Ginger Broth Noodles with Cod, Napa Cabbage, and Sesame
A clear ginger and garlic broth poured over noodles, wilted napa cabbage, and snow peas, with pieces of cod poached in the pot at the last minute and toasted sesame over the top.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
This is my late-winter cure for a night when nobody feels like chewing very hard. It is a noodle bowl in the sense that there are noodles in it, but the bulk of what you are eating is a whole half head of napa cabbage and two cups of snow peas, softened just enough to slip onto a spoon. The broth takes fifteen minutes and is built from nothing more expensive than ginger, garlic, and scallion whites, simmered long enough to give up everything they have. I keep the fish to a few pieces because cod is at its best when it is the last thing in the pot and the first thing you find.
The pleasure of eating it is in the layers of soft. Napa cabbage collapses into silky ribbons at the ribs while the frilled tops stay a little frizzy, the noodles go slippery in the broth, and the cod breaks into flakes the size of a thumbnail the moment your spoon touches it. Against all that softness the snow peas stay crisp and the toasted sesame gives a small crunch on every mouthful. Lime squeezed over the top at the last second is what stops it tasting like a plain broth and starts it tasting like dinner.
I cook this when somebody in the house is coming down with something, and also on the first genuinely cold night of the year, and honestly on any Tuesday I have a head of cabbage. It is a good dish to cook for people who eat at different times, since the broth and vegetables hold on the stove and the cod and the noodles go in per bowl. It scales up easily, it costs very little, and it uses the kind of fish that is always in the freezer case.
Ingredients
- 4 oz whole wheat spaghetti (about 3 1/2 cups cooked)
- 6 oz skinless cod fillet, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
- 1/2 small head napa cabbage (about 12 oz), sliced crosswise into 1-inch ribbons
- 2 cups snow peas (about 4 oz), strings pulled
- 3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth, plus 1 cup water
- A 2-inch piece of fresh ginger (about 2 tbsp grated), half sliced into coins and half grated
- 5 garlic cloves, smashed
- 5 scallions, whites cut into 2-inch lengths and greens sliced thin
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 2 tsp tamari
- Juice of 1 lime, plus wedges to serve
- A pinch of cayenne, about 1/8 tsp
Instructions
- Build the broth: Put the broth, a cup of water, the ginger coins, the smashed garlic, and the scallion whites in a large pot. Bring it to a bare simmer, the kind where a bubble breaks every second or two, and hold it there for twelve minutes uncovered. Do not let it boil hard or the garlic turns harsh. Fish out the ginger coins and the garlic with a slotted spoon and discard them.
- Cook the noodles separately: Boil the spaghetti in a second pot to just tender, drain, and rinse briefly under cool water so the strands stop cooking and stay separate. Divide them among four warm bowls. Cooking them in the broth would cloud it and thicken it into something closer to a stew.
- Season the broth: Stir the grated ginger, the tamari, the sesame oil, and the cayenne into the simmering broth. Taste it now, while it is still thin and hot, and hold it at a simmer. It should be sharply gingery and just savory, since the cabbage will sweeten it in a minute.
- Wilt the cabbage and peas: Add the napa cabbage a handful at a time and cook for two minutes, until the thick white ribs turn translucent and the frilled green tops slump. Add the snow peas and cook for exactly one minute more. They should still snap when you bite one, since they go on cooking in the hot bowl.
- Poach the cod: Lower the cod pieces into the pot in a single layer, take the pot off the heat, and cover it. Leave it for four to five minutes. The fish is done when it is opaque all the way through and separates into big flakes at the touch of a fork, and it will overshoot into cotton if you let it sit at a simmer instead.
- Serve: Ladle the broth, vegetables, and cod over the noodles, dividing the fish carefully so every bowl gets its share. Add the lime juice, then the sliced scallion greens and the sesame seeds, toasted dry in a small skillet until they smell nutty and start to hop. Lime wedges on the side.
Variations
- Shrimp instead of cod: Drop peeled shrimp into the covered pot off the heat for three minutes. They turn opaque and curl, and they season the broth a little as they go.
