Vegan Stuffed Cabbage (Okara Recipe)
Slightly smoky, spicy, and creamy, this okara recipe makes the best of the tofu-biproduct. These rolls are made savory with okara and mushrooms, mixed with rice to make them balanced and filling. They’re covered with sauce to stop them from becoming dry and to add even more flavor. This is a great oven meal, and a perfect way to reduce waste and use your soy pulp.
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What is Okara?
I made tofu from scratch the other day, starting with the soybeans. It’s a surprisingly easy process, and it tastes pretty different from storebought tofu. It has a lot more of the soybean flavor to it. And if you are making tofu or soymilk from scratch, you get a little bonus ingredient in the process- okara. Sometimes called soy pulp, okara is the solid parts of the soybean that get strained out after blending the beans to make soymilk. It’s primarily made up of fiber, with some protein. Because it has a good amount of moisture, it works as a binder and can be used to form veggie burgers and things like that. It’s sometimes dried and used in baking to add a little nutritional value. Most often though, it’s used in animal feed. If you make your own tofu or soymilk, then okara is a great byproduct that shouldn’t be wasted. Make sure to refrigerate it, and eat it within a couple days of making for the best results. It gives this okara recipe an almost ricotta-like texture and holds the cabbage rolls together well. Depending on how you make your soymilk, okara might need to be cooked before being eaten. If you have a soymilk maker that heats the beans, your okara will be safe to eat, but if you use a blender and a pot on the stove (as described below) your soy pulp will be raw and need to be cooked to be eaten.
How to Make your Own Tofu
I’m certainly no expert in tofu making, but I’m going to give you the quick and easy method I used for making my own tofu here. I had about a pound of soybeans, and threw them in a bowl of water. After letting them soak on the counter for about four hours, I drained the soybeans and split them into three batches. To each batch I added about 5 cups of water and blended them until smooth. Then I poured the mixture through a nut milk bag (I know, I know, terrible name but I’m talking about one of these), and you squeeze until you’ve gotten out as much liquid as possible. The solid bits left in your nut milk bag are your okara, so set that aside to make your cabbage rolls. In the meantime, transfer your soymilk to a large pot and bring it to a boil (and use an extra large pot, because soymilk likes to bubble over). Let your soymilk boil for 15 minutes, making sure you scrape the bottom as you stir so it doesn’t stick and burn. After 15 minutes turn off the heat, and let it sit for a couple minutes to cool down. Then add 3 tablespoons of distilled vinegar (or lemon juice), stir it in, and watch the tofu curds form and separate from the clear liquid. Strain the liquid from the solids, and place a weight over the block to continue to press out liquid. I left mine to sit for about an hour, which gave me a fairly firm tofu. A little more crumbly than the store-bought stuff, but it was excellent as a mock-feta in a tomato salad!
Looking for Tofu Recipes? Try one of these!
- Crispy Coconut Crusted Tofu with Pineapple Dipping Sauce
- Garlic Mustard and Tofu Patties
- Pipián Verde with Mexican Jackfruit and Tofu
- Rice Paper Vegan Tofu Dumplings
- Hoover’s Breakfast Greens and Tofu
- Watercress Soup with Tofu and Vegan Broth
- Savory Steamed Silken Tofu with Crispy Shiitakes
- Roasted Black Bean Tofu-A High Vegan Protein Dish
- Vegan Chili Braised Tofu, Korean-Style
How to Make this Vegan Okara Recipe
The first thing you need to do is make some soymilk or tofu, but I assume you’ve already done that and that’s why you found this okara recipe. You’ll also need to make some rice, and let it cool to room temperature. After that, we can get started prepping our cabbage- in order to make the cabbage easy to roll, you’ll need to boil the leaves to soften them first. You can do that by just gently plopping your whole cabbage in boiling water, and letting it cook for a few minutes. After a couple minutes, the outer leaves will have softened and should easily peel away from the head. Work your way down, pulling off leaves. When the leaves become more firmly affixed to the head of the cabbage and hard to peel away, transfer the cabbage back into the boiling water and cook for another few minutes. Repeat until most of the leaves are free. You also are going to want to cut the center of rib from each leaf, slicing it just enough to flatten each leaf.
After that, prepare all the filling bits and mix together. Each cabbage leaf is going to be filled with about a quarter cup of filling. Rolling them is easy- add the filling to the center, and fold the sides in over the filling. Roll the center rib down and continue to roll the leaf. Once they’re all rolled, your cabbage leaves are going to be placed in your favorite tomato sauce and baked in the oven. After about 90 minutes, your cabbage rolls should be ready to eat. Enjoy!
Vegan Stuffed Cabbage (Okara Recipe)
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried rice
- 1 large cabbage
- 2 cups okara (soy pulp)
- 4 oz. button mushrooms
- ½ medium-sized onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp. tomato paste
- 2 tbsp. soy sauce
- 1 tbsp. nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1 tsp. Italian spice blend (or any favorite spice blend)
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 12 ounce jarred tomato sauce
Instructions
- Make the rice according to the package, and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
- To prepare the cabbage leaves, cut the core out of the center and place in a large pot of boiling water. Boil for 5 minutes, and then carefully remove the cabbage from the water. Wait until cool, and then peel away the leaves keeping them whole. When the leaves become hard to remove, place the cabbage back into the boiling water for a couple minutes. Remove, peel away the leaves, and repeat as many times as needed until all the large leaves have been peeled away. One by one, place the leaves flat on a cutting board and use a paring knife to slice off the center rib so it is flat and flush with the rest of the leaf.
- Finely chop or grate the mushrooms, dice the onion, and mince the garlic. Combine all the vegetables in a large bowl, along with the cooked rice, okara, tomato paste, soy sauce, nutritional yeast, spices, and olive oil. Mix well.
- Grab a 9x13 inch casserole dish, and pour a couple tablespoons of sauce on the bottom so it’s completely covered. Lay a cabbage leaf on your clean work surface, and add ¼-1/3 of a cup of filling to the center. Fold the sides in over the filling, and roll it up to close the roll. Place in the prepared casserole dish seam side down, and continue until you run out of cabbage, filling, or pan space.
- Cover the rolls with the remaining tomato sauce, and tightly cover the pan with aluminum foil. Place in the preheated oven for about an hour and a half, until the cabbage has softened and the sauce is bubbling. Serve hot.
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