Monday, May 20, 2013

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

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.

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