This recipe from the April 2010 issue of Food and Wine is perfect for a spring lunch or light dinner. Dashi is not available where we live, so I used chicken stock and water with the soy sauce and sugar and it turned out fine. I also used all chicken, instead of both chicken and tofu. Be sure to slice the chicken very thinly and to cook it in batches unless you have a large non-stick frying pan. Otherwise the chicken will steam instead of sear.

Many soy sauces contain benzoate of soda or other artificial ingredients. To avoid them, buy tamari that lists alcohol as the preservative.

Cook the spinach until it is just wilted but still bright green.

Ingredients

1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce

1 teaspoon dashi powder (see Note)

2 teaspoons sugar

3 tablespoons canola oil

1 small onion, sliced lengthwise

4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded and caps thinly sliced

Salt

8 ounces light silken tofu, cut into 3/4-inch pieces

5 ounces baby spinach

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, thinly sliced

Steamed sushi rice, for serving

Directions

In a medium saucepan, combine the soy sauce with the dashi powder, sugar and 3 cups of water and bring to a simmer. Cover and keep warm off the heat.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add the onion and mushrooms, season with salt and cook over high heat until lightly browned, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the tofu and cook until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Add the spinach and cook just until wilted, about 30 seconds. Scrape the mixture onto a plate.

Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in the skillet. Add the chicken, season with salt and cook over high heat, stirring twice, until just white throughout, about 3 minutes. Return the vegetables and tofu to the skillet and cook, stirring, just until combined. Spoon the mixture into shallow bowls and add sushi rice. Ladle the broth on top and serve.

Notes

Dashi is a clear Japanese stock that’s often made with dried bonito (tuna) flakes and water. It is available in powdered form at Asian markets. In place of the dashi and water called for here, you can use 1 1/2 cups of low-sodium chicken broth mixed with 1 1/2 cups of water.

The finished dish, with chicken, veggies, rice and broth. Yum!