Ingredients §

• Vermicelli noodles — 50g dry, cut to shorter lengths
• 12 small or 6 large cabbage leaves
• 300g pork mince — fattier pigs preferred
• 3 wood ear mushrooms — cut off hard portions of mushrooms
• 3 Chinese mushrooms
• 4 shallots, diced — red (Asian supermarket); good unsalted for frying, sweeter
• 3 spring onions, sliced
• 15 ml fish sauce
• A good pinch of freshly cracked black pepper

Method §

To prepare the leaves bring a pot of salted water to the boil and in a large bowl place a cup of ice cubes and cold water.

Remove and discard any tough or bruised leaves from the outside of the cabbage. Gently separate leaves from the core. Place the leaves into the boiling water for a few minutes. Remove and place in the iced water. When the leaves are cool remove from the water and drain off any excess water over the sink. Then pat dry with kitchen towel.

Make the filling by combining the remaining ingredients. Divide the mixture into 12 equal portions.

Place a cabbage leaf vein side down on a flat surface. At the bottom third of the leaf place a portion of the pork mixture. Roll the bottom part of the leaf over the filling, then fold the sides in and continue rolling.

Place seam-side down in a steamer and cook for 15 minutes.

Remove from steamer and serve with tomato dipping sauce.

Notes §

• Handwritten annotations on the class sheet: vermicelli quantity (50g dry, cut short), fattier pork preferred, trim hard portions of wood ear mushrooms, red shallots from an Asian supermarket are good and sweeter for frying.
• Method on the sheet does not specify a tomato dipping sauce recipe.