CHEERS FOR CABBAGE ON ST. PAT'S DAY.

Byline: Susan Taylor Special to the Daily News

The humble cabbage gets around.

Throughout the world, it is pickled, boiled, braised, sauteed, stuffed, marinated and salt-cured - even fermented and buried. It is served hot, cold and in between - as a main course, an appetizer, a salad, a condiment. It can be as cool as coleslaw or as fiery as kimchi.

In China, it shows up in marinated salads, stir-fries, soup and fillings for dumplings and egg rolls. In Korea, incendiary kimchi - which is fermented, placed in jars and buried in the ground - graces almost every meal, breakfast to dinner.

In Central and Eastern Europe, cabbage leaves wrap savory mixtures of meat for a dressed-up entree. Sauerkraut and braised red cabbage are synonymous with Germany.

Americans are most familiar with the solid-cored green and red varieties, although the long, narrow Chinese or napa cabbage is available at most supermarkets. Considered superior for its delicate flavor, savoy cabbage of France and Belgium also can be found occasionally in local stores.

Many cabbage cooks take comfort in their culinary heritage.

As a child, Marlene Gorin loved being in the kitchen when her grandmother cooked traditional Jewish cabbage dishes. "Cooking is my creative outlet," says Gorin, who runs a small catering business in Dallas.

She re-creates many recipes from her grandmother's kosher kitchen, and says she loves the way the house smells when she makes her grandmother's stuffed cabbage. She also has a favorite cabbage soup.

Helga Henninger moved to Dallas in 1968 from Bad Gandersheim, Germany. She cooks red cabbage as a Thanksgiving side dish.

Her recipe is adapted from "Has Dr. Oetker Schulkochbuch" ("Dr. Oetker School Cookbook"), a book she received as a wedding gift 34 years ago. First published in 1911, the cookbook calls for goose fat or schmaltz (rendered chicken fat) in the recipe. Henninger updates it with bacon. Excellent as an accompaniment to beef, pork and venison, it typically is served with boiled potatoes.

If cooked cabbage generally is regarded as a cool-weather dish, then coleslaw brings to mind picnics and barbecues.

To start, there are two dominant styles: vinegar-based and mayonnaise-based. Some recipes call for chopped cabbage; others for shredded. In any, you might find sugar, celery seeds, sweet pickles, garlic, apple, bacon or raisins.

People sometimes think of Cold and Hot Cabbage as a Chinese version of coleslaw - primarily because it's a cold-cabbage dish with a vinegar dressing.

But there the similarity ends.

Chef David Lin of Dallas uses Sichuan peppercorns and dried red chiles to fire up the spicy heat in this dish, which also is flavored subtly with ginger. Because the combination of sweet, sour and spicy-hot flavors is believed to stimulate the appetite, Cold and Hot Cabbage is served at the beginning of a meal. But feel free to finish off a lot - a serving has only 24 calories and 1 gram of fat.

Cabbage is low in calories, with a half-cup shredded containing between five and 10 calories. Cabbage is a member of the cruciferous vegetable family, which is thought to help prevent certain cancers. It's a good source of vitamin C and also contains some vitamin A.

Cabbage tips

A firm-headed 2-pound cabbage, trimmed and cored, yields 8 to 10 cups sliced or shredded.

A well-trimmed Chinese cabbage yields 6 to 7 cups of sliced leaves.

To retain the bright red color of red cabbage, add 1/2 teaspoon of an acid such as vinegar, lemon juice or wine to the cooking water.

Use a stainless-steel knife to cut red cabbage. Carbon-steel knives turn the cabbage blue.

Cabbage can be cooked in boiled, salted water for 6 to 9 minutes for wedges, 2 to 3 minutes for whole leaves.

To reduce the smell of boiled cabbage, add a couple of thick chunks of bread to the water. The chunks may dissolve and be hard to remove, so use a slotted spoon to remove them before serving.

