Thursday, September 18, 2008

Spicy Miso Ramen with Char Siew


I've talked about how I love noodles. If I had to name my top 10 dishes, I'm sure it would contain a couple of noodles dishes & one of them would have to be ramen. I don't remember when my love affair for ramen started. Maybe after I watched Tampopo.

To me, nothing says comfort food like a steaming bowl of ramen. I used to frequent this tiny ramen place in NY called Rai Rai Ken for my fix. When I'm in Tokyo & have my way, I would probably be eating ramen everyday. Whenever I'm in Paris, I must head over to Rue St Anne to any one of the many ramen joints.

Again, it's one of those things I've never thought to prepare it myself. The thought of making the broth seems daunting enough. Rasa Malaysia made it here and after drooling for a long time over the delicious bowl of ramen (I click back occasionally just to drool & my photos pale in comparison), I decided to give it a go.

It turned out really well. I was so ramen-deprived that I ate 2 bowls. What a pig ! The broth was surprisingly good - don't leave out the sesame seeds - it makes the soup so much more fragrant. I had a small piece of char siew left over so I added that in. I also added bamboo shoots cos that's my favorite although I didn't marinade them, which I will do the next time. The Japanese fish cake I bought in Geneva for the sole purpose of putting in my ramen.

Spicy Miso Ramen
source Rasa Malaysia
makes 2 bowls

Ingredients

Ramen noodles
4 cups of water
4 Tbsp white miso paste
3-4 Tbsp chilli oil (optional if you don't want it spicy)
1/2 tsp dashi stock
1 Tbsp white sesame seeds (pound with mortar & pestle till fine)
Light soy sauce, to taste

Toppings :
hard boiled eggs, in half
corn kernels
Japanese fish cake, sliced
spring onion, sliced
nori seaweed. cut into strips
char siew, sliced
pickled bamboo shoots

1. Bring water to boil & then add miso paste, dashi stock & finely ground sesame seeds. Boil & reduce to 3.5 cups. Add in chilli oil & light soy sauce

2. Prepare noodles & set aside

3. In a serving bowl, add the noodles & then place your choice of toppings. Pour the miso soup into the bowl & add the seaweed strips. Serve steaming hot


6 comments:

Tsu Lin + + said...

I should prob buy those ingredients and attempt this as well. It looks pretty straight forward altho the ingredients are not something I have in my kitchen. U know I used to love Udon. I could eat it everyday (my ex-colleagues will roll their eyes or refuse to eat with me a few days in a row if I am on an Udon rampage)! Perhaps I will substitute Ramen with Udon (not a fan of Ramen, me).

petite fleur said...

I prefer Udon fried but you can most definitely do this with Udon, if that's what you like. You should be able to get these ingredients easily in London & the miso paste, you can use for shabu shabu.

Tsu Lin + + said...

Bought the ingredients! **rubs hands in glee**

petite fleur said...

Cool. Let me know how it turned out for you.

Rasa Malaysia said...

This looks great. I love that your fish cake is bigger. Japanese fish cakes are so cute with pink color, makes them a lot more appetizing looking. :)

petite fleur said...

Rasa Malaysia - Thanks for dropping by but mostly thanks for posting that delicious recipe. I didn't realise it was so easy to make my own. Now if only I know how to make my own fish cake.