 1 lime

To serve

• Fresh Thai basil or cilantro
• Sliced red chili
• Steamed jasmine rice or rice noodles alongside

Step by step

1. Soak the rice. Cover the jasmine rice with cold water and soak for 30 minutes. Drain thoroughly and set aside. This is the only rice prep needed, it goes into the filling raw.
2. Prepare the cabbage leaves. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Using a sharp knife, cut out the tough core from the base of the cabbage. Carefully peel off 12 large outer leaves, keeping them as intact as possible. Blanch 3–4 leaves at a time in the boiling water for 1–2 minutes until pliable and slightly translucent but not mushy. Transfer immediately to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Lay flat on a clean kitchen towel and pat completely dry. Using a small knife, shave down the thick central rib of each leaf to make it as thin as the rest of the leaf, this is what allows the leaf to fold without cracking. The ice bath is not optional, it stops the cooking immediately and preserves the colour. Leaves left in boiling water after they’re pliable turn yellow and mushy and fall apart when rolled. Thirty seconds in the ice bath is enough.
3. Make the filling. Combine the ground pork, drained soaked rice, garlic, ginger, minced lemongrass, red curry paste, fish sauce, cilantro, shredded kaffir lime leaves and white pepper in a bowl. Mix with your hands until completely combined. Fry a small teaspoon of filling in a hot pan to taste for seasoning, raw pork filling cannot be tasted safely. Adjust fish sauce or curry paste. Don’t overmix, mix until just combined. Over-worked pork filling becomes dense and rubbery when cooked. The filling should feel cohesive but not packed tight.
4. Roll the cabbage. Place one cabbage leaf flat on the work surface, rib-side down. Place 3–4 tablespoons of filling across the lower third of the leaf. Fold the bottom edge up over the filling. Fold both sides inward, then roll upward firmly, like a burrito. Place seam-side down on a plate. Repeat with all 12 leaves. Roll firmly but not so tight that the leaf tears. The rice will expand during cooking, leave a small amount of give. Seam-side down keeps the roll closed during cooking without needing toothpicks.
5. Build the curry sauce, bloom the paste first. Heat the oil in a wide, heavy pot or Dutch oven (large enough to fit the rolls in a single layer) over medium-high heat. Add the red curry paste and stir-fry for 1–2 minutes until it darkens, becomes very fragrant and the oil begins to separate and pool around the edges of the paste. This blooming step is what makes the sauce taste Thai rather than tinny and flat.
6. Build and season the sauce. Add the coconut milk gradually, stirring to combine with the bloomed paste. Add the stock, lemongrass pieces, torn kaffir lime leaves, ginger slices, fish sauce and sugar. Bring to a gentle boil, stirring. Taste, it should be deeply savoury, mildly spicy and slightly sweet. Adjust fish sauce for salt, sugar to balance.
7. Simmer the rolls. Gently nestle the cabbage rolls seam-side down into the sauce in a single snug layer. The sauce should come about halfway up the rolls, add a splash more stock if needed. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce to the lowest simmer. Cover and cook for 35–40 minutes until the pork is cooked through and the rice inside is fully tender.Check by carefully cutting one roll open at the 35-minute mark, the filling should be completely cooked, the rice swollen and tender. If the rice is still slightly firm, cover and simmer 5 more minutes.
8. Finish and serve. Remove the lemongrass and ginger pieces from the sauce. Add the lime juice and stir through. Taste one final time and adjust. Serve the rolls with generous ladles of the sauce spooned over, scattered with Thai basil or cilantro and sliced red chili.

Claire’s note

These are better the next day, make the rolls, simmer them, let them cool in the sauce and refrigerate overnight. The sauce thickens, the flavours deepen and the rolls absorb the curry right through. Reheat gently on the stovetop with the lid on over low heat for 15–20 minutes. If you are making these for a dinner party, this is the approach, everything done the night before, reheated while guests arrive, looking and tasting like you spent the afternoon in the kitchen when you spent the morning at the market.

Serve with

Thai coconut curry cabbage rolls are a complete main course. Serve with steamed jasmine rice or rice noodles alongside to absorb the extra sauce, there will be a lot of it and it is the best part. A simple cucumber salad with rice vinegar and chili alongside cuts through the richness. For more Thai cooking: Thai green curry, Thai pineapple chicken fried rice, and the complete Asian recipes collection.

Add Thai coconut curry cabbage rolls to your weekly meal planner as a weekend cook, assemble on Saturday, simmer, refrigerate overnight, reheat on Sunday for a meal that tastes like more effort than it took. And for more recipes, follow us on Pinterest.

Thai Coconut Curry Cabbage Rolls

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• Author: Claire Bennett
• Total Time: 80 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings 1x

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Description

Thai coconut curry cabbage rolls are stuffed cabbage leaves filled with spiced pork and jasmine rice, simmered in a rich coconut curry sauce.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 large green or savoy cabbage (12 large outer leaves)
• 500g ground pork
• 100g (½ cup) jasmine rice, soaked
• 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely grated
• 2 stalks lemongrass, very finely minced or 1 teaspoon lemongrass paste
• 2 tablespoons red curry paste
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce (or soy sauce)
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, finely chopped
• 2 kaffir lime leaves, very finely shredded (optional for filling)
• ½ teaspoon white pepper
• 2 tablespoons neutral oil
• 3 tablespoons red curry paste (for sauce)
• 400ml (1 tin) full-fat coconut milk
• 300ml chicken stock
• 2 stalks lemongrass, bruised
• 4 kaffir lime leaves, torn
• 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, sliced
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon palm sugar or brown sugar
• Juice of 1 lime
• Fresh Thai basil or cilantro (to serve)
• Sliced red chili (to serve)
• Steamed jasmine rice or rice noodles (to serve)

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Instructions

1. Soak the rice. Cover the jasmine rice with cold water and soak for 30 minutes. Drain thoroughly and set aside.
2. Prepare the cabbage leaves. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cut out the tough core from the base of the cabbage. Peel off 12 large outer leaves and blanch 3-4 leaves at a time for 1-2 minutes until pliable. Transfer to ice water to stop cooking.
3. Make the filling. Combine ground pork, soaked rice, garlic, ginger, minced lemongrass, red curry paste, fish sauce, cilantro, kaffir lime leaves, and white pepper in a bowl. Mix until combined. Fry a small amount to taste for seasoning.
4. Roll the cabbage. Place a leaf flat, add filling, fold, and roll tightly but gently. Repeat with all leaves.
5. Build the curry sauce. Heat oil in a pot, add red curry paste, and stir-fry until fragrant. Gradually add coconut milk and other liquid ingredients, stirring to combine.
6. Simmer the rolls. Nestle cabbage rolls seam-side down into the sauce. Bring to a gentle boil and then simmer covered for 35-40 minutes.
7. Finish and serve. Remove aromatics, stir in lime juice, and serve with sauce ladled over the rolls and garnished with basil or chili.

Notes

These rolls taste even better the next day. Refrigerate overnight and reheat gently before serving.

• Prep Time: 35 minutes
• Cook Time: 45 minutes
• Category: Main Course
• Method: Simmering
• Cuisine: Thai

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 serving
• Calories: 400
• Sugar: 7g
• Sodium: 800mg
• Fat: 18g
• Saturated Fat: 10g
• Unsaturated Fat: 6g
• Trans Fat: 0g
• Carbohydrates: 38g
• Fiber: 2g
• Protein: 21g
• Cholesterol: 55mg