Frozen Tofu Stewed with Chinese Cabbage 冻豆腐炖白菜

Frozen Tofu Stewed with Chinese Cabbage (冻豆腐炖白菜) is a home-style stew of frozen tofu and Chinese cabbage. China Jilin Net, the Jilin Daily group's news site, calls it an everyday dish with cabbage and tofu as its main ingredients: simple to make, and fresh and savoury to taste.

How the tofu is frozen

Frozen tofu is one of the winter foods that People's Daily names as favourites in Jilin, along with frozen pears and persimmons. In the north-east it is made from local soybeans set with brine in the traditional way, then frozen quickly outdoors, where it turns golden yellow. The Siping (四平) city government describes a Changbai Mountain (长白山) winter custom: families make tofu, freeze it in large and small vats and take out what they need.

Flavour and texture

Because fresh tofu holds a lot of water, freezing leaves it full of holes. People's Daily notes that frozen tofu cooked in a stew or a hotpot turns especially soft and loose in texture.