Revisited Vietnamese nems - A healthy trick for kids

This post could have been titled 'How to make your kids love cabbage', but instead I preferred the reference to nems, the traditional Vietnamese rolls.

Traditionally, nems are fried rice paper rolls stuffed with pork, prawn or beef. They are quite easy to make and flavoursome. But they are not the healthiest Vietnamese food because they are fried.

While I was shopping at the local veggie store, looking for seasonal veggies other then carrots, parsnips and pumpkin, I saw cabbage. This is such a controversial veggie for children. I personally love red cabbage; it's a quite regular vegetable at home. I was after something less usual. White cabbage... we all like it raw in salad, but cooked it is quite controversial for my No.1. Then I saw savoy cabbage - they look so beautiful - and as I couldn't remember when was my last attempt with this kind of cabbage. I thus decided to go for this beautiful savoy cabbage. Then started the thinking... how could I sell this to my No.1.

Spark of genius! what about making nems? but instead of using rice paper, I'd use savoy cabbage leaves. And instead of frying them I'd steam them. I was not quite sure about the preparation and cooking process, but the idea was worth a try!

My revisited nems, served with sweet soy sauce, turned out gorgeous and so tasty! No.1 even asked for a second serve! Mission accomplished? Oh yes!

What's your trick to make your children eat cabbage? 

Ingredients (6 servings)

- 600 g pork mince

- 5 g black fungus (dehydrated)

- 10 g dehydrated shitake mushrooms

- 200 g grated carrot

- 8 tbsp light soy sauce

- 3 tbsp fish sauce (nuoc nam)

- 2 tsp Chinese five spices mix

- 1 shallot, finely chopped

- chives

- fresh coriander (to taste)

- 2 eggs

- 100 g rice vermicelli

- 10-15 savoy cabbage leaves (more or less depending on their size)

Preparation (~60 mins)

1. Soak the dehydrated shitake and black mushrooms until they are soft. Finely chop them.

2. Cook the rice vermicelli in boiling water for 2 mins. Drain and reserve in cold water.

3. Hand mix together the pork mince, the grated carrot, the mushrooms, the finely chopped shallots, the soy sauce, the fish sauce, the Chinese five spices, the chives, the coriander and the eggs until evenly combined. Refrigerate for an hour or more.

4. Cut and wash the cabbage leaves.* 

5. Pre-cook them in a large pot of salted boiling water for few minutes until they are soft enough to be rolled - takes about 3-4 mins depending on the leave size. Pre-cook them by small lots (2 or 3 depending on the size of your pot).

6. Drain the pre-cooked cabbage and get ready to stuff and roll them.

Cooking (~25 mins)

I tested two methods of cooking: the steaming method and the poaching (or boiling) method. My preference goes to the steaming method: it is more gentle on the cabbage, which remains slightly firm, and it's easier to control the cooking of the meat.

Steaming method:

Put a toothpick through each roll and put them in a steamer for 20-25 mins, depending on their size.

Poaching method:

Wrap (or directly roll) the nems in wrap plastic paper* - note that these nems can be longer and then cut as the wrap paper will help to keep the nems together. Poach in boiling water for about 20-25 mins, depending on their size.

Tips

* If you're after a fine dining dish, I guess a good tip would be to not select the biggest, greenest leaves, but the smaller and lighter ones. However, I made mines with those big greenest leaves and the outcomes was as yummy as good-looking. The advantages being that they are more resistant and large so it's easier to fill the rolls. However do remove the central vein.
* Use a wrap plastic paper that can tolerate high temperatures.
* Drizzle sweet soy sauce on the top.