Napa Cabbage and Tofu Salad

Napa Cabbage and Tofu Salad

At a recent book luncheon at Melissa’s Produce, I had the pleasure of meeting chef Katie Chin who introduced us to her newly released book Katie Chin’s Everyday Chinese Cookbook. We sampled a generous array of scrumptious dishes made by Melissa’s chefs from the recipes in the book. Among them were potstickers, spicy beef skewers, Chinese chicken salad, soy ginger edamame salad, chocolate raspberry wontons, five-spice chocolate cake and more. Every single one of them was delicious!

Everyday Chinese Cookbook

Chef Katie’s book is filled with over 100 recipes that came straight from her family kitchen as she learned them from her mom Leeann Chin, Chinese immigrant who spread her passion for Chinese food in her numerous restaurants, cooking classes, and her own cooking show on PBS.

Napa Cabbage and Tofu Salad

There are a lot of recipes to choose from, for any occasion and for any taste. Back at home, the same day, I made soy ginger edamame salad with fresh produce from Melissa’s but it was so good that I selfishly finished the whole thing right away, without taking any pictures for the blog.

Extra Firm Tofu

Luckily, this meant a great opportunity to try another salad from the book another day and my choice fell on Napa cabbage and tofu salad. It was fabulous! This time I took all the right photos to share with you.

Napa Cabbage and Tofu Salad

In this salad, slightly bitter Napa cabbage pairs well with crispy red cabbage, tender tofu, and crunchy carrots and pear and sliced almonds. A refreshing ginger-orange juice flavored dressing is a perfect touch to this exotic blend of ingredients. I hope you get to try this salad and get a hold of Katie’s book. I have bookmarked so many recipes to try and can’t wait for our own Chinese dinner nights at home.

Napa Cabbage and Tofu Salad

 

Napa Cabbage and Tofu Salad
 
Prep time
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Napa cabbage, also known as Chinese cabbage, pairs very well with tofu, carrot, pear, and almonds and the combined flavors elevate more when the salad is drizzled with delicious chili-ginger dressing. I adjusted the amounts of ingredients in the dressing to my taste - added just a bit more soy sauce and orange juice for a stronger flavor. Also, if you don't have Napa cabbage, you can use regular white cabbage or even Romaine lettuce. If you want more protein in your salad and you are not a vegetarian, Katie suggests adding 1 cup shredded cooked chicken or chopped shrimp.
Author:
Recipe type: Salads
Serves: 4 servings
Ingredients
  • Dressing
  • 1 teaspoon Asian chili sauce such as Sriracha
  • 2 teaspoons peeled and minced fresh ginger
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil (the original recipe suggests dark sesame oil)
  • Other Ingredients
  • 12 oz (375 g) extra-firm tofu, drained, patted dry and diced
  • 3 cups (300 g) Napa cabbage, cut into shreds
  • 1 medium carrot, cut into matchsticks
  • 1 Asian pear, cut into matchsticks and tossed with juice of ½ lemon
  • 4 tablespoons sliced or slivered almonds, toasted or plain
Instructions
  1. Make the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the chili sauce, ginger, garlic, orange juice and soy sauce. Gradually whisk in the olive oil and sesame oil until well blended.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the tofu, Napa cabbage, red cabbage, carrot, pear and almonds together.
  3. Add the dressing and toss to combine. Serve immediately.
4 Comments

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  1. I love chinese food and this books seem great !

  2. Good to know that you are doing great.

  3. The book looks awesome. Where can I get one in India?

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