Ramen Cravings

Some people have ice cream cravings, and some french fries. When I want something bad, it tends to be fried chicken. I'm not sure why. Something about the crunchy, salty, fatty fried skin and juicy bite of chicken leg sends me swooning. 

Growing up, my dad dipped his fried chicken (and pretty much everything else) into ketchup. I do this now too, a learned habit, I suppose. I'm noticing both my kids now are adopting the same eccentric food habits. Like those food magazine interviews of celebrities asking what's in their fridge - mine (a girl can dream!) would be a bottle of Heinz's 57 Ketchup. Anyhoo....

For the past month, I've been having a new craving - Ramen Noodles. This obsession came after I ate at Samurai located in the same building as Uwajimaya in the ID district for the first time about a month ago. I had read many reviews on this place prior to going there. Folks just raved on and on about the ramen bar, claiming it was the BEST ramen in Seattle and comparing its authenticity to a good bowl of ramen in Japan. Of course, I had to try it...

OMG.

I've gone in to Samurai four times over the past month and have now ordered the same bowl of ramen three of the four times. When I like something, I tend to not only be a repeat customer, but a repeat orderer. It's a sure thing and I like to know what I'm getting. Boring maybe, routine, ok ... I just like what I like - especially when it is GOOD! A bit of advice if you're trying to get there at lunch time - go before 11:15 a.m. Trust me - the line out the door typically begins around 11: 15 am. And the place is dime store small, so be prepared to knock knees with the other hungry patrons at the tables next to you. No need to be shy, the ramen is worth it.

The bowl I'm crazy about is called Tampopo. Based on the Tampopo movie with the same name, a ramen western about a woman in Tokyo who achieved to make the best bowl of ramen and recruited two guys to help her. A funny and weirdly charming movie.

There is absolutely nothing funny about the movie's namesake ramen served at Samurai , it's serious business. Seriously tantalizing. Sliced melt-in-your-mouth, chunky pork slices, soy sauce marinated hard boiled egg, tender bamboo shoots, tasty naruto, papery thin roasted seaweed, and green onions are the condiments. 

But the real heroes are the shoyou based soup and the noodles. Geez louise, where did they get those noodles?! Firm, robust, chewy, and just the perfect al dente-ness. Couple those perfect noodles with that briny, complex flavored soup and you have an authentic bowl of ramen.... at least in these parts. About that broth - tasting it made me think of grandma's home soup - the kind she used to boil for hours and hours. 

Tasted like home. Ya.... I could bathe in it, Samurai's soup is that good. Enough said.

A preview hint of things to come... my ramen obsession must now be cultivated at home as I can't keep driving almost 40 minutes to get my ramen hit every week. Plus, the bowls of ramen aren't cheap. If this keeps up, I might need to ask for a job there. Except once they figure out my real intentions and see that I'm always hovering over the soup pot - they'll banish me to the dish washing. 

Looks like I'll need to Tampopo it and try and make a decent imitation at home. Wish me luck, folks. I've thrown down the gauntlet to myself this week. Let's see what I come up with...

Soup Dumplings

Hello again. I'd like to start this blog journey with you, "the universe," like we've already met ... like we're already friends. So, for the record - it's nice to see you again.

On this, our official first meet, I'd like to give you a gift. A secret - a secret recipe. It's only secret in that I've never shared it. Sending it over the airwaves is like sending it to a debutantes ball. White gloves and all.

Let me tell you the recipe's background. My grandfather had owned the legendary Hong Kong restaurant in the ID district (closed a long time ago) and I started working in the kitchen there when I could hold a chopping knife properly - say 12 or 13. Shhhh, all under the table, of course. Hey, we were working in Chinatown, go figure.

Well, the Hong Kong made the best won tons I've ever tasted, hands down. Thinking about them brings back my childhood. I've slurped my share of soup dumplings throughout the NW, Vancouver (BC of course), Hawaii, and even Paris - just kidding about Paris, although I have traveled there ... and I still think the Hong Kong's were the best.

What made them so tasty? A good soup dumpling needs to be savory, moist, juicy, and HOT (I mean temperature). The filling was used for other appetizers like shrimp rolls (bacon wrapped bites of pork and shrimp lightly fried to a golden yum) and the deep fried won ton to their soup twin. All insanely delicious. If there was a send-back dish to the kitchen (wrong order, yadda yadda) - I was all over that plate or bowl.

Yes, I was a kitchen "prepper" and  folded those plump morsels on many weekends. I was never given the written recipe but watched the old woman in the kitchen throw ingredients together (no measuring cups or spoons). So this is my recipe revised some but inspired by my grandpa's restaurant. Let me know what you think?

Won Ton Soup
inspired by the Hong Kong restaurant's version

This recipe is for won tons, but I typically make them as Sui Gow (called Water Dogs in Chinese) - see the pic above. The Sui Gow skins are round vs. square for won tons and can take a bigger volume of filling than won ton skins. Since won ton skins are easier to find in the markets, I've converted my recipe to won tons for you. In any case, the pic below shows the won ton and sui gow brand I like, as well as how a folded sui gow looks like before boiling.

filling
2/3 lb ground pork
1/2 lb chopped shrimp
3 chopped green scallions
1 egg
1 t sesame oil (or more if you like, I like)
1T oyster sauce (Panda brand if you can find it)
2 t soy sauce
1/2 T rice wine (Michiu brand, ditto above)
1 1/2 t corn starch

1 egg
Won Ton or Sui Gow/Siu Mei skins (I like Rose brand)
Home made chicken/pork broth
Sliced vegetables (bok choy, gai-lan, broccalini, whatever you like, etc)
BBQ pork slices, hard boiled egg slices, egg noodles (all optional)

Mix the filling ingredients together in a good sized bowl. Crack and stir an egg in a small bowl for the egg wash. Place a heaping teaspoon of the filling in the won ton skin and wipe just the top inside won ton skin edge with the egg wash. Fold the won ton together.







 

Boil the won tons in plain water - be sure to put them in after the water has boiled. They are done when they float to the surface. Scoop out the cooked won tons into bowls.

Boil your broth and add Chinese vegetables and/or bbq meats to the soup. Pour over the won tons in bowls.

4 - 6 servings