Stir-Fried Cabbage, Tofu and Red Pepper Recipe (2024)

By Martha Rose Shulman

Stir-Fried Cabbage, Tofu and Red Pepper Recipe (1)

Total Time
About 15 minutes
Rating
4(1,222)
Notes
Read community notes

Start cooking the rice or quinoa that you will serve this with, prep your vegetables and make the stir-fry. The prep is the most time-consuming but there aren’t too many ingredients. You can be sitting down about 35 minutes after you begin.

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Ingredients

Yield:Serves 4

  • 12ounces firm tofu
  • ½cup chicken stock or vegetable stock
  • 2tablespoons soy sauce
  • ½teaspoon sugar
  • 1tablespoon rice wine vinegar or dry sherry
  • 2teaspoons sesame oil
  • 1teaspoon cornstarch
  • 2tablespoons peanut oil, rice bran oil or grape seed oil
  • 1tablespoon minced ginger
  • 2large garlic cloves, minced
  • ½medium cabbage, chopped (about ½ pound, 5 cups chopped)
  • 1red pepper, cut in 2-inch long julienne
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
  • ¼cup broken walnuts
  • Cooked rice or quinoa for serving

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

354 calories; 22 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 11 grams polyunsaturated fat; 25 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 18 grams protein; 539 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Stir-Fried Cabbage, Tofu and Red Pepper Recipe (2)

Preparation

  1. Step

    1

    Cut the tofu into dominoes and drain between paper towels. In a small bowl or measuring cup combine the stock, 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce, the sugar, rice wine or sherry, and the sesame oil. Remove 1 tablespoon to a small bowl and stir in the cornstarch. Stir until it has dissolved. Have all the ingredients within arm’s length of your pan.

  2. Heat a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok or 12-inch steel skillet over high heat until a drop of water evaporates within a second or two when added to the pan. Swirl in 1 tablespoon of the oil by adding it to the sides of the pan and swirling the pan, then add the tofu and stir-fry until golden, about 3 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon soy sauce (or to taste), toss together for a few seconds, and transfer to a plate.

  3. Step

    3

    Swirl in the remaining oil, add the garlic and ginger to the wok and stir-fry for no more than 10 seconds. Add the red pepper and stir-fry for 1 minute, or until it begins to soften, and add the cabbage and walnuts. Stir-fry for 1 minute, add salt and pepper to taste, and stir-fry for another 1 to 2 minutes, until crisp-tender. Return the tofu to the wok, stir in the walnuts and the stock/soy sauce mixture and stir-fry for another minute, until it has just about evaporated. Stir in the cornstarch mixture and stir-fry until the ingredients are lightly glazed. Remove from the heat and serve with quinoa or rice.

Tips

  • If you want to reduce the fat, omit the sesame oil.
  • Advance preparation: This is last minute, though your ingredients can be prepped hours ahead of time and the cooked rice or quinoa you will be serving this with will keep for three days in the refrigerator and freeze well.

Ratings

4

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1,222

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

H.L.

Excellent balance of flavors + visual appeal. After preparing it a couple of times I have found a few minor changes improve taste and texture. 1. Lightly coat the tofu in flour before frying. 2. Decrease stock to avoid too much steam/keep veggies crisp. 3. Grate (rather than mince) ginger so that it will be more evenly distributed throughout the dish. 4. A few red chili flakes and some cayenne add zing.

CMT

Serves 4? Maybe 4 very tiny people. I just ate this whole thing for dinner.

ZR

You might try baking your tofu. Preheat oven to 4251 pkg firm tofu. Patted dry. Cut however you want, 1” squares to little loafs work great. Make a slurry ⬇️1 tbs canola oil1 tbs corn starch1 tbs soy sauceDip tofu and place on PARCHMENT PAPER and bake for 20 mins till desired crispness.

Beirne

Good recipe. After I made it my wife added some sriracha and peanuts, which made it even better.

Daniel

I switched tofu for chicken breasts, cubed, and it still tasted good with some tips from other notes. Every of us has our own preferences so every meal is unique.

Lisa4bikes

Add a little more ginger. Or perhaps add one of the hot peppers from the yard. Jalapeño or Serrano, saute c the garlic to mellow the peppers.

Suzyz

I doubled the peanut oil and fried the tofu for much longer then 3 minutes, until it was truly golden brown. By then all the oil was gone. End result was delicious! Even my 14 year old son loved it!

