Napa Cabbage Rolls

Ingredients

• 14 Napa cabbage leaves
• 400g extra firm tofu
• 1 cup cooked brown rice
• 1/2 cup mushroom, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 2 spring onion, chopped, separate whites and greens
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 teaspoon rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• Salt & pepper to taste
• Sesame oil

For the Sauce

• 1 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 spring onion greens, chopped
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/2 cup warm water

Method

1. - Trim off the root of the cabbage, carefully take off the leaves one by one;
2. - Bring a pot of water to boil, blanch the leaves for 1 minute or so until soft and flexible, yet not soggy! Then quickly ran them under cold water to cool down;
3. Lay them between two kitchen towls or cheese cloth etc to dry;
4. - In a large non-stick frying pan, heat a drizzle of oil over medium-high heat, sauté the spring onion white parts and garlic till fragrant for about 2 minutes;
5. - Add carrot and mushroom, cook till soft;
6. - Use your hands to crumble the tofu into the pan, continue to mash and break apart with your spatula, season with soy sauce and vinegar, stir and fold to mix everything;
7. - Add in the cooked brown rice, continue to combine and mash with your spatula, till all liquid is gone;
8. - Stir in the cornstarch, mix it in well and continue to stir and fold till a hearty slightly sticky filling is formed, season with salt and pepper to taste, set aside;
9. - Trim off the hard stem part of each napa cabbage leaf, add about 1 1/2 tablespoon fillings to the bottom of the leaf, roll up until you get to the wider part of the leave, then fold up both sides to the center, and continue to roll all the way up, repeat till all ingredients are used up;
10. - Clean the frying pan then heat another drizzle of oil, pan-fry the cabbage rolls for 2-3 minutes each side until golden brown, do NOT flip too often, let one side crisp up and sear before flip to the other side;
11. - Meanwhile, in a saucepan, fry off the garlic with a small drizzle of oil, then carefully pour in the soy sauce, vinegar and sugar, bring to a gentle boil;
12. - Mix the cornstarch with the warm water and pour into the pan, stir and heat till thickens to your preferred consistency;
13. - Transfer all pan-fried cabbage rolls to a plate then pour on the sauce, garnish with sesame seeds and green part of spring onion. Enjoy!