Steps

1. Finely chop the onion.
   🕒 01:39
2. Turn the cabbage over and cut out the core.
   🕒 02:23
3. Place the cored cabbage whole in a large pot, bring water to a boil, and simmer over low heat.
   🕒 03:06
4. Once the leaves are tender, peel them off one by one and place on a colander. This is the trick! Boiling the cabbage whole makes the leaves less likely to tear and easier to peel cleanly.
   🕒 03:23
5. Briefly re-boil the peeled cabbage leaves to soften them.
   🕒 04:54
6. Cool the boiled cabbage in water and pat dry.
   🕒 05:26
7. Shave off the white, tough parts of the softened cabbage leaves with a knife.
   🕒 05:48
8. Finely chop the shaved cabbage cores and mix with the finely chopped onion.
   🕒 06:44
9. In a bowl, add ground pork (150g) and ground chicken (150g), and season with 2 pinches of salt and a pinch of pepper. This is the trick! Adding chicken creates a moist and juicy finish due to its higher water content.
   🕒 07:05
10. Knead the ground meat until it becomes sticky.
    🕒 07:52
11. Add panko bread crumbs (2 tbsp), soy sauce (1 tsp), cooking sake (rice wine) (1 tsp), and sugar (1 tsp), and knead further.
    🕒 08:06
12. Add the chopped onion and cabbage cores, and mix gently until evenly distributed. This is the trick! Do not over-knead after adding the vegetables, as it can release moisture.
    🕒 08:25
13. Divide the meat mixture into 8 equal portions and roll into balls.
    🕒 09:02
14. Pat the cabbage leaves dry.
    🕒 09:35
15. Wrap the meat mixture, using small and large leaves to create a double layer. This is the trick! Packing them tightly in the pot prevents them from falling apart while simmering, so the wrapping method doesn't need to be elaborate.
    🕒 09:44
16. Arrange the rolled cabbage in a frying pan without any gaps. This is the trick! Arranging them tightly prevents the cabbage from unfurling during cooking.
    🕒 12:38
17. Add dashi stock (600cc), light soy sauce (3 tbsp), and mirin (sweet rice wine) (3 tbsp) to the pan and bring to a boil.
    🕒 13:26
18. Once boiling, reduce heat to low, cover with a lid (aluminum foil), and simmer for about 20 minutes.
    🕒 14:11
19. Transfer some of the simmering liquid to a separate pot, thicken it with a mixture of 2 tbsp potato starch and water to create a sauce.
    🕒 15:08
20. Plate the rolled cabbage.
    🕒 16:16
21. Pour the sauce over the rolled cabbage and serve with optional mustard and ketchup to taste.
    🕒 16:35