sole cabbage roll

This recipe hails from Ida Bailey Allen’s 1958 Gastronomique, which I bought in about 1964. She claimed then that it was “a new form of stuffed cabbage. It seems the Hawaiians do it too.” I have changed it only slightly, to use shrimp instead of the lobster she called for, and to use <butter> and yogurt where she called for butter. My preparation note deriving from about 1995 contains the simple boast, “Was great!”

• 1 head chinese cabbage
• 1 lb sole fillet

Shrimp sauce

• ½ lb shrimp meat, minced
• 1 small shallot, minced
• ½ tsp garlic purée
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp tomato purée
• 1 tsp fresh parsley, chopped finely
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder

Ginger sauce

• 2 oz <butter>, slightly melted
• 2 oz fat free plain greek yogurt
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp fresh parsley, chopped finely
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Remove and wash the Chinese cabbage leaves. Cover with boiling water, then let stand 5 minutes or until pliable. Drain and spread the leaves on a large tray.

Make the shrimp sauce by combining shrimp, onion, garlic, tomato purée, parsley, and turmeric. Stir well and heat to thicken slightly.

Make the ginger sauce by combining <butter>, yogurt, ginger, parsley, and lemon juice. Whip all together until smooth.

On each cabbage leaf put 1½ tsp of the shrimp sauce. Top with a 4-oz section of raw sole fillet, then roll it up, and place fold-side down in a double boiler. Steam 10 minutes with the water boiling very fast.

Serve with the ginger sauce.