Ramen literally means ‘Chinese style-noodles’ so forgive me for bastardising yet another dish. If ramen calls to mind hand-thrown floury threads bound with egg, that’s not happening here. This won’t be ramen as you know it, but what it also won’t be is a meal that makes you bloat because I use seaweed konnyaku.
I came upon konnyaku noodles whilst having a poke about the chill section of a local Asian supermarket during lockdown2. I was bored, the shop was fairly empty so I browsed. The noodles come in watery pouches and two colours, either green or brown; both looked similar to shirataki and checking out the contents, turns out this is because konnyaku is also from the yam/toro family.
A quick goog and the few reviews I found describe it as ‘spinach’ flavoured, but it’s not: seaweed powder gives it colour but not much else: konnyaku has almost zero calories, contains no sugar, no fat, no gluten, no grain and no protein. So why eat it? my mind screamed before rationalising that if Buddhists are right and we are nothing more than the sum of what we put into our bodies, perhaps partaking of it will give way to lighter thoughts? Nah, I countered, heading to the till; not in this economy, nor the political shit-fest that is 2020, whirligiging its way along with covid into the new year.
For this recipe I used the brown konnyaku, just because as someone who eats with their eyes, I think it compliments the glazed chicken and brown beech mushrooms better. I also prefer dashi miso for this because its savoury saltiness works well with the rest. One website touts konnyaku noodle as ‘one of the most effective items for defending yourself from fatness’. Funny, but also bollocks. Depends entirely on what you do with the rest of your day.
Ingredients:
- 1 litre clear chicken stock
- 4 carrots
- 1 x large pak choi, approx. 250g, stalks for stock, green heads shredded for ramen
- 1 bunch spring onions, half for the stock, the rest for garnish
- 1 inch ginger, crushed
- 2 x seaweed konnyaku noodle
- 2 x chicken breast
- 1 tbsp. rapeseed oil
- 2 tbsp. mirin
- 2 tbsp. soy sauce
- 1 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1 pinch ground white pepper
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
- 500g beansprouts
- 2 tbsp. dashi miso paste
- 2 tbsp. white sesame seeds, toasted
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 pinch hot chilli powder
- brown beech mushrooms
- enoki mushrooms
Instructions:
- Begin by prepping the chicken stock – this can be done in the morning to allow the flavours to develop, or not. Add 3 of the carrots to the stock along with the spring onion, the stalks of the pak choi and the crushed ginger – you can do this by giving the ginger a bash with a rolling pin. Bring the stock to a simmer and keep it there for 30 mins. Strain and reserve
- When you are ready to make the meal, rinse the konnyaku noodles in a sieve under cold water and set aside to drain
- Very thinly slice the remaining spring onions for garnish. Set aside
- Then prep the chicken breast: in a non-stick pan heat the rapeseed oil and fry the breasts to get some colour. Then add the mirin, the light soy sauce, white pepper and the sesame oil and turn the breasts frequently as the mixture quickly develops into a glaze
- Remove the breasts from the pan, sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and leave until cool enough to handle. You want to slice each breast on the diagonal before placing in the ramen bowls
- Now mix the white miso paste with the minced garlic and chili powder
- In a pan, bring the broth to a near simmer, stir in the miso paste until incorporated. Do not let it reach a rolling boil as you want to keep the goodness of the miso from spoiling
- Place the noodles in the ramen bowl, then place about it the beansprouts, the shredded pak choi and the mushrooms, each in their own section
- Now pour the simmering broth into the ramen bowl
- Finally place the chicken breast to one side, arranging it so it sits a little proud of the broth, then the spring onion
FU2020 