Napa Cabbage Soup
Monday, Monday – here we are again, new week, new recipes . . . still workin’ the CSA loot here. Saturday night, D. and I had a lovely, but super-rich dinner. We had killer food hangovers yesterday. So I wanted to keep dinner very light, and this soup did the trick. I had a nice-sized head of Napa from my share – super-crisp, lovely light-green and tasty. This is another quickie soup – 40 minutes or fewer from counter to table.
Napa Cabbage Soup
1 head Napa cabbage, cored and shredded 1 large onion, sliced 3 T. peanut oil Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste 2 T. bottled minced ginger 1 T. sesame oil 2 T. low-sodium soy sauce 2 t. fish sauce 5 c. low-sodium chicken broth Juice of 1 lime
Place the oil in a large, deep saucepan or casserole and turn the heat to medium. When the oil is hot, add the cabbage, onion, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until both the onion and cabbage are tender. It’s OK if they brown a little bit in the process. Stir in the ginger and cook for 1 minute. Add the broth, sesame oil, soy sauce and fish sauce. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes. Finish by adding the lime juice, then taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve hot. Serves 4.
There are infinite ways to create a meal around this. I drained and pressed, then cubed up some firm tofu (our favorite is Chang Shing tofu, made in Cambridge – they just started carrying this at the Fresh Pond Whole Foods which saves a trip to Super 88 or Russo’s) and put it in the bottom of the soup bowl before I ladled in the soup. Another way to add heft to the meal would be to serve steamed dumplings alongside . . . . Enjoy!
© 2009, Sarah. All rights reserved.
