crispy tofu and cabbage with pickled fennel
Once more, I return to the eternal conundrum of lunch and what people are meant to eat for it. This is a quick and dirty stir fry situation (once you do the pickling park) that is made quicker and dirtier by my recent acquisition of a rice cooker. If the rice cooker life isn’t for you, this will probably take you longer. But. I don’t live in your kitchen, I live in mine. Is this the be-all-end-all of asian-inspired cooking? Obviously not. Does it taste good? Obviously.
crispy tofu and cabbage with pickled fennel
You can find the recipe I used to pickle the fennel here :-). I love it.
1lb firm tofu, cut into 1-inch cubes
Neutral oil
1 head of cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
6 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts separated
1 tablespoon gochujang or other chili paste, such as sambal oelek
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Rice, for serving
Cucumbers, sliced or smashed, for serving
Pickle the fennel according to the above recipe. Set aside.
Place the cubed tofu between two sheets of paper towel, with a heavy sheet tray on top of them to press out some of its water.
Once it’s significantly drier than it was (it will never be totally dry), heat a large cast iron skillet over high heat. Once wisps of smoke start to fly off the skillet, add about 2-3 tablespoons of neutral oil and let it heat up. When the oil starts to shimmer, add the tofu to the skillet, moving it into one even layer and seasoning it with a large pinch of salt. Let each side of each tofu cube brown for about two minutes, then remove the tofu from the skillet and set aside.
Add the scallion whites and half the cabbage to the skillet, seasoning it with a pinch of salt. Let it cook down until the other half fits in as well, then toss everything together and let the cabbage soften until it’s floppy but not mushy (we still want some texture here). This took me about 8 minutes but it might take more or less depending on your stove.
Add the soy sauce and gochujang to the skillet and toss everything until the cabbage is coated in an even, red, layer. Add the tofu and scallion greens in and toss everything (gently!) to combine.
Serve over rice, adding the pickled fennel over top the cabbage and tofu, with cucumbers on the side.
Ta-ta for now,
Nicki (from my teeny tiny kitchen)