Divine Intervention Sapporo Ramen

Last night, we had a religious experience. My wife's eyes rolled back in her head and she started speaking in tongues. I started weeping out of a profound, unexpected joy. Even the dog made odd noises. Of course, we didn't find Jesus; I just made the most amazing ramen ever. The wife's expression happened to be "domo arigato gozimus" and my profound weeping was because I nailed the broth perfectly. And the dog turned out to just be gassy. So even though we didn't find eternal salvation, it turned out to be a pretty remarkable night, nevertheless.

This is a slight revision to Sapporo-style ramen. That ramen uses butter to add a richness to the broth. However, as a not-huge fan of butter, I opted for coconut milk instead. Also, since the broth is traditionally cooked with various animal bits to add umami, I make a few vegetarian-friendly tricks, like incorporating mushrooms, browning the miso, and adding some fermented black beans. The result is a perfect, harmonious balance of savory, rich, satisfying bowl of noodles and vegetables with just a touch of sweetness.

Note that you can get the needed Japanese ingredients at any Asian grocer, including kombu, wakame, hijiki, mirin, bonito flakes, fermented black bean paste, and buckwheat noodles.

Prep time: 3 cocktails

Egg marinade:
2 eggs
2-3 TBSP soy sauce
2-3 TBSP mirin (Japanese cooking wine)
1/2 cup water

Broth base:
2-inch square kombu or 3 TBSP wakame or hijiki
5 good-sized shiitake mushrooms
6 cups water
1 cup bonito flakes
1 tsp anchovy paste (optional)

Seasoning mix:
1 TBSP sesame seeds
2 tsp untoasted sesame oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1" piece ginger, grated with microplane or finest side of a box grater
3 scallions, chopped
2 TBSP miso paste
2 TBSP fermented black bean paste
1/4 cup mirin or sake
2 TBSP soy sauce
1 cup coconut milk

Soup elements:
8 ounces dried buckwheat noodles
1/2-1 cup mung bean sprouts
1 bunch spinach, stems removed
1/2-1 cup frozen sweet corn
1 block tofu, chopped into 3/4" cubes (can be firm or silken/soft, depending on preference), optional

Optional garnishes: 
Bonito flakes, chopped scallions, and/or a drizzle of toasted sesame oil

A couple hours before you start the soup, you'll need to make the eggs, since the need to marinate. You want to medium-boil your eggs by gently dropping them in boiling water and reducing heat to a very low boil. Boil them for 7-8 minutes. Remove and place under cool running water and remove shells. Then combine the peeled eggs with the rest or the marinade ingredients in a small Tupperware container or zip-lock bag and put in the refrigerator.

Now make the broth by combining all the broth ingredients in a pressure cooker. With the lid off, bring to a boil but remove the kombu right before you boil or it will become slimy (if using hijiki or wakame, no need to remove). Once boiling, put the lid on it and bring up to normal pressure for your altitude for 10 minutes. Then remove from heat and let pressure drop completely. Remove lid and strain out mushrooms and any remaining seaweed.

While your broth is cooking, you can pre-prep the some of your soup elements. Cook the noodles according to the directions on package and cool them under running water and set aside. Bring a pot of water to a boil and blanch the bean sprouts for 1 minute and strain them out. In the same water, you can then blanch the spinach for 3-4 minutes and strain out. Let cool and then squeeze all the moisture out and chop it up coarsely. Finally, add the corn to the boiling water for a couple minutes, then drain and set aside (you can obviously make all these veggies in separate pots of water, if you would prefer).

Next, start on the seasoning mix. Heat a small frying pan over medium heat. When hot, add sesame seeds and toast for a couple minutes, stirring pretty frequently. When they are lightly toasted, transfer to an electric spice grinder and grind into a powder. Set aside.

Now in a large pot or dutch oven, heat the untoasted sesame oil over medium heat. Add garlic, ginger, and scallions and saute for 1-2 minutes. Now add miso and bean paste and stir constantly for a couple minutes. You want some of the paste to get browned stuck to the pan, but don't let anything fully burn. Next, deglaze the paste by adding the mirin/sake and sesame seed powder. Once everything is incorporated and the bits that were stuck to the pan are unstuck, add the soy sauce and coconut milk. Stir everything well and add the broth from the pressure cooker (after removing mushrooms and seaweed). Adjust seasoning if necessary by adding salt or soy sauce to taste. Add tofu cubes and bring to a low boil for a couple minutes. Then it's ready to serve!

