Vegan Bunny Elle

A comforting, nutrious, flavorful meal in one pot – sweet napa cabbage leaves filled with teriyaki tofu, fresh veggies and herbs, and slowly stewed in a umami Dashi broth.

Nabe, which means hot pot in Japanese, is one of my top comfort meals for cold months or whenever I feel a little under the weather. It’s so nourishing and balanced – with lots of veggies and plant protein, completely oil-free, slow-cooked in a flavorful broth.

For the fillings inside the napa cabbage rolls, you can pretty much use anything you have in the fridge, vegetables like carrots, radish, bell pepper, mushroom, zucchini, etc and herbs like cilantro. I recommend including at least one protein ingridient like tofu or tempeh.

You can serve the nabe as is or add yet another layer of flavor and texture by making a dipping sauce for the rolls! My fave is peanut butter chili oil sauce. And don’t forget about the broth, which in the end will have collected all the juice and flavors released from the veggies and become incredibly flavorul, it goes amazingly with a steamy bowl of rice! If you try this recipe, please don’t forget to tag me on Instagram and Tiktok ^^

Napa Cabbage Roll Donabe Hot Pot

This nabe is better than cuddling with your lover on a rainy Sunday 😉 Ok maybe not but it’s damn close. It’s got a variety of rainbow vegetables, air-fried teriyaki tofu, “meaty” mushrooms and fresh herbs all rolled up nice and cozy with napa cabbage leaves, and slowly stewed in a umami Dashi broth.

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Ingredients Method Video

Ingredients

  

• 7 napa cabbage leaves
• 7 oz extra firm tofu
• 1 carrot
• 4 oz shiitake mushroom
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro
• Beech mushrooms for topping optional

Tofu marinade-

• 1 tablespoon char siu sauce or BBQ sauce of choice
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon coconut amino
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• Pinch of black pepper

For the Dashi-

• 4 dried shiitake mushroom
• 2 x4 inch kombu
• 2 cup water
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

For the Peanut Butter sauce

• 2 tablespoon creamy homemade peanut butter or storebought
• 1 tablspoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon coconut amino
• 1/2 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 – 2 teaspoon chili oil

Method

 

1. Cut the tofu into matchsticks or, use a peeler to slice it into thin sheets;
2. Make the tofu marinade by whisking all the marinade ingredients together, pour it over the tofu and let it marinate for 30 minutes;
3. Then air fry at 400°F for 10 minutes, flip, and air fry for 5 more minutes;
4. Take off the napa cabbage leaves one by one, bring a large pot of water to boil, blanch the leaves for 20 – 30 seconds till they’re just soft but not overcooked;
5. Immediately run the leaves under cold water to stop cooking, pat dry and set aside;
6. Prep all the other vegetable fillings, thinly slice the carrot and shiitake mushrooms, and cut the cilantro, try to keep all the veggies in the same length that can fit into the width of the napa cabbage leaves;
7. Take one napa cabbage leaf, trim off the tough root part, add tofu and the rest of the veggies to the end of the stem, start rolling as tightly as you can until reach the end of the leafy part;
8. Slice in half, repeat with the rest of the leaves and ingredients;
9. Add some napa cabbage leaves to the bottom of the donabe, or if you don’t have one, use a thick walled good quality pot;
10. Arrange the napa cabbage rolls tightly in the pot, add beech mushrooms to the gaps if you like;
11. Make the dashi by adding the dried shiitake mushrooms, kombu and water to a sauce pot, bring to a gentle boil and let it simmer for 15 minutes, remove the mushrooms and kombu, add the mirin and salt;
12. Pour the dashi over the cabbage rolls till the liquid just reach the rim of the pot, adjust the amount of dashi depending on the size of your pot;
13. Cover with the lid, bring to a gentle boil over medium heat;
14. Lower the heat to medium-low, and let it simmer for 5 more minutes;
15. Meanwhile, make the peanut butter chili oil sauce by mixing all the ingredients evenly in a sauce dish;
16. Serve hot with the peanut sauce and side of rice, enjoy!

Video