I used to live in Japan, and loved the flavors in ordinary, everyday food. I usually did not know exactly what the flavors were, but was able to pick up a bit of how they combined flavors for their sauces when people invited me to their homes and indulged my inquiries about how
to cook Japanese food. The sauce in this dish is my attempt to recreate those flavors I love from that time in my life.
to cook Japanese food. The sauce in this dish is my attempt to recreate those flavors I love from that time in my life.
1 clove garlic, chopped or pressed
3 cups broccoli, cut into florets
½ head cabbage, cut into shreds
2 carrots, sliced on diagonal
1 green pepper, cut into slices
1 onion, chopped
1 lb. tofu cut into 1” squares
canola oil to coat pan for each batch of vegetable frying
1 cup vegetable broth
3 TBS soy sauce
3 TBS mirin
splash rice vinegar
1 TBS sugar
splash of ginger juice (I buy this in a gourmet store, but you could also just chop up a little piece of ginger)
1 TBS corn starch
2 TBS water
Prepare all vegetables.
Prepare sauce: mix vegetable broth, soy sauce, mirin, rice vinegar, and sugar in a small bowl and set aside.
In large frying pan, fry garlic quickly for a few seconds, then add vegetables in batches, removing from pan when crisp-tender to place in bowls. First broccoli and carrots, then onions, peppers and cabbage. Next fry tofu until lightly browned. Then return all vegetables to pan and stir together. Pour sauce over all and stir for a few minutes. Mix cornstarch and water together in small bowl and then add to liquid in pan and stir everything together. Cook for a few minutes, continuing to stir. Serve with rice.
Great recipe! The whole family loved it. Quick and easy apart from the chopping. Coating the veggies in oil before stir frying them was a tip I never knew before and will use again. Thanks Wendy!