Meera Sodha’s vegan recipe for three-treasures soup

From theguardian.com

A Chinese-style winter warmer of tofu, cabbage and spring onions 

have always loved the vivid language used to describe Chinese food, from the bewitching “ants climbing a tree” (a mince and noodle dish) to “Buddha jumps over the wall” – a dish that’s reportedly so delicious that Buddha apparently would. There are many dishes called “treasure” dishes, from four-treasure duck to eight-treasures soup, and I’m often struck by how everyday some of the ingredients in them are, though they may perhaps have been more celebrated centuries ago. This soup is my own attempt to celebrate the three main ingredients in the dish, all of them simple, but all much treasured in my kitchen: tofu, cabbage and spring onions.

Three-treasures soup

Meera Sodha’s three-treasures soup. Photograph: Louise Hagger/The Guardian. Food styling: Emily Kydd. Prop styling: Jennifer Kay. Food styling assistant: Susanna Unsworth.

You’ll need the vegan/vegetarian equivalent of oyster sauce, called mushroom stir-fry sauce, to make this – Lee Kum Kee make a great and widely accessible one. You’ll also need a 28cm-wide nonstick frying pan. This soup is best eaten over jasmine rice –make sure you cook the rice first, because it will stay warm for an hour.

Prep 10 min
Cook 35 min
Serves 4

450g extra firm tofu, drained
4 tbsp rapeseed oil
7 spring onions, whites finely chopped, greens cut at an angle into 2cm lengths
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
3cm x 1cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and julienned
1 hispi cabbage, cored, chopped and cut into 3cm x 3cm pieces (400-500g)
Fine sea salt
1½ tbsp light soy sauce
4 tsp rice-wine vinegar
3 tbsp vegetarian mushroom stir-fry sauce
1½ tbsp cornflour
Cooked jasmine rice, to serve

Pat the tofu dry with kitchen paper, then cut into 3cm x 2cm blocks and put on a plate to one side of the hob.

Put two tablespoons of oil in a non-stick frying pan on a medium heat and, when hot, lay in the tofu pieces in a single layer. Fry for 12 minutes, turning them every three or so minutes, until golden brown, then transfer back to the plate.

Put the remaining two tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan on a medium heat and, when hot, add the spring onions (both the whites and greens), garlic and ginger, and cook, stirring, for three or four minutes, until the garlic smells cooked and not raw. Add the hispi and a teaspoon and a quarter of salt, stir-fry for three minutes, then add the soy, vinegar and mushroom stir-fry sauce, and mix well. Add the fried tofu and a litre of water.

Take out a spoonful of liquid and mix it in a small bowl with the cornflour, to make a thin paste. Tip this into the soup, bring the liquid up to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and leave to cook for six to eight minutes, until the hispi is tender. Taste and add more soy or salt or vinegar to balance, if need be.

Put a large spoonful of cooked rice in the bottom of each bowl, ladle the hot soup over the top and serve.

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2023/nov/25/chinese-three-treasures-soup-recipe-meera-sodha