もやしラーメン Ramen Noodles and Soup with Stir Fried Pork and BeanSprouts

もやしラーメン Ramen Noodles and Soup with Stir Fried Pork and Bean Sprouts, a photo by naotakem on Flickr.

Wasn't sure if I should include this here as it doesn't require a lot of cooking and relies on store-bought ramen noodles and soy sauce flavored soup (the refrigerated uncooked kind, not the fried and dry variety) to a great extent, but this photo on Flickr was getting a lot of views so I figured it merited a writeup.

料理と言えるほどの手間も掛からず、また手間の大半も市販の生ラーメンと醤油スープをそのまま作るだけ、なのでここに上げようかどうか少し迷いましたが、Flickrに上げた写真の閲覧数が妙に多かったので一応書き残しておくかな、と思った次第です。

Cut pork slices (doesn't have to be any premium meat as long as it's thin and has some fat - I used the 'economy' cut from a Japanese supermarket) into narrow strips, place in a bowl, season and marinate with small amounts of soy sauce, sake, salt and pepper, set aside. In a pan, sauté some chopped garlic in vegetable oil and when it becomes aromatic, add the pork and cook through. Add some chopped green onions, a teaspoon or so of Chinese hot bean paste, mix some, then add washed and well-drained bean sprouts, and continue to stir fry. When the sprouts are crisp-tender, add a small amount of potato starch dissolved in water to the pan and toss well until there is some thickness to the pork-vegetable mix. Simultaneously, prepare the ramen noodles and soup following its instructions and place in a bowl. Serve the pork-sprout mix over the noodles and eat quickly.

豚肉は脂が多少乗って薄切りでありさえすれば特に良い部位を使う必要はなく、ここでは近所の日本食スーパーの「お買い得品」のコマ切れを使いました。細切りにして、醤油、日本酒、塩コショウを少量振りかけ、軽く混ぜて少しの間おいておきます。フライパンに植物油を熱し、ニンニクを加えて香りが立ったら豚肉を入れ、火を通します。ネギのみじん切りと豆板醤を小さじ一杯ほど加え、さっと混ぜ合わせたら洗って水気を良く切ったもやしを投入し、もやしの歯ごたえを少々残す程度まで炒めます。仕上げに水で溶いた片栗粉でとろみを出し、同時進行で袋の指示通りに作って丼に盛ったラーメンとスープに載せて出来上がり。これはさっさと食べます。

Hakata style pork broth ramen with stir fried garlic chives and groundpork, scallions, and red pickled ginger ニラとネギの炒め物を載せた博多ラーメン

Hakata style pork broth ramen with stir fried garlic chives and ground pork, scallions, and red pickled ginger, a photo by naotakem on Flickr.

帰省されていた福岡出身の友人からお土産で頂いた博多・長浜ラーメン、いわゆるラーメンの具材を揃える機会が無かったので季節の野菜を使ったものを作りました。

具材とラーメンの出来上がり時間を合わせるため、まずラーメンを茹でるお湯（水道水）とスープ用のお湯（浄水器）を用意。少量のサラダオイルで細かく刻んだショウガと豚挽き肉を炒め、火が通ったところで塩コショウで味つけし、刻んだ春ニラを投入。さっと炒めたところに刻みネギと白ゴマを入れ、かるく混ぜて火を止めました。野菜に火を通しすぎずに味を楽しもうという意図です。

ニラ・ネギ炒めが仕上がったところでラーメンを茹で、温めておいた丼にスープの素とお湯を注ぎます。ラーメンの茹で時間は「バリカタ」を目指し１分少々。きっかり１分経過したところでラーメンを揚げ、よくお湯を切ってスープに加え、ニラ・ネギ炒めと彩りに紅ショウガを載せ、ささっと戴きました。

A Bay Area friend originally from Fukuoka, Japan gave us a box of Hakata style (Nagahama) ramen (known for the use of strong pork broth and thin, yet very firm noodles) containing semi-raw noodles and soup packs a while back. Instead of simply cooking it following the instructions on the box with the usual ramen toppings, we decided to have it with some seasonal vegetables.

In order to finish both the ramen and the vegetables at the same time, got a pot of tap water (for the noodles) and a kettle of filtered water (for the soup) boiling first. Once we had that going, sautéed some chopped ginger and ground pork until cooked, seasoned with salt and pepper, added chopped garlic chives (from the farmer's market), tossed with the pork briefly, then added some chopped scallions (also from the market) and sesame seeds, tossed again briefly, and removed from the heat. Idea was to avoid overcooking the vegetables so we could enjoy its full texture and flavor.

Once the stir-fry was done, we cooked the ramen noodles - only for a minute to achieve the state of doneness that people from Fukuoka refer to as "bari kata (very firm)" - while dissolving the soup mix with boiling filtered water from the kettle in a warm bowl. Drained the noodles at precisely 1 minute, tossed in a colander to remove any excess cooking water, added to the soup, served with the stir-fry on top with some picked ginger (colored red) for a dash of color. This is something meant to be eaten quickly - which is what we did.

Miso Broth Ramen Loaded with Vegetables 野菜たっぷり味噌ラーメン

料理というほどの料理ではないですが、野菜をたっぷりと入れた味噌ラーメン。子供の頃から家で（インスタントであろうと、生麺であろうと）ラーメンを作る時は栄養バランスのためと称して何がしか野菜ものを入れるように指導されてきたのですが、今もその教えは身に染み付いているようです。市販の生麺とスープがセットになった味噌ラーメンで作る手抜きの一品です。

好みの大きさに刻んだ豚コマ切れ肉（一番安いところ）、キャベツ、タマネギをモヤシと共にニンニクと胡麻油で炒め、塩コショウで味付けし、まだ歯ごたえが残っているうちに、並行してタイミングを合わせて作ったラーメンの上に乗せ、茹でコーン、刻んだ青ネギ、そして白ゴマを散らして出来上がり。キュウリを塩麹で和えたものと共に頂きました。

Not sure this qualifies as "cooking" due to its simplicity and use of packaged fresh ramen noodles and miso flavored soup base (not instant ramen), but an easy (lazy) and tasty way to eat vegetables. I've been making something like this since my early teens - my mother would not allow me to eat ramen at home without adding some vegetables in the name of "nutritional balance", and that habit has stuck with me ever since.

Stir-fried thin slices of the most inexpensive cut of pork you can find with chopped cabbage and yellow onions in sesame oil with garlic, then add bean sprouts and cook slightly. Pour the stir-fry mix onto a bowl of freshly cooked ramen (timing is crucial here - parallel processing is required), sprinkle some cooked corn kernels, sliced green onions, and white sesame seeds, then serve. Had this with cucumbers marinated in a mixture of salt and fermentation starter (shio-kouji).