Karen M

Once everything is chopped up, the cooking goes super fast so do have everything within reach, as noted in the recipe. I think the sesame oil is an important flavor note for the dish. It's lovely over quinoa.

Marian V.

This is very good. I marinated the tofu in the spicy marinade from the recipe on this site and used it in the recipe instead of the sauce listed.

Emily

Pressed tofu for 15 minutes first, used purple cabbage and tri-color frozen peppers. Added sriacha to the sauce for a little kick and think that helped. Omitted walnuts because I didn't have any. Served with peanuts and cilantro over rice. Easy and quick, but not life changing. I'll make again.

Suellen

Ok. Next time, use half the stock and add some heat (chili peppers?) Substitute peanuts for walnuts: more flavor, and add them just before serving. I served it with snow peas: maybe just add the snow peas to the dish for color? Finally dredge the tofu in cornstarch so it will brown without sticking to the pan

Nancy

This is one of my three ingredient go to dishes. I use live oil in a large fry pan or wok, heat add shredded cabbage, grated potatoes, and flaked fish, such as cod. Lots of pepper and salt. Serve at once.

Lynne

Loved this. Made it last night. I took someone's advice to press the tofu for 15 minutes and then dredge the tofu pieces in cornmeal and they cooked beautifully though took quite a bit longer, but worth it. I also used purple cabbage and yellow pepper.

Meta

This was good but, as noted below, a bit dull. Agree that it needs a bit of hot pepper flakes. I found that it served 3 generously.

Robyn

Add chili oil to tofu marinade, jalapenos to the stir fry, grate the ginger. Press and flour the tofu before frying, add chopped cilantro.

PegR in IL.

Surprisingly not as hot or spicy as I was looking for and I was generous with garlic, ginger, etc. prep instructions a little confusing on order of oils versus sauce versus “paste” but got there in the end. Tasty enough but tofu and cabbage had tendency to mute the sauce, oil combos.

OC

I skipped the cornstarch part, and used water instead of stock. I also used white wine vinegar instead of the rice vinegar. Still delicious. I might add a bit more walnuts next time- their crunch was a perfect complement to the veggies.

John

I leave out the walnuts. I also skip the step of separating 1 Tbsp of the broth to mix in the corn starch, I just mix the starch right in to the bowl.

Nela

Pretty good recipe, but 15 minutes is a huge underestimation of how long it will take if you include prep time.

Stina

It seemed surprisingly bland. I might double the ginger and garlic. Someone else mentioned adding peanuts. That sounds worth a try.

LA mom

This is just OK. Easy to make but nothing special.

Lilybeth

Riffed on this one but it came out great - roasted veggies with sesame oil in the oven, made baked tofu by tossing it with oil, tamari, and cornstarch, added one minced clove of garlic to the veggies for the last 5 min. Meanwhile made a version of the sauce with sesame oil, tamari, rice vinegar, more garlic, and ginger, and tossed everything with that. Made two large servings (using 8 oz tofu), perfect!

Carolyn

This was a great weeknight dinner. I did take the shortcut of using a bag of coleslaw mix, and it really helped with the prep

Nancy

the oven method for tofu is excellent1 T corn starch 1T soy sauce1 T sesame oilmake slurry and dip tofu put on parchment400 C 20 min

Kat

Boring. Move on

Kat

Oops - thought that earlier note was going to be private! I'll rephrase that more politely - This recipe is easy and quick, but lacks depth. There are better alternatives with these ingredients.

Jeanne

Fast, nourishing, and good. Added sugar snap peas--good. Definitely a weeknight keeper.

Jeanne

Nice, fast, unexceptional. Added sugar snap peas.

Matt

Might need a little fish sauce to increase the flavor.

Gina

I toss the drained, dried, cubed or sliced tofu in a paper bag with cornstarch and powdered ginger and garlic, then shake off the excess and fry or bake the tofu. Gives it a nice crunch and flavor. For EXTRA crunch, dip in beaten egg first; that gives the tofu a battered, crispy exterior. (I do the same thing with different (Italian) seasonings for “tofu cacciatore,” keeping the garlic but omitting the ginger, of course.)

