Tsukemen (dipping noodles)

つけ麺 tsukemen, that’s noodles unseasoned (often chilled) served with a tsuyu (dipping soup). As that’s much lighter than noodles served in the soup, it’s a common Summer dish.

Chuka soba or ramen (Chinese noodles). I buy them fresh and cooked, but they need a refreshing. I pass them 1 minute in boiling water, then refresh in ice water. And serve. That changes totally the texture.

Fresh traditional style miso. I’ve used it for the onion miso tsuyu

It’s very simple. I cut 1/2 onion, grated 1/4, added very little water and cooked till onions changed of color, added the miso and iced water to refresh.

Garnishing items : goya (sliced bitter squash), mitsuba leaves, cut negi leeks and abura-age (fried tofu). It’s Kyoto style abura-age, delicious just like that.

Spicy crazy ramen burger (black bean burger part 2)

Ramen burger ! Yeah, and it’s probably addictive. At least, my version is. You should really try.
If you wonder who came with this crazy idea, here is a little historic explanation. Everybody knows Fukushima, the region is famous for its… atomically good ramen. Well that’s a true.
喜多方ラーメン (Kitakata ramen) from the town of Kitakata are said to be one of the 3 best in Japan.
source “tourist info”
They are ramen, topped with chashu (pork roast), a slice of surimi, menma bamboo shoots, negi… Then one shop had the idea to make to round patties of broth flavored noodles and serve the toppings inside :
kitakata ramen-burger
source “the restaurant that started the ra’burger”
They have then been copied all by many others.

So, I have not followed their recipe at all. I’ve used a home-made black bean burger and improvised my fried noodles :
making the burger (click here).

Here are toppings. My sauce : neri goma (pasted sesame, tahini), rice vinegar, miso, a little sugar, paprika, chili pepper and turmeric.

The construction : a round of pan-fried ramen, a layer of greens, a bean burger, a good amount of sauce, pickled ginger, a second round of ramen, cut coriander leaves.

That’s a complete Spring spicy ramen burger. And it’s really delicious.

I tried to eat it with the hands, and I got greasy fingers, that I had to lick after… A sort of burger case would be convenient. I should get some printed at my name.

Cooking black bean burger for Spring (1st part)

I could eat beef burgers but I now prefer bean burgers. If you think I’m weird, you should try these. They are soft, juicy, crunchy, flavorful. And easy to make.

Basic ingredients that you can make from scratch but I had them ready to start. Yakisoba (fresh　ramen for hot plate)　and cooked black beans (here kuromame). You can use other types of noddles/pasta.

today’s green

Mix, shape and cook. OK, I mash the beans with a fork, I mince the greens, onion, ginger, I roughly break the walnuts. That’s not precise be make them to taste, you can sample the ingredients as you mix in. With 1 cup of beans, I made 2 burgers. I cook them briefly in a frying pan.
With 1 pack, I made 4 rounds of yakisoba. I stir-fried them with a little sauce and spices, then shaped and cooked next to the burgers.

You wonder why I made these yaki-soba “patties” ? Oh, I had space in the frying pan. You’ll see that in next post.

Here is the burger !