MYKOLA: Today, we make our signature dish at Ruta, meat holubtsi.

SETH: All right.

Holubtsi, uh, not familiar with that.

MYKOLA: This is stuffed cabbage dish.

You can find this dish at all part of Ukraine.

Usually, this dish is for celebration, for Christmas, for New Year.

I think it's part of our history.

SETH: All right, well, I am ready for a celebration.

How do you get started with this cabbage here?

MYKOLA: First, we need a big size of cabbage.

SETH: Yeah, and that cabbage is no joke.

MYKOLA: Yes!

And very good and fresh cabbage.

Let's flip our cabbage and just cut this part.

SETH: This is the tough part of the cabbage.

MYKOLA: Yeah.

Here we go.

We have very hard-boiled water and I can use cook's fork and tongs for this because it's very, very, very dangerous.

SETH: We're dropping the whole cabbage into the water.

MYKOLA: Oh, yeah.

Look at this.

SETH: You are definitely not overcooking these cabbage leaves at this stage of the process.

MYKOLA: Yes.

SETH: They look like they still have some nice freshness to them.

MYKOLA: I like cabbage.

Now, we're done with our fresh cabbage, cover, and put for cooling our leaves and start making our stuffing.

And for start, we need very hot oil.

So, I'm mixing it for light brown color.

SETH: And it's smelling really nice.

MYKOLA: Yep.

I can't repeat this because she puts her love inside.

I can make it.

SETH: All right, so this is the restaurant version of home cooking.

MYKOLA: Yeah, we make the restaurant version, but a little bit of Ukrainian soul you have inside.

And now we're ready for carrots.

We need to soften a little bit.

We're going to add salt and pepper.

Look how the color is a golden color.

Our carrots and onion ready for stuffing.

Our bowl.

And we can start our ground beef.

Ground chicken.

SETH: Chicken and beef going into these.

MYKOLA: Yes.

Ground chicken thighs because it's more fat meat and more juicy.

We have more juicy holubtsi.

And now, we can add our boiled rice.

And we're ready for half of our cooked vegetables and save half vegetables for our sauce.

And add our salt, add our garlic powder.

SETH: Lots of garlic powder going in.

MYKOLA: Yes.

And now our black pepper.

And we mix it.

Now, our stuffing is ready.

We can start to make our sauce.

We're going to use the carrot and onions.

We add some water and sugar, salt, and pepper.

Now, we can start rolling the holubtsi.

We put up our stuffing and roll it up.

Now, we have all of our holubtsi in the pan.

We are going to put bay leaf and cover up our holubtsi with the sauce.

We're going to put it in the oven for one hour to braise.

Now, we're going to serve it in the plate.

We're going to put some herbs and micro-greens and the radish, and our dish is ready to eat.

SETH: All right, gentlemen, this table, full of beautiful colors.

None more so than this drink right here.

RUSLAN: That's right.

And signature dishes and signature drinks as well.

This is our signature cocktail called Patriot.

So, in Ukraine, our flags symbolize two things.

Blue symbolizes our clear sky, and yellow symbolizes wheat.

So, we have blue curaçao and some Ukrainian khrenovuha, horseradish liquor in it.

SETH: Horseradish liquor.

All right.

I would say cheers, but I'm sure there's a better way to say it in Ukrainian.

RUSLAN: We say "budmo."

SETH: Budmo!

MYKOLA: Budmo!

SETH: All right.

Well, that has whetted my appetite for this holubtsi right here.

RUSLAN: Important thing, don't forget to use sour cream.

SETH: All right, you got it.

That is first-rate.

I love that rich tomato-y flavor.

There's a little hint of sweetness, but the filling inside, so juicy and flavorful.

And the cabbage just holds it all together, literally and figuratively.

Well, Chef, I can't hold it up against your grandmother's version of holubtsi.

MYKOLA: Yes.

Exactly.

SETH: But I can certainly taste a lot of love in that dish as well.

MYKOLA: Thank you, I appreciate this.

My grandmother makes it more delicious, but I can't repeat it.

SETH: I have to imagine this is pretty close, but it looks like we have an entire Ukrainian feast here.

I think I'd recognize this anywhere in the world.

Are we talking some borscht right here?

RUSLAN: It is.

It is a staple of Ukrainian cuisine right in front.

Borscht was recognized as Ukrainian heritage by UNESCA recently.

So it's definitely one of the most recognizable Ukrainian dishes.

SETH: Great, earthy depth of flavor.

And just the tiniest little kick of spice, maybe coming from some paprika in there.

MYKOLA: Yeah, we have different type of borscht.

And this one represents from my home city from Eastern Ukraine because west of Ukraine don't use a lot of tomato.

And sometimes without the potato, just vegetables, cabbage, and beets.

RUSLAN: In Ukraine, you'll find at least 20 different versions of borscht.

MYKOLA: I think even more.

RUSLAN: Even more.

SETH: And how do you feel about Chef Mykola's eastern take on borscht?

RUSLAN: It's one of the best.