Tofu and Veggie Nabe

Growing green onions in my garden year-round provides me a consistent supply of fresh and organic green onion leaves anytime I need it. Snipping a couple of leaves is sufficient for most of my cooking and allows the onions to grow indefinitely even during the cold months. For this Grow Your Own # 27 Blogging, I’m making use of green onions from my garden. I’m submitting this easy one-pot dish, made by simmering tofu and veggies in a dashi broth* (made with kelp and bonito flakes) seasoned with sugar, soy sauce, mirin and sake. This dish is comforting and pretty simple to prepare. Here's the recipe:

Tofu and Veggie Nabe

2 cups dashi broth
3 Tbsp sugar
5 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp mirin
2 Tbsp sake or Chinese rice wine
2 shitake mushroom, sliced
1 medium carrot, sliced
1 bundle glass noodles, softened in warm water for 10 minutes
1 stalk green onion leaves
5 leaves Napa cabbage
1 bunch chrysanthemum leaves (or substitute with watercress)

Simmer dash broth, sugar, soy sauce, mirin and sake over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add mushrooms, carrots, softened glass noodles, green onions, tofu, Napa cabbage and chrysanthemum leaves and simmer 5-10 minutes over low heat till the carrots become tender, just don’t overcook the veggies. Adjust seasoning before serving, if needed.

*. I just buy dashi broth or you can prepare it yourself if you can find kombu kelp and bonito flakes in the Asian store. To make dashi: Soak 4 inch strip of kombu kelp in 3 ¼ water for 1 hour then simmer over low heat. Take out kelp just before water boils. Add ½ cup bonito flakes and turn heat to low. Simmer broth for 30 seconds, remove from heat and strain