Ramen Noodle Frenzy

This is how turned out my own recipe developed for homemade ramen noodle, adapted from several other recipes.

And this is my bowl of hot ramen, with egg(s) straight from the hen's nest, spinach (which grew spontaneously outside of my veggie garden fence) sauteed in garlic and sesame oil, green onions from the backyard, and pickled bamboo shoots again from the farm harvested last February. I forgot to garnish it with purple basil leaves, but no problem! - Japanese dishes don´t use any basil.

RECIPE for Noodles:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup semolina flour
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Dissolve baking soda in water and add to the rest of the ingredients. The dough must be very stiff, almost dry, but without any loose flour. Semolina flour takes a while to absorb water, so go easy on the water. Let it rest 5 to 10 minutes before proceeding. Meanwhile, I worked on broth (recipe below). After making sure that the dough is not too dry or too wet, I rolled out and cut it on a humble Atlas pasta machine. The recipe somewhere said it would yield 4 portions, but really, it was good for 2 people only, as we went back for some more.

RECIPE for Broth:
Chicken breast with bones and skin on
Carrots, chayote, onion, fresh ginger, dried shiitake mushroom.
Boil chicken breast, remove scum. When halfway done, add other ingredients until soft.
Strain. Shred chicken breast into bite-size. Discard the rest. Return it to boil, season with a sprinkle of fish powder (Hondashi brand), wakame seaweed, soy sauce, mirin, a pinch of sugar.

For toppings:
Spinach leaves sauteed in garlic and sesame oil (de-li-sh!)
Half boiled egg
Green onions
Shredded chicken breast
Bamboo shoots pickle (some use fermented one - I don´t have it but will find a recipe to make it next year).

Now the kitchen is a total disaster! I can´t even think about cleaning it up. It´s cold today, and all I want is to go to bed for a well deserved Brazilian Father´s Day after lunch nap...zzzzzz

Bamboo Shoots

End of Spring in Brazil, the sun, the rain, the heat, the humidity bring new shoots of bamboo for our delight. It used to be my father´s job to harvest, to clean, to prepare, and even to cook the dish. I remember the last time he did it: he had kittens crawling on his shoulders as he worked. I tried to remember his steps, but failed on the important part, which was the preparation of the raw shoot into an edible one - to wash many times, boil with baking soda, to soak, and wash some more times. I rushed into cooking with basic Japanese seasoning, so have it all very bitter to the point of burning my tongue. I read that cianidric acid can make us sick, but even some boiling would remove most of the acid. So later, I boiled in clean water, turned off the heat, and added a little bit of baking soda. Immediately the water became dark browning yellow. I understood that it must the reaction between acid and alkaline. I changed the water a few more times, tried a piece and it tasted while slightly bitter, but it definitely had some sweetness to it. It is almost like artichoke. Actually, the bottom of the artichoke heart has the same texture as of bamboo shoot. The dish: I cut into thin strips the shoots, pork loin, ginger, green onions, and garlic. I stirred fry pork first with seasonings, removed it from the pan, and added a bit more peanut and sesame oil to fry the shoots. I seasoned them with a bit of sugar, soy sauce, and fish powder (Japanese seasoning). I returned the pork to the pan and let it combine for another minute. Voila. A quick Chinese dish eaten over rice. I will try some other recipes this week, as there are many shoots to be harvested and guests coming over to stay with us.

Mochi Making

Mochi is a Japanese rice cake made of glutinous rice traditionally eaten on New Year´s Day. The mochi making process can be a ceremonial event or not. In my case, I made the way I thought it would work. I soaked the rice overnight, drained it the next day, and then ground it in an electric coffee grinder and put it to cook in a microwave oven with a little bit of water. After about 6 minutes of cooking, I pounded it with either a wooden spoon or with my new Kitchen Aid. After a few minutes, I shaped it into 2-inch rounds. The rice cake itself is very bland, and I love it for the texture. I can fry in a little oil, and then season with soy sauce and sugar or boil in a soy sauce seasoned broth. This time I wanted to make daifuku, which is mochi filled with sweetened azuki bean paste I made from scratch. Not hard at all. I just soaked the beans overnight, cooked it, drained it a bit, and cooked with sugar. As I stir with a wooden spoon, the beans break turning into a paste. Yummy! My interest in Japanese cooking became revived by watching animes, where the presentation of traditional food is quite common. Then, I search online for recipes and ideas. I have enjoyed on youtube "cooking with dog", "runnyrunny999", and "delicious nippon". I am still to make some dango, which ingredient I can´t find where I live, and I believe, some found in Brazil is imported. I may try to make the rice flour myself and make the dumplings later. Let´s see...