Fried Tofu on Gingery Cabbage

​Fried tofu on gingery cabbage topped with stir-fried shiitake mushroom is a simple-tasting yet delicious dish that is perfect for freshening up your taste buds specially after a series of excessively flavorful meals.

​Inspired by the Filipino soup, nilaga, the cabbage layer of this dish is flavored quite similarly with the said soup. However, since this one was also meant to be included in my husband's bento, I made this one as "dry" as possible. I just lightly stir-fried the cabbage on ginger, then added a little water to cook and soften it. ​My husband loved this dish from the moment he first tasted it, so he requested it to be cooked again and again and we ended up eating it for 4 consecutive meals... One more meal and I would have hated it and not posted it here. Haha!

---

Ingredients

• cabbage, torn into ~2x3 inch pieces

• tofu, cut into thin squares

• shiitake mushroom, cut thinly

• ginger, grated (or cut according to preference)

• VCP

• ajinomoto

• black pepper

• salt (optional)

• vegetable oil

• water

​ Procedure

1. On a lightly greased pan, stir-fry shiitake as desired. Then remove from pan and set aside.

2. Add more oil on the same pan-- just enough to keep the tofu from sticking onto the pan; we are not deep frying it this time.

3. Season both sides of the the tofu with black pepper and ajinomoto. Fry it in medium heat. Once desired doneness is achieved, remove from pan and set aside.

4. Pour out the oil from the pan then stir-fry ginger on the remaining oil. Add cabbage once the ginger is lightly browned. Season with black pepper and vegetarian chicken powder.

5. After about a minute of stir-frying, add a small amount of water, enough to lightly soak the cabbage. Let it boil until cooked.

6. On a plate, arrange the cabbage then top with tofu then shiitake.

7. Serve hot!

Tips and Tricks Don't make your cabbage too flavorful since the tofu is already seasoned with ajinomoto and shiitake itself is flavorful. Make the cabbage lightly flavored to the point that one would want to eat more to taste it fully. A hint of VCP and a little more of the ginger taste would be fancy. If you're preparing it on a cold night, I suggest turning it into a soup. Leftovers are also a wonderful day starter!

#tofu