mantilo: a miscellany

I had a terrible craving for ramen the other day, due to my inability to have some ramen when I was in Hong Kong. Sounds strange, but my logic assumes that Hong Kong is close enough to Japan to shelter some bona-fide ramen masters.

I ended up making my own. My maternal grandmother gave me A LOT of charsiu (Chinese BBQ pork shoulder) when I returned to the states, and I wasn’t sure what to do with all of it. While I read about ramen online in a lame attempt to satisfy my hunger, the internet reminded me that sometimes ramen contains chashu, or the Japanese version of charsiu. Generations of displaced, nostalgia-hungry countrymen have made do with what was on hand, so why couldn’t I?

Originally intended to be shoyu ramen, although it ended up a mishmash of things. The broth was made from lightly pan frying some charsiu with Shiangxi vinegar (Chinese black vinegar) in a soup pot, and then deglazing the pot with some chicken broth. Also added two chopped green onions, soy sauce, sesame oil, and a little more rice vinegar. After the noodles were cooked, I turned down the heat and added a spoonful of miso The mushrooms - reconstituted from dried - added a nice flavor to my broth but ultimately weren’t soaked long enough. Overall, a delicious meal.

Did you notice how nice and yellow the yolk on the hard boiled egg is? Cooked it for a little over 15 minutes (from time I put in in a pot of cold water over medium-high heat) and immediately let it cool in a cup of cold water. Avoids that greenish-gray ring around the yolk. I was also using up a huge stock of gai lan (Chinese broccoli) so I actually boiled the egg in that same pot!

Menma, or shinachiku , or marinated bamboo shoots, or just pickled and seasoned bamboo shoots

The bamboo shoots came from a local Asian grocery store. They actually came pre-packaged and pre-seasoned (about one pound), but I thought that it was pretty disgusting. I rinsed the bamboo shoots out in hot water several times to get rid of the coating and squeezed as much water out as I could.

In a wok with a tablespoon of heated canola oil, I sauteed them over medium heat for 5-7 minutes. Then I added a shaking of brown sugar (actually I used turbinado) and two tablespoons sherry (I had no sake) and Chinese vinegar (the black kind). Let it cook for a while over low heat until the liquid evaporated, another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add a small shake of either red pepper flakes or a drizzle of chili oil and sesame seeds. Serve hot or cold, alone or with something else. Not an authentic recipe, but it tasted pretty good. I like the crunch of bamboo shoots.

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