Meera Sodha's vegan recipe for tofu fried rice with green cabbage

This one-pot miracle is perfect for those nights when you don't feel like cooking but need something warm and comforting with minimal effort

Last July, I took a cooking class in Bangkok. I'm making the meal of my dreams, but it's been a long day and I'm tired of mashing pasta and milking coconut. I asked the cooks: do you eat like this at home? No, they say. One likes to eat eggs and rice, the other likes noodles. Which brings me to today's recipe: although there are many amazing things I can make for dinner, when I want something quick and tasty, I often make fried rice. Sometimes, there's diced carrots and broccoli, other times tofu and greens – and they come together quickly, even when you're too tired to cook.

Tofu fried rice with savoy cabbage

You will need a wide frying pan or skillet with a tight-fitting lid. This recipe is adapted from one of my favorite recipes that was originally written for Ocado.

• Preparation 10 min
• Cook 20 minutes (or 50 minutes if cooking rice from scratch)
• Serving 4
• 600g cold cooked rice, or 300g jasmine rice
• 450ml hot vegetable broth, suitable for vegans (optional, and only if you cooked the rice from scratch)
• 3 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 1 large onion, peeled and finely sliced
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
• ½ savoy cabbage, or january king, or spring greens, grated (400g)
• 1 tsp Chinese five spice
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 350 grams of silken tofu, drained
• Sriracha or goma dare sauce, to serve

If you are using rice, skip this first step. Otherwise, put the jasmine rice in a colander and rinse it under a cold faucet until the water runs clear. Put them in a saucepan, add hot broth and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to a whisper and let cook for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, let it sit, still covered, steam for five to 10 minutes, then remove the lid, stir with a fork and set aside to cool.

Put the oil into the skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the onions and fry, stirring frequently, for about eight minutes, until soft and browned. Add the garlic, cook, stirring frequently, for a few minutes, then add the shredded cabbage and fry over low heat, stirring occasionally, for five to seven minutes, until the cabbage is wilted. Stir in the five spices, salt, sesame oil and soy sauce and crumble the tofu into the pan. Fry, stirring, a few more minutes, until all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed, then stir in the rice – I used a spaghetti spoon to do this, so the rice doesn't break too much.

Cook until the rice is hot and all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed, then arrange on a plate and serve with a sprinkling of sriracha or goma sauce on top.