It's Friday So It Must Be Soup! Jan 28 is a Dashi Sort of Day





Soup.
Today is one of those days where I really want someone to make ME soup. I don't feel all that great and I don't want to get dressed or go out or cook one bit but I do need a couple of things so I guess I am going to have to do it anyway. I made salmon last night so I could make Little Shack salmon sushi rolls to take in his lunch today so I have leftover salmon AND leftover sushi rice and that means sushi pizza for supper!


fresh japanese wheat noodle




That means something that goes with sushi pizza so I am going to make some nice, soothing ramen. Because I don't feel well, I am not going to make dashi from scratch. I am going to use instant dashi and sometimes that is just the way it has to be and if millions of Japanese people who live in Japan use instant dashi, it's good enough for me. I like to add a big spoonful of chili sauce to mine because I like it spicy but that is also a personal choice. It's absolutely delicious without any extra condiments. You can also use whatever type of noodle you like and the authenticity police are not going to come break down your door because you prefer udon or soba or chinese egg noodles. I'm serving this stuff with sushi pizza so it's not like I am going to get any sort of reward for japanese culinary purity any time soon.

I use this recipe as my base for my ramen soup broth with a few changes:

basically I  mix about 8 cups water, 3 tsp dashi soup base powder, 1/4 cup dried shrimp, 1 slice ginger, 1 smashed clove garlic, 4 tbls soy sauce, 1 tbls sugar and 2 tsp sesame oil
(I basically follow the recipe for five cups of water but I use 8 so the flavour is more subtle and not so salty)

dried shrimp


Cook the noodles separately, drain and put noodles in each individual bowl. Then you add whatever else is going in  your soup before you pour the hot soup over the whole thing.  What you serve in your soup is up to you and the possibilities are endless. Today we are having chinese bbq pork, bok choy, enoki mushrooms and fried tofu. I put whatever I have in the house in this soup. All that matters is that you have a tasty soup stock and noodles and then you can go crazy from there.

Comments

  1. CallieKJanuary 28, 2011 at 4:40 PM

    That looks totally delicious and I want to make it right now except for two problems- I don't have any of the things that make yours look so good, and I have no idea what dashi is, homemade or otherwise.

    Looks like some research and shopping is in order!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Carole Nelson BrownJanuary 28, 2011 at 8:18 PM

    well, it's easier to find instant dashi powder (dashi is the broth that most japanese soups and sauces are based on and it's basically made from a dried up hunk of seaweed and fish skin flakes lol - much tastier than it sounds) than it is too find kombu and bonito flakes. If you have an asian market that's a good place to start.

    ReplyDelete
  3. CallieKJanuary 29, 2011 at 9:31 AM

    Thanks! Oddly enough I do have bonito stock, for making miso soup- although it's a few years old now and should probably be pitched out. Either way it's an excuse to go shopping at Sanko!

    ReplyDelete
  4. AngJanuary 29, 2011 at 6:21 PM

    I love the look and sound of all of this. So warming and yummy! Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousJanuary 31, 2011 at 11:30 PM

    I love going to the Asian market and picking up ingredients for dishes like this. I will have to go make a special trip. Great blog you have going here!
    -Gina-

    ReplyDelete

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