Pasta, Tofu, Pork, and Chinese Cabbage in Ginger Broth

Serve this Asian pasta in a bowl with a spoon as well as a fork so that you can get all the flavorful broth. We use spaghettini here, but if you have dried Chinese egg noodles, by all means use them.

Slideshow: Fast Asian Dishes

Servings: 4

KEY: Fall, Winter, Recipe of the Day, Asian, Chinese, Pasta & Noodles, Soups & Stews, Fast, Dinner

Ingredients

3 cups canned low-sodium chicken broth or homemade stock
6 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup rice-wine vinegar
1/4 cup mirin
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 pound spaghettini
3/4 pound Chinese cabbage, cut into 2-inch pieces
1/2 pound firm tofu, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1/3 pound pork loin chop, cut into 1/8-inch slices about 1/2 inch wide and 1 1/2 inches long
3 scallions including green tops, sliced

How to make this recipe

In a medium stainless-steel saucepan, combine the broth, soy sauce, vinegar, mirin, ginger, garlic, sesame oil, sugar, and salt. Bring just to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the spaghettini until almost done, about 8 minutes. Drain. Return the pasta to the pot.
Add the hot ginger broth to the pasta along with the cabbage and tofu. Bring back to a simmer and cook for 1 minute. Add the pork and scallions. Remove from the heat and let sit until the pork is just done, about 1 minute.

Notes

Mirin Substitute In place of mirin, a sweet low-alcohol Japanese cooking wine, you can use 3 tablespoons sweet sherry, or 3 tablespoons dry sherry plus 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar.

Suggested Pairing

With an assertive dish like this, the wine should have plenty of acidity and very little delicacy. A California sparkling wine or a Vouvray (made from Chenin Blanc grapes) would be best.