Stewed napa cabbage and tofu with vermicelli noodles 白菜炖冻豆腐
A Northern Chinese stew of napa cabbage with chewy, translucent glass noodles. Wedges of spongy tofu, soaking up all the salty, spicy broth. Vegan and gluten-free.
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 to 6 1x
- Category: One-Pot Dishes
- Method: Stew 炖 (dun)
- Cuisine: Chinese
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
Scale
- 3 ounces (85 grams) sweet potato vermicelli noodles (also called glass noodles, the Korean kind used for japchae is great)
- 1 pound (450 grams) napa cabbage
- 14 to 16 ounces (390 to 420 grams) frozen medium or firm tofu, thawed
- 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
- ¼ ounce (1-inch thumb, 7 grams) ginger, sliced
- 4 scallions, white part cut into 1-inch pieces, green part thinly sliced and reserved for garnish
- 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 4 dried red chiles, snipped in half and seeds shaken out (optional)
- 1 star anise pod (optional)
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon vegetarian oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoons Sichuan chili bean paste (dou ban jiang)
- 2 cups (480ml) vegetable stock
- ½ teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
Instructions
- Soak the glass noodles in a bowl of warm water for 15 minutes to soften.
- While the noodles are soaking, peel off the outer leaves of the napa cabbage. Trim off the root end, and slice the remaining stems and leaves into roughly ¼-inch shreds. Cut the thawed tofu into ½-inch thick triangles or 1-inch cubes.
- In a wok, heat the oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the ginger, scallions, garlic, dried chiles and star anise (if using), and stir-fry briskly until you can smell their fragrance, about 30 seconds. Add the sugar, soy sauce, vegetarian oyster sauce, and chili bean paste, and stir-fry until the chili bean paste has released its red oil.
- Add the napa cabbage and briefly stir-fry until coated and softened.
- Drop in the drained noodles and the tofu. Pour in the stock and cover.
- Simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the napa cabbage is tender and the noodles are fully cooked but still retain a slight chewiness. Taste the broth and add salt if needed. Serve hot!
Notes
- For a mild version, replace the chili bean paste with yellow fermented soybean paste (huang dou jiang).
- You can also use fried tofu puffs / store-bought fried tofu in place of the frozen tofu, or add both!