Tofu and potato stew

A friend of mine taught me how to make this magnificent Japanese style vegan stew. It's incredibly easy to make even though some ingredients are slightly outside my comfort zone. Just follow these simple instructions to make this autumnal dish.

Ingredients

500g miniature potatoes

2 garlic cloves

Fresh ginger (same quantity as garlic)

1 onion

1 small chili

Groundnut oil (for frying the tofu)

Sesame oil

200g smoked tofu

2 leeks (green beans also work well)

1tsp vegetable stock powder

1tbsp miso

2tbsp maple syrup

2tbsp mirin rice wine

Soy sauce

Method

Chop the tofu into small cubes. Heat some groundnut oil in a pan and fry the tofu until it's firm, bouncy and golden brown. I used smoked tofu for a special taste, but also plain tofu is perfectly fine.

If your potatoes have thin skins, there's no need to peel them. Just wash and cut in half or quarter them. Chop the onion, garlic, chili, ginger and leeks.

Heat some sesame oil in a separate pan and sweat the onion and then add the garlic, chili and ginger. Fry these for a few minutes and then add the potatoes.

Add some rice wine and then water and vegetable stock powder. The water should reach approximately the middle of the potato pieces, otherwise it might take ages to get the potatoes soft. Let this simmer under lid by occasionally stirring until the potatoes are almost fully cooked. Add the leeks and let simmer some more.

Towards the end, when you're happy with the texture of the leeks and potatoes, add the pre-fried tofu to the pan.

Season the stew with miso, maple syrup, soy sauce and further rice wine if needed. I would recommend to make it fairly savoury with the help of miso and soy sauce.

Serve the warm stew when you are happy with the seasoning and enjoy!

Your VegHog