Turning Japanese

Those who know me know two things about me and Japan... One, I have spoken Japanese for years and can still envisage myself moving there one day, or at least holidaying there another three times. And two, I looooove Japanese cuisine. Ramen is one of my all time favourites and I order it every chance I get just to take me back to those little alleyway ramen bars my boyfriend and I visited in Shibuya on our last trip there.

For me, the best type of ramen is tonkotsu - a broth created from pork bones that takes hours to cook and uses kilos of pork bits. Obviously, this isn't really a possibility for week night cooking and may even be a little ambitious on the weekends. Instead, to get my ramen fix, this is a really simple beef version that is weeknight-friendly and very satisfying to make (and probably a little lower in calories too!! If you care about that kind of stuff...)

Beef and noodle ramen (serves 2)
200g beef rump steak, thinly sliced
3 cups beef stock plus 3 cups water
3 tsp fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 star anise
2 cinnamon quills
4cm piece ginger, cut into thick slices
1 stick organic ramen noodles (these are the dry ones but you can also use the soft pack, cooked ones)
2 Green onions (shallots), thinly sliced
1/2 cup coriander, chopped
100g Baby spinach, chopped
1 egg, hardboiled (This takes about 5-6 minutes from boiling)
6 bamboo shoots
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1/2 sheet nori (seaweed), chopped into 6 slices
Sesame oil
Chilli flakes

The perfect ingredients for a ramen feast.

1. Place beef stock, extra water, fish sauce, soy sauce, star anise and cinnamon in a large pot. Bring to the boil then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove bits.

Make sure your stock is nice and hot when you go to serve to cook your beef strips.

2. Cook ramen according to packet instructions. Drain and place in bowls.
3. Top with 100g beef, 1 shallot, 50g baby spinach, half a hard boiled egg, 1/4 cup coriander, 3 bamboo shoots, 3 slices nori, 1/2 tbsp sesame seeds, chilli flakes and a dash of sesame oil in each bowl.
4. Spoon hot stock over the prepared ingredients to cook the beef. Squeeze juice of half a lime into each bowl before serving.

Turning Japanese, indeed!

The real clincher for this dish is the addition of sesame oil (which the original recipe I looked at didn't include). Previous to this, it didn't have the best Japanese flavour and was a little bit flat.

Kamaboko

Some other garnish idea that you could include:
- Butter corn - melt some butter in a pan and quickly fry some canned or fresh corn
- Fried garlic - thinly slice a garlic clove and add to a wok or fry pan with a shallow coating of oil. Drain and dry before serving.
- Bean sprouts
- Shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
- Kamaboko (japanese fish cakes), thinly sliced

If you've never tried ramen before, what are you waiting for!?! This is such a satisfying dish and the fact that it is so easy to make just makes it even better. And if you ever get a chance to go to Japan, make sure you check out a ramen bar. They may look like a tiny hole-in-the-wall that can only fit 4 people, but as long as you are one of those 4, you will be eating one of the best meals you've ever tasted.

Enjoy!

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