Country Style Vegetable Soup with Fermented Black Beans and Tofu

Directions

1. The Soup
2. Cook the tofu: Heat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the tofu lengthwise into four pieces, then cut each of those into generous bite-sized squares or rectangles. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and put into the oven. You don't need to wait for it to heat all the way before putting them in.) Bake for 15 - 25 minutes, depending on how hot the oven is when you start baking. Or, if you have more time and/or want to make the tofu ahead, see my note below in Step 10. I've also added a note, (Step 11) if you want to cook the tofu on the top of the stove. You should do that pan frying right before you're ready to start cooking the vegetables.
3. Make the stock. (See instructions below.)
4. Prepare the vegetables: thinly slice the top half of the napa cabbage, and the large green ends of the bok choy (or broccoli florets, if using), then thoroughly rinse and drain. Put those leafy pieces into a container. Then trim and thinly slice the rest, which will consist of the large, harder white bits (or the broccoli stems, if using). Rinse and drain them; set aside in a separate container.
5. While the tofu is cooking, start making the noodles. Cook them according to the instructions on the package. Once you drain them, toss immediately with sesame oil and divide between the bowls in which you’ll be plating the soup. Cover them if you won’t be serving within a few minutes.
6. Cook the vegetables: Heat a large skillet and then add the peanut oil. Cook the hard portions of the napa cabbage and bok choy for about five minutes, along with the scallion pieces, turning frequently.
7. Add to the drained broth the cooked napa cabbage and bok choy pieces, the reserved leafy pieces of cabbage and bok choy (or broccoli florets, if using), the doenjang or fish sauce (or a couple teaspoons of soy sauce, if not using either of those), brown sugar, fermented black beans, and vinegar to the stock. If using doenjang, thin it with a half cup of broth before adding to the pot. (If using red miso, add it at the very end, right before serving, thinning it with a cup or so of the hot broth.) Heat the soup back up to a low boil, and cook for 2-3 minutes.
8. Taste the broth. If it needs seasoning, add a teaspoon or two of soy sauce - or more to taste.
9. Shortly before serving, add the cilantro leaves (reserving a few for garnish) and the cooked tofu. Simmer it just enough to heat the tofu through. (If you add it sooner, it will soak up too much broth.) Turn off the heat and drizzle in the sesame oil and lime juice or rice wine vinegar, to taste.
10. Ladle the hot soup over the noodles in the soup plates. Give each bowl a good stir. Garnish with the reserved whole cilantro leaves. Let your guests stir in hot chili oil, to taste. Enjoy! ;o)
11. Note re prepping the tofu for this (or many other uses) ahead, or if you have more time while making this soup: Some years ago, I started using the technique suggested by Andrea Nguyen, a real expert on so many things, for prepping tofu for cooking. Simply cover tofu cubes or whatever shape you want in a bowl or skillet with boiling water to which you've added a bit of salt. Let it sit for at least 15 minutes. I then pop it into the oven to dry it out and firm it up, so it gets a lovely light gold crust around the edges. I do this with 2 blocks of tofu at a time, popping it into the fridge for use in stir-fries, soups like this one, soba, grain or rice bowls, etc. Doing this gives the tofu a lightly seasoned taste and a lovely texture (firm on the outside, slightly creamy on the inside), and the tofu cubes last 5-6 days, tightly covered. I generally don't embrace the hyperbole so common in food writing these days, but this prep tip has indeed been a game changer in my kitchen.
12. To cook the tofu on the top of the stove, first, the way I do it now - a bit lazier than cooking in oil, but super quick: Cut the tofu into bite sized pieces. Put into a large non-stick skillet and cook, flipping occasionally, until the pieces are somewhat dry and firm. Or, the more labor intensive way, for people who like their tofu fried: Cut the tofu into equal sized rectangles. (I cut crosswise, as if slicing a cake to fill between layers, then cut each of those rectangles each into four pieces.) Put the tofu slices between two cutting boards; then put some heavy but stable objects, such as large unopened cans, a stone mortar and pestle, etc., on the top cutting board to press the liquid out of the tofu. Let rest while you prep your vegetables. Then, drain and cut the rectangles into smaller, easier-to-eat rectangles. Pat dry. Heat a large skillet and then add the peanut oil. When it spits when you flick a drop of water on it, add the tofu. Cook over medium heat, resisting the urge to turn the tofu pieces for at least two minutes. You want them to get a bit crusty, so they’ll hold up better in the soup. After two minutes or so, turn the tofu pieces over and cook for another minute or so. When lightly browned, remove from the pan.
13. Feel free to improvise with this soup. Depending on what's on hand, you can use whatever vegetables you like -- kale or standard green cabbage instead of bok choy and/or napa cabbage, sugar snap peas or regular string beans, cut on the diagonal into one-inch pieces, julienned carrots for color - whatever you like. Just make sure to put the harder vegetables into the pot first, adding the more delicate ones at the very end, to ensure the best texture and color. ;o)

1. Fermented Black Bean Scented Vegetable Broth
2. Put all of the ingredients into a heavy pot with 6 cups of water. Simmer for about 15 minutes, then let stand for another 15 minutes, or more, if you have the time. You can also make this stock in an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker. Give yourself a jump on this by heating the water in a kettle (electric kettles are super efficient, perfect for this) while you gather and prep the stock ingredients. Cook on high pressure for 5-10 minutes; manually release the pressure when you're ready to assemble the soup.
3. Strain the broth. You should have about 4 cups (you may a bit more, if using a pressure cooker, and that's okay). If you have less, don’t worry; just make up the difference with a bit of filtered water. If you have much more than 4 cups, simmer it for a while longer to reduce it.