Cabbage and Tofu Mei Fun
Welcome to To Vegetables, With Love, a celebration of a vegetable life, less ordinary.
My book Tenderheart is available from Books are Magic, Kitchen, Arts and Letters, Book Larder, Bold Fork Books and also here or here.
I’m on a cabbage kick right now. More so than usual. For me, it’s a beacon, an invitation to stay bright. Their robust leaves, which retain a bite even after vigorous cooking, are an antidote to winter stodge.
It’s weeknight dinner insurance to know you have cabbage in the fridge.
A few weeks ago, I shared this wintry cabbage salad and it seemed to hit the spot for many of you.
I particularly love cabbage with vermicelli. It’s an unfussy combination that always comes together fautlessly. In Tenderheart, there is a wonderful sweet and tangy cabbage and mung bean vermicelli stir-fry (cabbage chapter) that is tossed with a ketchup-laced sauce - it is one of the first recipes I developed for the book. That particular recipe was actually inspired by a dish I had eaten at Uluh in the East Village, in the days just before Covid lockdown. The cabbage and vermicelli combination became one I replicated often during quarantine and is one that has stayed with me.
This week’s recipe started off quite differently. The foundation was still cabbage and rice vermicelli, but, as an example of how far my mind can wander when it comes to recipe development, it was originally a noodle pancake. The noddles and cabbage were cooked much like in the recipe below, but I added lots of chili crisp for a spicy, umami kick. I cooked it in a 10-inch skillet, and poured over beaten eggs. To eat, I drizzled over Kewpie mayonnaise in a okonomiyaki-esque move. I thought it was deeply delicious. I stewed on it overnight (as I tend to do with recipes), and the next day, I found myself digging out the wok, along with the remaining half of cabbage, and having another go. This time I went for a simpler recipe, with a focus on notes of sesame - both the oil and the seeds. In my mind, I wanted a recipe that felt easy enough for lunch - my mother often made mei fun for lunch and I wanted to create a dish that honored this memory. And let’s be honest, if we can make it during the day, it’s DEFINITELY do-able for dinner.
If you want the companion cabbage noodle pancake recipe, let me know in comments and I may include it as a bonus recipe next week) - here is a photo of it:
This noodle stir-fry is a recipe that will imbed itself to your culinary psyche. You will make it once, twice, and soon it will become a repertoire dish. In time, you won’t need my recipe at all, and you will start to riff, adding other vegetables along the way. You might replace the soy sauce with vegetarian oyster sauce or dark soy sauce for a sweeter, richer dish. You might replace the rice vermicelli with thicker rice noodles, glass noodles or udon. You may add a few blobs of chili crisp for heat and savoriness. You’ll make it your own. To be honest, when you make my recipes yours, it is the greatest compliment you could give me.
Mei fun translates to rice noodle in Cantonese, but it specifically refers to thin rice vermicelli. The name also refers to the stir-fried noodle dish.
Mei fun (rice vermicelli) is a distinct noodle experience – the strands are delicate and slightly bouncy. For stir-frying, I only need a soak in hot water; but be mindful, over soaking will leave you with noodles that are too soft and will break during stir-frying. They are also very good in noodle soup – check out the baby bok choy and rice vermicelli soup in the Asian Greens chapter of Tenderheart.
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Gado Gado is perhaps the ultimate all year round salad. Every time I make it, I salivate. It’s hearty, fresh, with lots of texture. I have written many gado gado-esque salad recipes - the first one was in Community, as it was a popular salad during Arthur Street Kitchen days. There is also this fairy traditional one on NYT Cooking (gift link) which is a good recipe to know. Then there is my gado gado-inspired recipe in Tenderheart, where I add roasted cauliflower and use a shortcut peanut sauce made of peanut butter. The Tenderheart version is the one I made this week. We actually ate it alongside this cabbage and tofu mei fun (not purposefully, but only because I had some left - my boys like gado gado with a side of white rice but since I had this mei fun, I served with that instead).
Another great midweek cabbage recipe? This cabbage and walnut pasta (gift link)
Winter vibes: cook this cheesy sweet potato gratin with gochujang or this one pot red wine pasta with sage and walnuts.
Summer vibes: choose these lobster-less artichoke rolls (yes eat with chips!) or this one pot miso corn pasta.
News: Spice company McCormick & Co has named tamarind as the flavour of 2024! Do you cook with tamarind? If so, what are your favourite tamarind recipes? If you’re looking for tamarind ideas, try my tamarind maple Brussels sprouts (gift link) and if you have To Asia, With Love, there’s a lovely tamarind apple crumble in the dessert chapter. It’s also delivers the essential tartness in pad thai noodles.
Cooking from Tenderheart: I’m digging the stir-fried cauliflower with capers, chili and parsley - quick, easy, flavourful. I’ll also be making the carrot peanut satay ramen ad the caramelized brussels sprouts and kimchi with rice cakes (substitute gnocchi, if you don’t have rice cakes!).
THIS WEEK’S RECIPE
Cabbage and tofu mei fun
© Hetty Lui McKinnon for To Vegetables, With Love