Snow Cabbage with Bean Sheets

Read about the dish:

Sam stir-fried tender mustard greens with wide, flat bean-sheet noodles and plump, fresh braised young soybeans. These glistened on the platter in a light crystal sauce.
– from The Last Chinese Chef

Taste the Dish:

An amazing example of a vegetable dish which is completely virtuous and utterly delicious at the same time, Snow Cabbage with Bean Sheets was originally created by Taiwanese chef Henry Chang for his restaurant Juon Yuan in San Gabriel, CA. Juon Yuan is no more, but luckily he has added this marvelous dish to the menu at his current restaurant, Chang’s Garden, which showcases the cuisine of Hangzhou. The ‘bean sheets’ look and taste like wide, flat noodles but are actually tofu skins, a by-product of the tofu-making process. They have more protein and less carbohydrate than pasta. ‘Snow cabbage’ is mustard greens which have been very lightly salted. While this delicately flavored dish sounds like something which is merely good for you, most people find it impossible to stop eating once they have taken a bite. Chang’s Garden, 627 W Duarte Rd., Arcadia, CA 91007, 626-445-0707. English menu; little English spoken. Mealtimes are jammed. Arrive after 8:00 for dinner or wait.

Cook the dish:

Bean sheets (also called tofu skins) and lightly preserved/salted mustard greens (‘snow cabbage’) can be bought in many Asian grocery stores. Bean sheets must be soaked in water before use. If salted mustard greens cannot be found, you can buy mustard greens and macerate them yourself. For fresh braised soybeans, use shelled edamame, which are widely available fresh and frozen. Dry sherry is a reasonable substitute for Chinese cooking wine.

4 oz ready-soaked tofu skin
4 oz preserved and salted mustard greens
4 oz fresh braised soybeans
scallions
salt, pepper, dash of cooking wine

Cut soaked tofu skins into strips like wide noodles. Heat peanut oil in wok and cook scallions until fragrance rises. Add tofu ‘noodles’ and mustard greens. Season with salt, pepper and cooking wine. Cook over medium heat for a few minutes. After five minutes of cooking add fresh soybeans and stir until liquid is absorbed, then serve.
– courtesy Henry Chang

NOTE: Thanks to the reader who e-mailed me to point out that the saltiness of the mustard greens should be checked before proceeding with the dish! If the greens are too salty, washing throughly in cold water and patting dry will help.