Japan - Ramen and Mochi
Both recipes actually turned out very well, and I was very proud of the finished results! One of the most fun parts of making this Japanese dinner was making the trek out to Chinatown to find some of the special ingredients, such as the proper Ramen noodles and sweet red bean paste for the Mochi. I couldn't believe how many fruits and kinds of noodles and rice I found there that I didn't even know existed!
The Ramen itself was fairly easy to make, as for the most part you simply simmer the ingredients in a bowl for a couple of hours, (during which time it smells incredible), then add the toppings at the very end. However, I did learn a few things, as I had never made pork before, or made broth without any packaged stock. I also learned how to blanch vegetables for the bean sprout toppings, and I (theoretically) now know how to make soft-boiled eggs, but as you can see from the picture, I boiled them too long. It tasted good regardless! This recipe also required Sake for the broth, which I had never tried before. I can now honestly say that it is definitely not the drink for me, but it was cool to try something else new.
The Mochi was a little more challenging. The dough is incredibly sticky, but it would rip when I tried to solve the stickiness with cornstarch, and so some of the bean paste squished out of the sides. In the end, they are still very tasty, and I'm quite pleased with them, in spite of their issues.Overall, the first day of my year of learning to cook went very well, and I'm so excited to keep this going and continue my journey of food around the world!
FIRSTS THIS WEEK:
- Cooked pork
- Made broth without packaged stock
- Attempted soft-boiled eggs
- Blanched vegetables
- Drank Sake
- Honestly, pretty much every aspect of making Mochi was a first
RECIPES I USED:
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