Five-Spice Vegetable Stew (Palo Jap Chai)

September 18, 2016

Five-Spice Vegetable Stew (Palo Jap Chai) © kvalifood.com

Palo jap chai combines two Thai comfort foods: the five-spice broth of kai palo and the homey mixed vegetable stew called jap chai. Jap chai is closely tied to Thailand’s annual vegan festival and is a staple of simple home cooking. This version braids the warm spice aromatics into a rich vegetable broth with tofu, cabbage, carrots, and Chinese broccoli. It gets better as it sits, so making it a day ahead is a good move. Serve over jasmine rice.

Ingredients

Serves 4

4-5 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water for 1 hour
2 whole star anise
2 cinnamon sticks
8 whole cloves
1 tsp coriander seeds, toasted
1/2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns, toasted
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
3 Tbsp palm sugar, finely chopped
1 ¼ l water (or vegetable stock), unsalted
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 large onion, diced
2 cilantro roots (or 6-8 cilantro stems)
3 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp seasoning sauce, such as Golden Mountain (or Maggi)
1 1/2 Tbsp black soy sauce
1/2 tsp white pepper, ground
300 g fried tofu, cut into bite-sized pieces
175 g carrots, cut into bite-sized pieces
150 g cabbage, cut into bite-sized pieces
175 g Chinese broccoli (or kale), cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2-1 tsp salt
Jasmine rice, for serving

Directions

Remove the mushrooms from their soaking water and slice them thinly.

Wrap the star anise, cinnamon sticks, cloves, coriander seeds, and Sichuan peppercorns in a piece of cheesecloth or muslin and tie it into a bag.

Heat the vegetable oil and palm sugar in a large pot over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar melts and caramelizes to a dark brown. Quickly add the water or stock - it will bubble aggressively.

Add the mushrooms, spice bag, garlic, onion, cilantro roots, soy sauce, seasoning sauce, black soy sauce, and white pepper. Cover and simmer gently for 20-30 minutes.

Remove the spice bag and cilantro roots. Add the fried tofu and carrots. Simmer for another 10 minutes or until the carrots are about 80% done.

Add the cabbage and Chinese broccoli. Simmer for another 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are done to your liking.

Remove from the heat, taste, and adjust the seasoning with salt. If it is too salty, add a little more water to dilute.

Serve over jasmine rice - because the broth is quite strong, spooning it over the rice is the way to go.

Notes

Takes about 45 minutes (plus 1 hour for soaking the mushrooms).

You will need cheesecloth or a muslin bag for wrapping the spices.

The stew can be made a few days in advance and tastes better as it sits.

Most Chinese grocery stores sell pre-fried tofu cubes made for soups and stews. You can also buy firm tofu and fry it yourself for a nice chewy texture and golden colour.

The non-vegetarian version of jap chai relies on pork stock for richness. In this vegan version, the umami comes from soy sauce and shiitake mushrooms. You can add more soy sauce and seasoning sauce if it needs depth.