In a bowl, combine your noodles, corn, spinach, sprouts, and tofu. Pour the broth over the top and slice your marinated eggs in half lengthwise and add a half an egg. Top with any of the additional garnishes of your choice and serve!

Quick Homemade Teriyaki Sauce

You can make this in just a few minutes. Great as a marinade, stir fry sauce, or topping all kinds of good stuff!

Prep time: 1/4 cocktail

1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/4 cup soy sauce
2-3 TBSP sugar
1/2 tsp ginger, grated with Microplane or the finest setting of a box grater
1 clove garlic, minced
2 TBSP mirin cooking wine
The greens of 2-4 scallions

In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and 3 TBSP water until fully incorporated.

Combine all ingredients except the scallions in a small pan on medium-low to medium heat and bring to a boil for about 4 minutes.

Let cool to room temperature, stir in scallions. If it gets too thick, add a bit of water until you get it how you want it.

Recipe: City, O' City Udon Noodle Bowl

The best vegetarian restaurant in Denver is called City, O' City. Literally everything on the menu is phenomenal. Go! But the best thing they serve is their udon noodle bowl. It's so good, I acquired a minor obsession with imitating it. So I brought to-go orders of the soup home to hone my own recipe. The result is a replica so close that I wouldn't be able to tell the difference in a blind tasting. Unfortunately, you have to go to the restaurant itself to engage in sarcastic banter with smug hipsters. I couldn't seem to recreate that part at home.

Prep time: 2 cocktails

250 grams (8 ounces) dry Udon noodles

A 6-inch square sheet of kombu (available at any Asian grocer)

1 1/2" piece of ginger cut into a few thin wheels

5 TBSP soy sauce
3 TBSP rice cooking wine

3 TBSP light brown sugar

1 tsp salt

3 TBSP untoasted sesame oil

3 tsp rice vinegar

2 large scallions, chopped

3-5 shitake or crimini mushrooms, sliced

3 TBSP corn starch

Handful of cubed silken tofu, optional

Handful of veggies sautéed in a bit of untoasted sesame oil and a dash of soy sauce, optional (fennel, shredded carrots, chopped napa cabbage, and sliced celery are all great)

A raw egg, optional

Combine the kombu, ginger and 4 cups of cold water in a pot (if kombu won't fit in your pot cut it into a few pieces with kitchen shears. Turn the heat to high and warm the water to the point just before it starts to boil. Remove from heat and immediately remove the kombu. Let sit 3-4 minutes, then fish out the ginger. Now this cool for about 15 minutes.

As the stock cools, prepare the udon noodles. Fill a pot with cold water and the noodles. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally and boil until the noodles are at eating texture. Immediately drain and run under cold water until the noodles are cold. Set noodles aside.

Returning to the kombu liquid, put it back on medium-high heat, add soy sauce, rice wine, brown sugar, salt, sesame oil, rice vinegar, mushrooms, and scallions. Bring it to a boil and boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

As soon as you do this, whisk the cornstarch in 1/4 cup water until totally dissolved. Stir this into the soup. Now stir in noodles and sautéed veggies and/or tofu if you're using. Serve with the raw egg floating in the soup, if you want that as well.

Spot-on Seaweed Salad Dressing

I've been on a mission to create the perfect seaweed salad for some time. Virtually all seaweed salads you eat at sushi restaurants or buy at Asian grocers are imported--frozen--from one of a few big factories in China. While I love the crap outta some seaweed salad, I'm not a huge fan with the lack of freshness and factory production associated with these products. (Not to mention that the obnoxious Boulderite in me is bummed out with the carbon footprint involved with shipping frozen products 7000 miles). So I've embarked on what has become my life quest: to create the perfect seaweed salad from scratch. Basically, you can think of me as the King Arthur of salads. And after years of searching the vast wilds for the holy grail of seaweed salad dressings, I've found it! While it won't earn you immortal life, it will win ridiculous amounts of praise from all who are blessed enough to partake in this life-altering amazingness.

Prep time: pretty much nil

1 TBSP peanut oil

1 TBSP neutral oil, such as canola, grapeseed, avocado, or safflower

1 TBSP seasoned rice vinegar

1 tsp soy sauce

3/4 tsp toasted sesame oil

A few pinches sesame seeds

A tiny dash agave nectar

Step 1: Combine everything into a small container with a airtight lid. Shake well and immediately toss with salad. 

Step 2: Try your best to handle the massive compliments and praise that come your way.