Spinach with Soy Sauce and Tofu (Hangzhou-style 'Gold-Rimmed Jade Board')

Name: Spinach with Soy Sauce and Tofu (Hangzhou-style 'Gold-Rimmed Jade Board')
Cuisine: China
Ingredients: spinach; soy sauce (秋油 — autumn-pressed soy); tofu

Origin: Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

Source: Yuan Mei 袁枚, 1792

Ingredients

spinach
soy sauce (秋油 — autumn-pressed soy)
tofu

Instructions

Select tender, plump spinach. Cook it together with soy sauce liquid and tofu. The Hangzhou people call this dish 'Gold-Rimmed Jade Board' — a name that evokes the pale tofu set against the dark green of the spinach. Because this vegetable is naturally rich even when lean, there is no need to add bamboo shoots or dried shiitake mushrooms for additional complexity.