Comfort food level: A warm hug after a challenging day.
You need (for 4 bowls):
garlic – 4 cloves
ginger – 5 cm (2″ fresh) or 2 tsp ground
chili flakes – to your liking
spring onions – 4 pieces
soy sauce – 4 tbsp
mirin* – 4 tbsp
vegetable oil – to cover the bottom of the pan
beef stock – 6 cups or 1.5 l
shredded boiled beef
ramen noodles or angel hair pasta
eggs – 4
baby spinach – a fistful
time – 30 min**
pots – 3
sieve – 1
How to make it:
1) Turn on some happy music
2) Peel the garlic and crush it. You may cut the bigger cloves in two.
3) Thinly slice the fresh ginger.
4) Cut the stalks of the spring onions. Separate the green part from the white one. Leave the green part whole.
5) Heat the vegetable oil in the pot.
6) Add garlic, ginger, spring onion (only the green part) and chili flakes and let it fry for a minute.
7) Add soy sauce, mirin* and beef stock.
8) Bring to boil.
9) Lower the temperature and let it simmer for 25 minutes.
In the meantime:
7a) Use the wooden spoon as a microphone.
8a) Shred the beef you have already cooked.
9a) Add the shredded beef to the soup.
8b) Prepare noodles in pot No. 2. Cook the noodles one minute less than it says on the packaging since they will continue cooking in the soup later on.
9b) Once the noodles are done, strain them and put them in bowls that will be used for serving the soup.
8c) Prepare eggs in pot No. 3. To get this perfectly creamy yolk, put the eggs in the boiling water and cook them for exactly 6 – 6:30 min.
9c) Cool the eggs in cold water. That should also make the peeling super easy.
8d) Wash the baby spinach and set it aside for garnishing.***
Finally
10) Take the soup off the fire and pour it into the bowls through a sieve.
11) Put some meat into each bowl.
12) Garnish with couple of leaves of baby spinach and spring onions.
13) Cut the egg in half and place it on top.
14) Look at your bowls in admiration and give yourself an round of applause!
Notes and disclaimers:
*mirin – sweet rice wine similar to sake but lower in alcohol content (14%). You can use sweet marsala wine or dry sherry and if you have none dry white wine or rice vinegar will also do, but make sure to use about a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar for every tablespoon you use counteract the sourness.
**You will need 30 minutes if you are good at multitasking. If not, do the steps a, b, c, d when it best suits you. Nothing bad is going to happen if the soup simmers longer than 25 minutes, or if you prepare eggs and pasta beforehand. You need to have ready stock and leftover meat for this recipe.
***You can use any leafy greens you like. In case they are a little sturdier, steam them before adding them to the soup.
****If the flavor ends up being too strong for you – just add some water.
Dobar tek!
Diary of a Logorrheic* 