Tsukemen
Here you can find an easy to follow recipe for a great tasting Tsukemen.
Ingredients
- 2 cups vegetable, chicken or beef Stock
- 2 slices kamaboko fish cake
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp mirin
- 2 ramen eggs (cut in half)
- 2 tsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp dried bonito flakes
- 2 tsp miso
- 1 packet fresh ramen noodles (around 0.7 lb)
- 1 green onion thinly sliced
- 1 tsp sesame oil (for garnishing)
- 1 tsp crunchy chili oil (for garnishing)
Instructions
- Grab a large pot of water then bring to a boil.
- In a separate bowl, mix the stock, the soy sauce and mirin. Boil these ingredients too. Afterwards, reduce the heat to a simmer. Proceed to add the rice vinegar and stir it so that it combines properly.
- Get a fine-mesh sieve and pass the miso through it. Stir this to combine and then boil again. Cook this for a few minutes until it becomes slightly thick. Taste it and then season accordingly. Ensure the broth has an intense flavor and is well salted then remove it from the heat.
- Add your noodles to boiling water and then cook according to the instructions on the package. Once it’s already cooked, insert the noodles in ice cold water immediately. Alternatively, you could drain it and then hold the strainer under some cold water for about two minutes. Ensure you swish these noodles around using your fingers.
- Place the chilled noodles on two different serving bowls. You can also use serving plates instead. Also place the fish cake and ramen eggs on the serving bowl/ plates. In two other different bowls, ladle the broth. Use the katsuobushi as toppings as well as the green onions. Drizzle some toasted sesame and chilli oil on the plates.
Notes
- Use fresh noodles. This helps a lot considering noodles make the most part of this popular Japanese dish. As much as possible, opt for fresh ramen noodles or chukamen. This will make sure you get the most delectable taste. Fortunately, these are easy to find at food stores.
- Go for a bold flavor. The tsukemen broth is generally supposed to be salty and very strong compared to that of ramen. This is simply because the broth is meant for dipping and not exactly sipping. You should therefore not shy away from going bold when it comes to the flavors. This is because they will always balance well when you start eating it with the noodles.
- Ensure you build the broth well. To properly build your broth, you could always jazz your store-bought meat up using both water and mentsuyu. Mentsuyu is a soup base that’s also of Japanese origin. It consists of katsuobushi and kombu. Katsuobushi is simply dried bonito flakes. Use it once it’s been simmered in sake, soy sauce or mirin.