Frozen Tofu & Napa Cabbage Stew

Tofu is sometimes called “vegetarian cheese” because of the high-quality protein it contains. It doesn’t only provide high-quality protein that meat does, but it is also rich in calcium and iron. The most wonderful thing is that tofu has very low fat with ZERO cholesterol. With such varieties of benefits, tofu has become super popular in western diet within the recent 10 years. The bottom line is, you can’t call yourself a healthy foodie and not loving tofu.

 

Despite how tofu is prepared in most western diets, let’s take a look at an authentic Chinese northeastern recipe called “Tofu & Napa Cabbage Stew”

 

Ingredients (2 servings)

• Frozen Tofu – 1 pack (340g/14oz). This recipe will call for “Extra Firm Tofu”. The firmer the tofu, the less water and greater amount of calcium and protein it contains. To make Tofu taste like meat, the key is to control the texture. Even through fried-tofu is very close to meat’s texture, but deep-frying technique adds a lot of oil, which provides ton of calories. However, frozen tofu provides the same texture that fried tofu does except for it doesn’t add extra calories. All you need to do is to throw the tofu into freezer the night before you use it.
• Napa Cabbage – 400 grams or around 1 lb
• Sauerkraut, a type of fermented cabbage, which is found in both Germany and Northeastern part of China– 100 grams or 3oz. Sauerkraut will enhance the flavor of the stew, but its sodium level is pretty high that we won’t use a whole lot of it.
• Oil – 1 tablespoon / 15ml
• Scallion – 2 pieces
• Low-sodium soy sauce – 4 teaspoon/20ml. Recommend naturally brewed soy sauce which brings in stronger savory taste.

 

Directions

1. Heat up a large skillet at High temperature. Cut off the white part of scallion into small pieces, and then combine it with vegetable oil in the skillet. (This step takes about one minute)       
2. Add the rest of ingredients, and stir around. Turn the heat to medium. Cover the skillet and wait for 15-20 minutes
3. Plate the dish, and sprinkle some pre-cut green scallion.

This might be the easiest recipe that requires absolutely no cooking skill; but it’s also tasty and provides decent amount of nutrients.

From the above nutrition facts you will find out that this dish will fill you up with proper portion of high quality protein and good fat and great amount of micronutrients with ONLY 260 Kcal!  Isn’t tofu a SUPER food?