- Mushroom and ginger: Simmer sliced mushrooms in the broth for the last five minutes for a deeper, earthier bowl with more body.
- Green and herby: Finish with a big handful of torn cilantro and a few mint leaves along with the scallion greens, which turns it fresher and more fragrant.
- Firmer bite: Trade the snow peas for snap peas, halved on the diagonal, for something rounder and sweeter that holds its crunch even longer.
Storage & Leftovers
Keep the broth and vegetables separate from the noodles in the refrigerator, in sealed containers, for up to three days. Noodles left sitting in broth swell and go soft overnight and turn the whole thing cloudy, and they take up all the liquid besides.
Reheat the broth and vegetables in a pot over medium until it steams, about four minutes, then pour it over noodles rinsed under hot water. The cod will already be cooked through, so add it in the last thirty seconds only to warm it rather than cook it again.
The broth alone freezes beautifully for three months and is worth making a double batch of for that reason. Freeze it before the cabbage goes in, thaw overnight in the refrigerator, and you are ten minutes from this bowl on a night when you have nothing.
Notes & Tips
- Simmer, never boil: A broth kept at a bare simmer stays clear and tastes clean. The same pot at a rolling boil for the same twelve minutes comes out cloudy and slightly bitter from the garlic.
- Grate half the ginger, slice the other half: The coins give a rounded, cooked warmth over twelve minutes. The grated ginger going in at the end is where the sharp, almost citrus edge comes from, and you want both.
- Poach the fish off the heat: Cod cooked in a covered pot with the burner off comes out in whole silky flakes. The same fish held at a simmer for the same time seizes and shreds.
- Toast the sesame seeds: Two minutes in a dry skillet, shaking the pan, until they smell nutty and start to jump. Straight from the jar they are just texture, and toasted they are half the flavor of the bowl.
- Rinse the noodles: A quick pass under cool water washes off the loose surface starch, which is what keeps the strands separate and the broth clear once they meet.
Nutrition & Mindful Eating
- The cabbage, the noodles, and the broth carry this bowl between them. Napa cabbage gives the volume and most of the sweetness, the whole grain noodles bring fiber and enough body to make it a meal, and the cod adds protein in flakes rather than in a slab.
- Napa cabbage is mild, watery, and quick to wilt, and it holds a surprising amount of calcium along with vitamin C for something this pale. Cooked only two minutes, the ribs keep their juice rather than giving it all up to the pot.
- Cod is a mild, close-textured fish that flakes into big soft pieces, and it carries protein along with selenium and vitamin B12. Poached gently off the heat, it stays moist in a way that a pan-seared fillet has to work harder for.
- Sesame seeds toasted in a dry skillet turn nutty and start to smell like the inside of a bakery, and they are one of the better plant sources of calcium there is. Scattered over the top, they also give the only real crunch in a soft bowl.
- Ginger, garlic, lime, and scallion are doing all of the seasoning here, and the reason they can is that they go in at different moments. Ginger simmered long turns round and warm, ginger grated in at the end stays sharp, and lime squeezed over the finished bowl lifts everything above it.
- As you eat, notice how much the steam smells of ginger and lime before the first spoonful even reaches you, and let a bowl this hot set its own pace rather than hurrying it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use a different white fish?
Yes. Halibut, tilapia, and pollock all poach the same way, though halibut is firmer and wants an extra minute off the heat. Choose thick pieces over thin ones, since a thin tail end will fall apart into threads before the middle of the bowl is warm.
The broth came out cloudy. What did I do?
It boiled rather than simmered, or the noodles went in with it. A hard boil emulsifies the fat and breaks the aromatics into fragments, and starch from the pasta clouds it permanently. Keep it at the barest bubble and cook the noodles in their own water.
What can I use in place of napa cabbage?
Regular green cabbage sliced thin works, though it needs four minutes rather than two and stays firmer. Bok choy is closer in spirit, split lengthwise so the stems and leaves cook at their own pace.
Can I make this ahead for lunches?
Yes, and it is one of the better things to carry. Pack the noodles and vegetables in the bottom of a jar and the broth separately in a thermos, then pour it over at the table. The fish is best cooked the day you eat it.