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Delicious solyanka of fresh cabbage in a frying pan

Skillet Braised Cabbage with Pork (Solyanka)

Made from everyday ingredients — appetizing, savory, and just the best! This skillet solyanka of fresh cabbage is a hearty dinner for the whole family. With pork it's a complete main course that needs no side dish, but adding some boiled potatoes makes it even more filling.

Ropotushka

Recipe author

Delicious solyanka of fresh cabbage in a frying pan

Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Pork

400

White cabbage

500

Carrot

Onion

Garlic

Tomato sauce

Water

0.5

Bay leaf

Sugar

Ground black pepper

0.5

Dry spices

Salt

Sunflower oil

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 26 % 6 g

Fats 52 % 12 g

Carbohydrates 22 % 5 g

147 kcal

GI: 80 / 20 / 0

Cooking method

Step 1:

How do you make skillet braised cabbage with pork? Gather your ingredients. Use white cabbage and medium-sized carrot and onion; for seasoning, dried herbs, thyme, or a pepper blend all work well. You can use tomato paste in place of tomato sauce. For this recipe it doesn't matter which cut of pork you use — it braises long enough to come out tender either way.
Step 2:

Rinse the pork well and pat it dry with paper towels so it splatters less while frying. Cut it into cubes no larger than 3/4 inch (2 cm) — an easy size to eat, and the meat stays juicy.
Step 3:

Peel and rinse the onion and carrot. Grate the carrot on the coarse side of a grater and cut the onion into small dice. Cut this way, the vegetables cook faster and lend the dish a nice color.
Step 4:

Remove any wilted outer leaves from the cabbage, rinse it well, and dry it on a towel or paper towels. Finely shred the cabbage with a knife or a food processor.
Step 5:

To brown the meat, heat a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat and add half the sunflower oil. Use a skillet big enough to hold all the ingredients — meat and vegetables. Add the cubed pork, season with a little salt and pepper, and cook over medium heat until lightly golden. Don't stir too often, so the meat stays juicy.
Step 6:

In a separate skillet, make the sauté. Heat the pan and carefully add the rest of the oil. Since carrot takes longer than onion, start with the grated carrot. Cook over medium heat, stirring now and then, for about 2 minutes.
Step 7:

When the carrot starts to soften, add the diced onion and cook another 3 minutes over medium heat. Be sure to stir so the vegetables cook evenly and don't dry out.
Step 8:

Add the sautéed vegetables to the meat, stir, and cook for 2 minutes over low heat.
Step 9:

Add the shredded cabbage, stir, and simmer for 5 minutes over medium heat.
Step 10:

Make the sauce. Press the garlic through a garlic press. In a glass of water, stir together the tomato sauce, sugar, a little salt, and the garlic, mixing well. Pour the sauce over the cabbage, then add the bay leaves, ground black pepper, and dry spices (you can skip them). Stir so everything is evenly distributed.
Step 11:

Cover and simmer over medium heat. After 20 minutes, stir and taste for salt, adding a bit more if needed. Simmer another 20 minutes. The cooking time depends on the cabbage — it should turn soft. If there's too much liquid left at the end, uncover the pan so it can cook off. Serve sprinkled with fresh herbs. It's delicious both hot and cold.

Besides pork, you can use any other meat in this dish. Keep in mind that the cooking time, flavor, and calorie count will change. Beef, for example, takes longer than pork, while chicken breast or turkey takes less.
Use an oil with a high smoke point for frying. Every oil is only good up to a certain temperature — its smoke point — beyond which it starts to burn and form harmful compounds, including carcinogens. Unrefined oils, with rare exceptions, have a low smoke point, since they're full of unfiltered particles that burn quickly. Refined oils stand up to heat better and have a higher smoke point. If you're cooking in the oven, in a skillet, or on the grill, reach for an oil with a high smoke point — the most common choices are refined sunflower, olive, and grapeseed oil.
Since everyone's sense of salty, sweet, bitter, spicy, sour, and hot is different, always add spices and seasonings to your own taste. And if you're using a seasoning for the first time, remember that some are especially easy to overdo — chili pepper, for one.