Saturday, 19 December 2009

• Recipe: Proper, Proper Chinese Ramen

  This is a guest post from [eatingclub] vancouver.
  

  
  
  

  
  All I want these days for most meals is a bowl of noodles.
  
  I don't know if it is the cold weather talking (we hit some negative temperatures the past week) or if it is age (which, I suppose, cold weather makes you feel more), but I've become quite a minimalist in my gustatory desires.
  
  Which explains the lack of posts here at [eatingclub] vancouver, for which I must apologize. We just have not had the time nor the energy nor the desire to prepare more meals for the past month. On most days, I dump meat into a pot in some braising liquid and I stir-fry some greens in hot garlic oil and that is our meal.
  
  We have had to contend with our arch-nemesis-es too, the dark, which makes it impossible to take good pictures past 4:00 in the afternoon.
  
  Back to the noodles.
  
  
  
  
  I happen to like Japanese ramen but it is too much of an ordeal to go downtown (or even the nearest good ramen place) and contend with the traffic and the dreaded parking. Plus, TS does not like Japanese ramen. Besides, she had a very mysterious and disturbing episode at a ramen shop downtown that she does not care to repeat.
  
  I figured we'd make some version of "Chinese" ramen at home.
  
  We call it "Chinese" ramen because some of the better ramen bowls I've had are those from Hongkong-style cafes. These tend to be more punchy in flavour.
  
  It is a matter of shopping for the ingredients to put in our Chinese ramen.
  
  The "Toppings"
  
  
  
  I picked up some ramen noodles, bean sprouts and seaweed at the grocery store and some Cantonese cha siu at a neighbourhood barbecue joint.
  
  TS prepped some green onions and cilantro as well. We also had gailan that we blanched to eat with the noodles. That in the jar are some bamboo shoots.
  
  The Broth
  
  
  
  I had some chicken stock that I made the day before and we still had miso paste in the fridge. So our broth was a miso-based one. The corn kernels are what are left in a bag of frozen corn. I also added some tofu puffs that we also purchased for this purpose.
  
  I suppose one could add butter to this, but we didn't bother.
  
  Assembly
  
  
  
  JS's bowl:
  First, some cooked ramen noodles, followed by gailan, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, a tofu puff...
  
  
  
  ...followed by some nori, then cha siu slices.
  
  
  
  
  The whole lot was finished with the miso broth and corn kernels, and a sprinkling of green onions and cilantro.
  
  My bowl was a tad simpler.
  
  
  
  
  I had noodles, gailan, a lot more nori, some bean sprouts, a lot more corn, and a tofu puff.
  
  
  
  
  I finished with the same green onions, cilantro, cha siu and miso broth, plus a generous amount of shichimi ("seven flavor chili pepper").
  
  
  
  
  Our proper, proper bowls of Chinese ramen.
  
  

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