Lockdown has made a lot of us realise all the things we take for granted. For me, it’s been four months (and counting) since I’ve sat down at a restaurant and while I’ve much missed the atmosphere of a meal with friends and the experiences of having someone else cook for me – it’s the quality of the food I’ve missed most.
So, obviously during lockdown everyone needs a theme. Mine was learning how to knock up a decent scran and, to be fair, I think I’ve done alright out of it. I’m no Gordon Ramsey, like, but I’ve come a long way from the Koka noodle diet.
So, when Sous Chef offered The Daily Struggle a chance to sample some of their Japanese speciality cooking ingredients – who was I to turn down a free lunch?
Some great inclusions in the parcel they sent over, including Japanese noodles, a pack of both udon and soba noodles, kenko mayonnaise, red miso paste and yuzu juice – which is for cooking and not swigging as I painfully learned. The best freebee comes in the form of the Chouseki noodle bowl… which I will DEFINITELY not be mostly eating Koka noodles from.
I thought with all these great stuff, which not make something Japan is famous for – a steaming hot bowl of ramen! Have included my recipe below so you can have a go of it yourself.
Vegetarian-Friendly Miso Ramen:
This flavoursome Japanese dish is the ultimate umami hit.
Meat eaters can substitute the veg broth for chicken and top with whatever meat they want – pork goes great with it!
Serves 4 – or 2 if you’re both hungry – and can be whipped up in under 30 minutes.
Ingredients
1 tbsp sesame oil.
3 cloves of garlic, minced.
1 nub of ginger, minced.
Bunch of spring onions, half roughly chopped, half sliced lengthways.
3 tbsp Red Miso from Sous Chef.
1 tbsp sesame seeds.
1 tbsp sugar.
4 cups of vegetable stock.
180g Akagi Dried Udon Noodles.
1 large red chilli, sliced lengthways.
Can of shitake mushrooms, drained and chopped.
Salt and white pepper, to taste.
Instructions
- In a large pre-heated pot, heat the sesame oil over a medium/low heat. Once shimmering, add your garlic, ginger, and spring onions. Stir with wooden spoon and fry until fragrant.
- Drop miso into the pot and combine with all ingredients, scraping food from the side of the pan and ensuring nothing burns.
- Add sesame seeds and sugar, stir well to combine.
- Pour in the vegetable stock, give it a quick stir, and then bring to a simmer. Taste for seasoning, adding salt and white pepper if necessary. Keep simmering, but place lid on top of pot so broth doesn’t reduce.
- Bring another pot of unsalted water to the boil, and cook Udon Noodles for 10 minutes.
- Once cooked, drain noodles in a sieve. Make sure all excess water is gone and add noodles to serving bowls.
- Take your broth and pour on top of each serving of noodles.
- Add spring onion, chilli, and shitake mushrooms as toppings – and dig in!
Tom is the Mens lifestyle editor here at The Daily Struggle. Interested in Mens health and fashion, theater and eats copious amounts of cheese toasties when he thinks no one is looking.
