Winter Stew with Savoy Cabbage and Smoked Tofu

Ah, stews—the faithful companions of winter. They warm us up, fill our kitchens with delightful aromas, and make great use of seasonal vegetables. To create a wholesome meal from simple ingredients, we’ve added smoked tofu and served it with spelt bread. If you choose to have this stew as your main meal of the day, you have a perfect excuse to follow in the footsteps of our grandmothers and finish off with something sweet—perhaps an apple strudel or pancakes.

Serves (for 4 people)

Stew Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
500 g potatoes, peeled
1 vegetable stock cube or homemade seasoning mix
1 L water
2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
Half a small head of Savoy cabbage (approx. 200 g)
Black pepper
1–2 bay leaves

Marinated and Fried Tofu:

1 block smoked tofu
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp paprika powder (sweet or smoked)
Optional: chili or cayenne pepper
1 tbsp coconut oil

Instructions

Marinating the Tofu

Start by marinating the smoked tofu for at least 15 minutes or, ideally, overnight.

Slice the tofu into strips. In a resealable bag, combine soy sauce, maple syrup, paprika, and optional chili. Add the tofu, seal the bag, and mix well. If marinating for longer, store it in the fridge.

Preparing the Stew

Dice the potatoes into cubes.

Remove the tough stems from the Savoy cabbage and chop it into roughly 1 cm squares.

In a heavy-bottomed pot, sauté the chopped onion in olive oil until lightly caramelized. Add the diced potatoes and pour in the water with the vegetable stock cube or homemade seasoning. Toss in the bay leaf.

Simmer for 10–15 minutes until the potatoes soften. Remove the bay leaf and blend the soup with an immersion blender, leaving some chunks for texture.

Add the chopped cabbage and minced garlic to the soup. Simmer for another 3–5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper as needed.