Easy Restaurant *Homemade* Ramen

On days like today - ok, any day that isn't hot - I want ramen. I've tried (so far unsuccessfully) to make my own noodles, but thanks to Nona Lim (made in Oakland!), I can now create a bowl of excellent ramen at home with very little effort, AND FOR ABOUT $4. 

How is this magic possible?? This may seem like a lot of steps, but it's pretty basic. Make the eggs the night before, and when you get home, all you need to do is heat the broth, cook the noodles, assemble and garnish. You can eat in 20 minutes. 

You must, at all times, have the following ingredients in your home:

A box (or two) of Nona Lim Tokyo Ramen
A box (or four) of Trader Joe's Miso Ginger Broth
Eggs
Fresh Corn (but if you must, Del Monte canned No-Salt Added Corn will do)
Mirin
Soy Sauce or Tamari
Green Onion
Ginger

Whole Foods and Rainbow Coop Carry These

Trader Joe's Miso Ginger Vegan Broth

Eggs Marinated in Mirin and Soy Sauce 

These are the fundamentals for how I like basic ramen, but feel free to branch out and add whatever you like. 

First, let's marinate some eggs. 

This blog has simple instructions. I like an 8 minute simmer for a yolk that's creamy. Don't leave eggs in the ice bath more than 5 minutes or the whites can get tough. Peel the eggs carefully, because the eggs are soft boiled, and can tear easily. I recommend 24 hours in the marinade, and up to 2 days is ok. 

Assembling Your Ramen

The ramen comes in tidy individual serving packets (2 to a box). 
Here are instructions for two:
Boil a large pot of water. 
In a smaller pot, heat up the broth (one full box for 2 people). Add kernels from one ear of corn. Bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer. 
Take two eggs out of the fridge. Thinly sliced some green onion and set aside. Peel a piece of ginger (you'll grate it right over the bowl before serving). 
Once the large pot comes to a raging boil, scoop out some of the water and add it to your serving bowls to warm them up. 
Add the ramen to the pot. I prefer to cook them one at a time so they don't clump. They cook in about 3-4 minutes, so this is doable. Use tongs and a sieve to scoop out the cooked ramen. Pour out the water from your serving bowl, and add the noodles to the warm bowl. 
Gently pour half the broth over the ramen. Add half the corn to the bowl. Slice an egg in half and gently place it on the mound of noodles (you don't want it to drown). Repeat with the other bowl. Sprinkle both bowls with green onions, and grate lots of fresh ginger with a microplane. 

Serve immediately with chop sticks and spoon.

           いただきます

Hash Browns: Easier Than You Think

The potato. Rooted deep in Russian dogma, you can bet that my blood will regularly test positive for tubers. 

Last week I began a food jag that I have since repeated more times than I care to admit. I started making my own hash browns. This takes just a few minutes to prep, and about 15 to cook. 

Minutes to Magic
1# potatoes (russets or yellow, preferably organic)
1/2 an onion
salt
pepper
garlic powder
turmeric 
oil or butter (or both)

Tools
food processor with shredder disc
or a box grater
cheesecloth* or a clean kitchen towel (or paper towels)
a large bowl
10" nonstick pan (or well-seasoned cast iron)
flexible cutting board 

To peel or not to peel...
If the potatoes are organic and the skins are relatively blemish-free, just give them a good scrub with a vegetable brush and some cold water. Otherwise, peel them. If using a food processor, attach the shredder disc, and cut the potatoes in half widthwise so they'll fit into the feeder. Cut the root end off the onion, and peel off the outer layers. Grate the onions and potatoes together. If you don't have a food processor, grate them on a box grater. 

Squeeze all the liquid out of the potatoes and onions. Paper towels usually tear, so I prefer using a cheesecloth or clean kitchen towel. Twist the cloth to help push the potatoes into a ball, then squeeze the ball as you twist to get as much liquid out as possible. This will give you crisp hash browns instead of mush. 

Toss the shreds with salt & pepper (the basics), and add whatever other seasoning you like (I like garlic powder and turmeric). 

Heat the pan on medium-high, and add 2T oil (or butter, or 1T each). Coat the pan, and spread your shreds evenly, tucking in the edges and patting the whole thing down with a spatula. You want it packed so when you flip it over, it doesn't fall apart. Turn the heat down to med-low, and cook for about 8 minutes. This will vary depending on the heat and what type of pan you use. 

Use the spatula to loosen the edges a bit, and in one quick confident motion, flop the whole thing out onto a cutting board. Turn the heat back up to med-high, add 2T of oil, and slide the whole thing back in to brown the other side. Turn the heat down to med-low, and cook for about 5-8 minutes. Serve immediately. 

Flipping the potatoes out onto a flexible cutting board makes it easy to slide them back into the pan. The name of the game is CONFIDENCE.

Variations: During the summer you may want to add some grated zucchini, and during the winter, you can try a variety of root vegetables. Top with a fried egg for a heavenly experience. 


*You can find cheesecloth at a fabric store, Cake Art in San Rafael, or Sur La Table. It's inexpensive, infinitely reusable, and serves many purposes in the kitchen.

На здоровье! 

