Beefy buns... err Korean-Spiced Beef and Cabbage Rolls!

I was originally planning to halve the recipe for tonight's dinner, Korean-Spiced Beef and Cabbage Rolls, since it had a fairly large yield, but after I checked the inventory list of the freezer, I decided to just make the whole recipe so we could freeze the leftovers to have for quick lunches. Boy were we glad that I changed my mind once we finished our plates!

With ingredients like mild green onions, soy sauce, sesame seeds, toasted sesame oil, a shot of dry sherry, a couple teaspoons of sugar, fresh garlic, minced ginger, black pepper and just a dash of cayenne, there was no way this filling was going to be bland! Once whisked together, this powerful list of ingredients is mixed with half a pound of lean ground sirloin. My first thought was "I wonder if this is right as it looks very wet!". Once the mixture is added to the hot skillet, the beef begins to cook and slowly you will notice how it transforms from being a liquid-y mass to moist and glazed crumbles of beef. The volume won't look like much at this point, but we change that when we add a mound of thinly sliced crisp Napa cabbage. Once the cabbage is tender, this mixture is set aside as it needs to cool completely before you work with it again.

Now, you might expect these rolls to be yeast based, but this recipe is a bit different. Instead of the yeast, the recipe calls for baking powder to keep the rolls pillow-like - this also cuts down the total time needed to make the dish allowing it to be a little more reasonable to make on a weeknight. I found the dough to be quite easy to work with, but teetering on being a little sweet for us - I would think about reducing the honey to 3 tablespoons. While you don't need to wait for the dough to rise, you do want to give it a good 5 to 10 minute rest after kneading - this will give the gluten a chance to relax and it will roll out much easier for you.

Once the rolls have been assembled and given a light egg white wash, a scattering of nutty sesame seeds is added to each. Baked until golden, these filled buns were very good warm, but I can easily see them being served as a snack at room temperature. I thought there was a decent filling-to-bun ratio, but I would have liked a little more of the well-seasoned meat mixture.

Recipes
Korean-Spiced Beef and Cabbage Rolls