When you are faced with cooking this delicious “cabbage stew tofu”, the question of whether to fry cabbage or stew tofu first is actually a subtle one. But rest assured, I will reveal the best practices to ensure that the dish not only looks good, but also meets your expectations of not having enough to eat in one pot.
First of all, let’s be clear that the success of this dish lies in the perfect combination of sweet cabbage and tender tofu, and the cooking order directly affects the texture and flavor of both.
The correct cooking order: sauteed cabbage, then stewed tofu
Step analysis:
Prepare the ingredients: Use fresh cabbage, wash it and cut it into manageable pieces. The tofu is cut into evenly thick sheets, which can be gently soaked with kitchen paper towels to prevent breaking during braising.
Stir-fry cabbage: Add the appropriate amount of oil in the hot pot, and when the oil temperature rises, first add onion, ginger, garlic and other seasonings to stir fragrant, then quickly add the cut cabbage and stir-fry. The key here is to heat every part of the cabbage evenly, until the cabbage is slightly tender and slightly transparent around the edges, releasing its natural clear sweetness.
Seasoning and braising: stir-fry the cabbage until it is half-cooked, and add appropriate amount of salt, chicken essence or other seasonings to taste according to personal taste. At this time, you can pour a little water or stock along the edge of the pot, cover the pot, turn the heat to simmer for a few minutes, so that the cabbage fully absorb the flavor of the seasoning, become more soft and rotten taste.
Add the tofu: When the cabbage is about 80% cooked, gently add the sliced tofu to the pot, taking care not to let the tofu break. At this point, you can gently push the cabbage with a shovel, so that the tofu is fully in contact with the cabbage and the broth. Because tofu is tender and smooth, it does not need to be stewed for a long time to avoid losing its delicate taste.
Take the juice out of the pot: Continue to simmer with low heat for a few minutes, until the soup is slightly thickened and the tofu has completely absorbed the flavor of the cabbage and seasoning, then turn off the heat and remove the pot. When serving, sprinkle some green onion or cilantro as embellishment to add color and aroma to the dish.
In SUMMARY:
By stir-frying cabbage and stewing tofu first, we can not only retain the fresh sweetness and crisp tenderness of cabbage, but also make tofu fully absorb the flavor of soup and condiments in the subsequent stewing process, becoming more delicious and delicious. This cooking method not only ensures the original flavor of the ingredients, but also makes the whole dish taste more rich and diverse. I believe that in accordance with such steps to produce “cabbage stew tofu”, will be able to let you taste endless, a pot is not enough to eat!
