The essential book to give to ramen lovers

Creating your own ramen bowls is easier with the invaluable help of Makiko Sano and its new gastronomic volume The art of ramen. 80 simple bowls and broths (Five Inks). As the back cover of the book says, “with slurpable noodles, umami broths, and eye-catching, customizable seasonings, ramen is the ideal fast food, which you can adapt endlessly depending on your tastes, your creativity, and the ingredients you have. in the pantry”. Everything, to pay a respectful tribute to a dish that landed in Japan – with a necessarily more minimalist approach than the current one – at the end of the Edo period (around the 1870s), when Chinese immigrants landed in the port cities of Yokohama, Kobe , Nagasaki and Hakodate and quickly spread their food. The volume includes classic recipes, spicy preparations, mixtures with seafood or vegan and vegetarian options. Below, we break down one of them.

kimchi ramen

Kimchi or “Korean pickle” did not find a regular place in Japanese kitchens until the 1980s, although it was consumed by Korean immigrants. In this recipe, there is hardly any broth and the noodles are covered in sauce.

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 800 g fresh frozen ramen noodles.
• 150 g minced pork.
• 80 g kimchi.
• 2 tablespoons Korean barbecue sauce (whatever brand you prefer).
• 2 tablespoons of mentsuyu (Chinese broth), double concentration.
• 2 tablespoons of sesame oil.

Condiments:

• Black sesame seeds.
• 2 egg yolks.
• Additional kimchi (optional).

Elaboration:

1. Boil the ramen noodles according to the manufacturer’s instructions, drain and set aside.
2. Now, bring a saucepan of water to a boil and add the minced meat. Cook it for 3 minutes and drain it in a colander.
3. Divide the minced meat and kimchi into 2 bowls and stir well. Add 1 tablespoon Korean barbecue sauce, 1 tablespoon mentsuyu and 1 tablespoon of sesame oil to each bowl. Stir again.
4. Add the cooked noodles and stir to coat them well with the sauce. Scatter the black sesame seeds on top and top each bowl with 1 egg yolk and more kimchi, if you like.

Kimchi is highly spiced fermented cabbage and a traditional Korean dish whose origin dates back 3,000 years, as a system to preserve vegetables during the cold winter. It is sour and bitter and accompanies almost all foods in South Korea.