Israeli Couscous Slaw

My friend and coworker Erin asked me to share the recipe for this salad I posted on FB last week. So here it is! 

Makes 3-4 generous servings.

The Couscous
1C toasted Israeli couscous 
1T olive oil
2C hot water

The Extras
2-3T minced preserved lemon rind (or 2t fresh lemon zest)
1/4C chopped parsley
1 scallion, thinly sliced 
1 large or 2 smaller carrots, grated
1/2 a small or 1/4 of a large red cabbage, very thinly sliced
rice vinegar 
red wine vinegar 
S&P
olive oil
1/2C toasted slivered almonds 
dried cranberries (optional)

Toast the almonds in a dry pan, and set aside. 

Heat the 1T olive oil in a pot, and stir in the couscous for 3-5 minutes. Add the hot water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer covered for 10 minutes, or until the liquid is absorbed. (Turn off the heat when the couscous has absorbed all the liquid but still looks like it's covered in paste. This starch will absorb into the couscous as it cools.)

Transfer the couscous to a bowl and stir in the preserved lemon (or zest). Spread out the couscous in the bowl to help it cool while you prep the rest of the ingredients. 

When the couscous has cooled to near room temperature, add the rest of the ingredients. Dress it with a few dashes of the vinegars, season with S&P to taste, and drizzle with olive oil.

Reserve the almonds and cranberries as a garnish just before serving. 

Like most pasta salads, this will keep well in the fridge for a few days, and can be prepared a day ahead. Make it on a Sunday, and you'll have lunches for Monday and Tuesday. 

Notes:
For some reason the bulk Israeli couscous from Whole Foods works better for this recipe's couscous/water ratio. If using the boxed one from Trader Joe's, follow the directions on the box.

Store bulk blanched almonds in the freezer to keep them fresh.

Fried Rice...Russian Easter Style

Restaurants are making a killing selling you a carton of leftovers for about $8. 

Next time you find yourself with leftover meat and rice, make a honkin' batch of fried rice, and feed your whole family for a fraction of the cost (and without wondering how much sodium or "mystery ingredients" may be lurking behind that carrot). 

My family only cooks a ham twice a year - at Easter and Christmas. We eat meat so rarely that when we do, we indulge in a pricier nitrite-free ham from a good butcher. And we all want leftovers, so we tend to overbuy (even for a Russian family, hell-bent on overfeeding our guests). This Easter, my Mom* wanted to try a new method she had read about - braising the whole ham in apple cider and spices. This resulted in a moist, delectable flavor, deeply spiked with apple, clove, and allspice. 

Since my Mom is highly praised for her beef Stroganoff, we had a sort of "turf & turf" Easter buffet. Cold ham served with an assortment of salads, and hot Stroganoff served with rice. It was a very warm day, and one of those years when Russian Orthodox Easter falls on the same day as the Gregorian Easter. This meant more leftovers than usual, which was fine with everyone who went home with lovely parting gifts of meat and Easter bread. 

Having cooked and cleaned for days ahead of our annual party, I was not in the mood for preparing anything at all time consuming for myself the following week. And then it hit me. Russian + Chinese makes sense in my family. After all, my Father's family came through China on their way to the U.S. My paternal grandparents were born in Shanghai. And with this Easter falling on April 20th (the anniversary of my Great Grandmother's passing), nothing felt more right than using Russian Easter leftovers to make Chinese food for an American girl. 

Now, contrary to the pomp that precedes the instructions, preparing fried rice can be quite simple and quick. I opted for using fresh veggies, which I usually have in abundance. Most people have a carrot lying in wait in the fridge, and if that bag of peas hasn't been in & out of the freezer for years of bruise-tending, it should be good to go as well. I'll list the ingredients I used, but as always, feel free to improvise. The best way to a successful dish is to prep everything ahead of time so that when you're cooking, you can work quickly. 

Pork Fried Rice
2-3T soy sauce
2T rice vinegar
1t sesame oil
pinch of sugar

3T grapeseed or vegetable oil

1C diced leftover ham
1/2C+ thinly sliced carrot
1/2C+ peas (either blanched fresh, or thawed frozen)
3-4 crimini mushrooms, sliced 
1-2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 green onion, thinly sliced
2-3C leftover white rice
pickled ginger garnish

Whisk together the first 4 ingredients, and set aside. 

Heat a large skillet or wok on high, and add the oil. 
Saute the ham until golden on the edges. Add the carrot and mushroom, and cook about 2 minutes, stirring often to avoid burning. Add the peas to heat through. Make a well in the center of the pan, and add the egg, stirring to scramble, then mix in with the other ingredients. Add the green onion and rice, stir to combine & heat through. Pour the soy sauce mixture evenly over the rice, and heat through for about a minute. 

Serve immediately, topped with julienned pickled ginger. 

Allow leftovers to cool to room temperature before storing in the fridge. 

Note: The special braise on this ham gave this dish a wonderfully authentic Chinese flavor akin to 5-spice. I have made fried rice with regular ham, chicken, shrimp, and tofu - all delicious. Have fun improvising! 


*The ham was Mom's idea, but the credit goes to my brother-in-law, who prepared and sliced the ham to perfection.