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Stir-Fried Cabbage, Tofu and Red Pepper Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Do you need to press tofu before stir frying? ›

Press the Tofu Before Stir-Frying

Young also advises pressing the tofu, even extra-firm tofu, between a few layers of paper towels and with something heavy to weigh it down. It's a few extra minutes of work, but there's a big payoff in the texture of the finished tofu.

Why should you use firm or extra-firm tofu when making a stir fry? ›

Extra-Firm Tofu has the least amount of liquid. It's what I always recommend for stir fries, especially if it will be cubed like in this General Tso's Tofu Stir Fry. It still has enough liquid to where you will need to squeeze some of the liquid out. For cooking tips, check out my post about Crispy Tofu.

Why is Napa cabbage good for stir frying? ›

Napa Cabbage Stir Fry: Easy, Kid Approved, and a Super Food. Napa Cabbage, also known as Chinese cabbage or sui choy in Cantonese, is super easy to prepare, tastes tender, and has an almost sweet, mild flavored that goes well with other foods.

What happens if you don't drain tofu before cooking? ›

Here's the thing: even though tofu might be labeled firm or extra-firm, it contains a lot of water. This excess water can cause the tofu to crumble when you cook it, and it will also have a hard time crisping up. But when you press tofu, you remove the excess moisture.

What kind of tofu is best for stir fry? ›

Use Firm and Extra Firm Tofu (least amount of water) for crumbling, stir-frying, grilling, and deep-frying.

What not to mix with tofu? ›

What to not serve with tofu? According to studies, a high volume consumption of tofu and spinach together can increase your risk of kidney stones. Tofu and spinach contain calcium and oxalic acid respectively and the combined can form kidney stones.

How long to press tofu for stir-fry? ›

How long does it take to press tofu? It takes around half an hour to press the tofu in preparation for cooking. It's simple to do and requires very little effort. You only need a plate, some absorbent fabric or paper, such as clean tea-towels or kitchen paper, and a weight – we often use a frying pan.

How do you stir fry tofu without it falling apart? ›

Use tender tofu and be gentle.

You add the tofu to the pan and gently shake or stir it. You don't vigorously move it around the wok with a spatula, lest it fall apart. There's a fair amount of liquid and seasoning too so the tofu takes on the other ingredients. This is delicate stir-frying with some simmering involved.

How to make fried tofu like Chinese restaurants? ›

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. One piece at a time, dip the tofu into the cornstarch to coat both sides, then into the beaten egg. Immediately transfer to the skillet for pan frying. Cook until both sides turn golden brown.

What is the best oil to saute tofu in? ›

Type of oil to use for frying tofu: Canola is great and so are vegetable/soybean oil and refined peanut oil. In general, choose a neutral-flavored oil that has a high smoking point. That is, don't deep-fry with sesame oil.

Can you coat tofu in flour instead of cornstarch? ›

Substitutions: If you prefer not to cook with cornstarch, you can substitute in an equal volume of all-purpose flour or potato starch. Tofu: This recipe can also be made with medium-firm tofu, but you'll need to be a bit more gentle while pressing and coating it.

Which is healthier green cabbage or napa cabbage? ›

Napa and regular cabbage are both low-fat, low-calorie and low-carb, but the nutritious profile of napa cabbage offers higher levels of vitamins C, K and folate than green cabbage. It also delivers higher levels of essential minerals.

Can you eat too much napa cabbage? ›

Consuming cabbage in excess can result in abdominal discomfort, diarrhoea and flatulence.

Can you skip pressing tofu? ›

In many recipes—crispy tofu nuggets, for example—you can skip this lengthy step. You'll see this instruction over and over and over in tofu recipes: Press the block for at least 30 minutes, ideally an hour, before cooking.

Do you press tofu before or after marinade? ›

I recommend always pressing tofu before baking it, especially if you're marinating it first — removing excess liquid will make room for all that flavorful marinade. Pan-frying and frying. Pressing your tofu before frying or pan-frying is a good idea!

How do you press tofu without a tofu press? ›

Place a heavy pan on top of the tofu and add two canned items in the pan to apply weight to the tofu. Make sure that the weight is balanced to press down evenly on the top of the tofu without being too heavy to break the tofu. This will help to squeeze out the moisture from the tofu block.

How to stir fry tofu? ›

Pat the tofu chunks dry, then season well. Heat half the oil in a wok or large frying pan over a high heat. Fry the tofu for 5 mins until golden, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and ginger and fry for 1 min more.

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