Cabbage Crunch Salad with Sticky Ginger Tofu

Sometimes there is nothing better than a crunchy salad! Maybe you guys think it’s a little early in the year to be talking salads but I’m ready for it, and bring on spring while you’re at it. This salad makes a great segway from winter to spring too because it uses vegetables that are easily available in my neck of the woods all winter long. Cabbage, carrots and fresh herbs are all things I can get my hands on from local growers all year. The bell pepper is a wild card but oh so good in this combo – adding a little sweetness to the mix.

The tofu accompanying all those crunchy veggies is prepared in my favourite way. It is a technique I only learned a couple of years ago but that works really well. The firm tofu is tossed in corn starch, fried in oil and then finished with a marinade that becomes a little sticky as it cooks in the residual heat. It is actually very easy to prepare and a joy to eat. I would even recommend this recipe to tofu skeptics!

The marinade and the dressing has a touch of South East Asian flavours that makes it all sing. To prepare this recipe in the most efficient way you can make the marinade for the tofu and the dressing at the same time because they contain mostly the same ingredients. What’s nice in the end though is that one has turned into a sticky glaze and the other coats the veggies beautifully with the flavours still fresh.

Make this for lunch and invite your friends over or meal prep it for lunch boxes – it’ll be a delight in both scenarios!

Malin x

Cabbage Crunch Salad with Sticky Ginger Tofu

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

Quick pickled chilis:

2 (40 g) long green mild chili peppers*

0,25 cup rice vinegar

0,25 cup water

0,25 tsp sugar

0,25 tsp salt

Sticky tofu:

1 block (400 g) extra firm tofu

1 tbsp corn starch

2 tbsp soy sauce or tamari

1 tsp maple syrup

1 tsp toasted sesame oil

1 tsp rice vinegar

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tsp fresh ginger, grated

0,5 tsp chili flakes

1 tbsp oil, for frying

Dressing:

1 tbsp toasted sesame oil

1 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tbsp maple syrup

1 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon ginger, finely grated

1 lime, juice only

Salad:

4 cups shredded green cabbage

2 cups shredded red cabbage

1,5 cup carrots, julienned**

1 yellow/red/orange bell pepper, julienned

1 cup fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped

0,75 cup spring onion, finely sliced

For serving:

0,5 cup toasted and salted mixed nuts***, roughly chopped

Toasted sesame seeds, optional

Coriander leaves, optional

Sliced spring onion, optional

METHOD:

Quick Pickled Chilis

Clean and slice the chilis into thin rings. Transfer to a small jar. Pour the rice vinegar and water into a small saucepan and add the sugar and salt. Warm on low heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Pour the liquid over the chilis and set aside.

Sticky Tofu

Pat the tofu dry with a clean dish cloth and cut into rectangular slices roughly 0,5 cm thick. Transfer the sliced tofu to a bowl and sprinkle the corn starch over them. Toss to cover and set aside.

Combine soy sauce, maple syrup, toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar, minced garlic, grated ginger and chili flakes in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Once warm fry the tofu in a single layer for 4-5 minutes or until golden on the first side. Flip over and fry for another 2-3 minutes or until golden and crisp on both sides.

Take the tofu off the heat. Pour the prepared sauce over the tofu in the skillet and toss to coat. Allow to absorb and gently fry off in the residual heat in the skillet.

Dressing and Salad

Combine all the ingredients for the salad dressing in a jar and shake to combine.

Add all the prepared vegetables to a large mixing bowl and toss to combine. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat.

Serve

Transfer the salad to a large serving dish or bowl. Spread the tofu over the top or toss it into the salad. Top with roughly chopped salted nuts as well as more fresh coriander leaves and spring onion slices. Finally sprinkle over the quick pickled chilis as well as toasted sesame seeds.

* The chilis I buy for these pickles are very non-descript in our Swedish supermarkets but are a long and mild variety. You could use jalapeño peppers as an option.

** I use a julienne peeler to prepare the carrots by slicing them lengthways and then chopping the long carrot strips into shorter inch long slivers.

*** I used a mix of peanuts, cashew nuts and almonds that were pre roasted and salted.