Ginger-Poached Noodles Recipe
Poached spinach noodles, tofu, and baby broccoli in ginger broth. Finished with a splash of soy sauce, mint, basil, lime juice and red pepper flakes. Quick, simple, and invigorating.
A glance in my refrigerator revealed a bag bulging with mint, ginger, and basil leftover from the asparagus stir-fry I featured earlier in the week. The herbs were threatening to wilt, convincing me to give them a supporting role in one last meal. I should point out - this noodle recipe and the stir-fry feature many of the same ingredients, but the end result is entirely different. I thought it would be fun to show that with the addition/subtraction of just an ingredient or two - you can go in an entirely new direction. I poached spinach noodles, tofu, and baby broccoli in ginger broth. Finished it with a splash of soy sauce, mint, basil, lime juice and red pepper flakes, and in the end it was a quick, simple, clean, invigorating lunch.
I think I'll throw the last of the herbs, chopped, in a tub of yogurt, along with a bit of salt and fresh garlic. It's great on eggs, in soups, slathered on sandwiches, and on and on. I can't get enough of savory/salted yogurt.
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Ginger-Poached Noodles Recipe
If you don't like picking around the ginger slices, tie them up loosely in a piece of cheesecloth. Also, I know that boiling pasta in a shallow pot of broth breaks rule #1 of pasta making - but it works out just fine in this case. I used dried noodles, but you can certainly use fresh noodles (use enough for 2-3 people).
4 cups vegetable broth
2 ounces fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
8 ounces firm tofu, cut into small cubes
1-2 cups (half a bunch) of broccolini, broccoli, or baby broccoli - trimmed
4 ounces dried spinach noodles, soba, or noodles of your choice
1 - 2 tablespoons shoyu or soy sauce
1/4 cup fresh basil, shredded
scant 1/4 cup fresh mint, shredded
a squeeze of lime juice
crushed red pepper flakes (opt)
toasted sesame oil (opt)
Place the broth, ginger and tofu in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Dial down the heat, and gently simmer for ten minutes or so. Remove (just) the tofu from the pan using a slotted spoon and set aside. Now add the broccolini to the simmering broth. Cook for just a minute, until bright, and remove from pan with fork. Add pasta to ginger broth and cook until done, stirring regularly. Remove pasta with fork, set aside, and pour out most of the broth and all of the ginger slices. Return the tofu, broccolini and noodles to the pot. Stir in the soy sauce, basil, mint, and a squeeze of lime juice. Finish with a couple pinches of crushed red pepper flakes. Taste and season to taste with salt, soy sauce, and perhaps a drop or two of toasted sesame oil.
Serves 2-3.
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Comments
Heidi, the idea of 'Poaching' the noodles is unique to me, I guess I never thought of flavoring the noodle water, but again you have hit on one of my top 3 favs; Ginger! You are simply too fabulous for words! I will set about trying this on e out soon ...Or I will eat my words! LOL Hey; here's something I have discovered and love to make for an easy afternoon lunch; DLT's that is Dulse, lettuce & tomato, plus Avocado if you have one handy!By 'frying' the little "bacon shaped" strips of dulse on a cast iron skillet lightly brushed with a good oil over medium heat you have these wonderfully salty, chewy delicious strips to replace the bacon. It only takes a few seconds to 'fry' them and there is no greasy splattering! You just need to press them with a spatula to flatten completely. Yum! Use a gluten free rye bread panini style and you are set! Enjoy!
About peeling ginger - here is the link to a great video about the easiest way to peel ginger - with a spoon. I'll never do it any other way. hope this helps.
so, most of the broth is poured out? how much should be saved in the pot to stir in the tofu and broccoli? just enough to keep those ingredients moist? i'd like to try this tonight, it looks amazing. i love the site. i live in japan and can easily buy your japanese-oriented recipe ingredients. it really makes cooking easier for me, to be able to make asian-inspired dishes. traditional japanese cooking is difficult for me. everything i've ever tried from this site has turned out to be astonishingly delicious. you inspired me to start, and continue (and learn to love) cooking! HS: Thanks fujilove, I reserved enough broth to have a pool of broth in the base of each serving bowl. Enough so that each bowl is brothy without being soupy - if that makes sense.
Why not make a soup out of this and save the broth with all of the vitamins and flovors that have been developed in the cooking? HS: Sounds great Arthur!
How much broth should be reserved? I have a bunch of soba noodles in the pantry from a recent trip to Ranch 99. Since most recipes recommended cooking soba noodles in a separate pot and then adding them to the soup, would you recommend removing some of the ginger broth (to add back later) after cooking the broccolini? P.S. Your recipes and photos are awesome, as usual!
I'll be making this tonight. I am grateful, Heidi-- you are making my life so much easier and healthier!
For another take on the #1 rule of pasta making from Harold McGee, food chemist and NYT columnist. HS: This is great Mary, thanks for the link! I somehow missed this. So yeah, the common school of thought encourages cooking pasta in big pots of boiling water - the idea being the starch can disperse and the noodles have plenty of room to move around. That's a great article - lots of great tips (for ex: rinsing any extra flour off whole wheat pasta before boiling)...Thanks again for the link Mary.
Great recipe! I subbed leftover roasted chicken cubes for the tofu and Ume Plum vinegar for the shoyu or soy sauce, since I'm allergic to soy. Turned out really good. Even hubby liked it, and he usually doesn't like dishes with "weird" ingredients. (His word, not mine.) I've finally gotten him to the point where he will try one bite before asking me what is in something I've made. Good thing he's so cute!!!
The dish looks great....i must give it a try. Thanks.
The green is very warm and welcoming. It screams healthy.
yum! i love simple dishes like this....
Pardon my ignorance, but what Is the #1 rule of pasta making? And, even I'm not able to make many of your dishes, I just adore looking at the pictures and reading your conversational journal-type snippets. It gives me some good ideas too at times.
Lime livens lots!
I ate far too much this weekend, and this is exactly what I need to set me right: ginger, cruciferous greens, and broth. Thank you!
Hi Heidi, I just submitted this to my DD who has a special Celiac diet. I found the most amazing Asian Market today in our tiny town!!! Came home and made us the most healthy lunch. It was wonderful and I bought a lot to give my DD when I see her. The place has everything and it is so clean that you can see your face shining in everything. Awesome. Had to come home and do some Asian cooking. Hubby ate it up like he was starving. LOL. Thanks for a terrific website. Blessings, Bev
Oh, this dish screams SPRING! And I love your idea to blend the herbs with yogurt for more tasty options.
Another idea for leftover herbs which I do all the time is make herb vinegars and oils. I have a stock of tarragon vinegar, thyme-apple cider vinegar and just made a new batch of basil oil with some about to wilt basil. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
The asparagus stir-fry was great, but - like you - I have leftover basil & mint (I cheated with storebought minced ginger in a jar). Salted yogurt was introduced to me by a Turkish friend. And I just happen to have some waiting in the fridge for those leftover herbs : )
This sounds and looks great...I love broccolini! Healthy and simple - love it! Btw I read your tofu & soba noodles recipe on steamy kitchen and can't wait to try it out this week.
I love the simplicity of this recipe! I think that I would probably add a clove of garlic, just because I like garlic in most everything. ;-)
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