The easiest way to remove cabbage leaves for stuffing is to core the cabbage, then simmer it in a pot of boiling water for 1 minute or so. Remove the cabbage from the boiling water to repeat the process.

STUFFED CABBAGE

18 cabbage leaves (large leaves from 2 heads)

1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce

2 1/2 cups water

1 onion, diced

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons honey

6 crushed gingersnap cookies

Juice from 1/2 lemon

Handful of raisins OR to taste

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef

1/2 cup uncooked rice

1/2 teaspoon onion salt

1 egg

Steam or boil cabbage leaves until slightly wilted. Set aside.

Mix together tomato sauce, 1/2 cup water, onion, brown sugar, honey, gingersnaps, lemon juice and raisins and pour into a Dutch oven.

Mix ground beef with rice, onion salt, remaining 2 cups water and egg. Place 1 heaping tablespoon of meat mixture in each cabbage leaf, roll up like a burrito and secure with a toothpick.

Place rolls in Dutch oven over sauce and simmer, covered, about 3 hours on top of stove on low heat, basting occasionally. Makes 18 rolls.

NUTRITION INFORMATION PER SERVING: 200 calories; 9 grams fat; 46 milligrams cholesterol; 252 milligrams sodium.

CABBAGE SOUP

1 head cabbage, shredded (about 8 to 10 cups)

1 large onion, sliced

2 tablespoons salt OR to taste

1 1/2 pounds stew beef

3 to 4 marrow bones

Water

1 can (28 ounces) tomatoes

1/2 to 1 cup packed brown sugar or to taste

Juice 1 to 2 lemons or to taste

Place shredded cabbage, onion, salt, beef and bones in a soup pot with enough water to cover. Cook over medium heat 15 minutes or until cabbage is tender. Add tomatoes, 3 1/2 cups water, brown sugar and lemon juice. Simmer until meat is tender, about 2 to 3 hours. Soup should be thin. If it is not, add water. Makes 10 to 12 servings.

NUTRITION INFORMATION PER SERVING: 136 calories; 2 grams fat; 4 milligrams cholesterol; 1,518 milligrams sodium.

HELGA HENNINGER'S RED CABBAGE

2 to 3 slices uncooked bacon, diced

1 large onion, diced

1 medium head red cabbage, coarsely shredded

1 bay leaf

4 to 5 whole cloves

4 to 5 whole black peppercorns

Salt to taste

2 tablespoons white vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

3 to 4 tart apples (such as Granny Smith), peeled, cored and cut into eighths

1/4 cup dry red OR white wine

In a Dutch oven over medium heat, fry bacon and onion until onion is translucent. Reduce heat, add shredded cabbage to bacon and oil. Saute until cabbage is warm. Cover and cook 3 to 4 minutes. Add bay leaf, cloves, peppercorns, pinch salt, vinegar, sugar and apples and stir together. Add wine and simmer 1 to 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Season to taste with salt. Serve warm. Makes 12 servings.

NUTRITION INFORMATION PER SERVING: 68 calories; 2 grams fat; 2 milligrams cholesterol; 413 milligrams sodium.

COLD AND HOT CABBAGE

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns

7 dried red chiles

1 teaspoon ginger, finely shredded

1 cup water

3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon sugar

3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon white vinegar

Pinch salt

1 head Chinese cabbage, shredded

1 carrot, julienned

2 stalks celery, julienned

Heat oil in a wok until very hot. Add peppercorns and stir-fry until you smell them. Remove and discard peppercorns.

Add dried red chiles, and when they turn black, add ginger and stir-fry a few seconds. Add water; when it boils, add sugar, vinegar and salt and stir. Turn off heat and let cool. When cool, add to cabbage, carrot and celery and mix well. Refrigerate 2 days. Makes 10 servings.

NUTRITION INFORMATION PER SERVING: 40 calories; 1 gram fat; 0 cholesterol; 355 milligrams sodium.

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Photo (Color) A half-cup of shredded cabbage contains between five and 10 calories. Juan Garcia/Dallas Morning News