Many people are familiar with instant noodles, which are sold in supermarkets at low prices. Served and revered in Japan as a staple in restaurants, this product is perceived in the West and in Russia as low-quality, non-nutritious food that can only be eaten if the refrigerator is completely empty.
Noodles are perceived in a completely different way at home. Here, noodles are, if not the healthiest product, then certainly a dish that you can eat every day without fear for your health. The taste of a real Japanese dish is also strikingly different from instant noodles.
Japanese cuisine experts believe that a plate of noodles is a microcosm. In it, for the Japanese, mountains smoke, seas run, rivers pulsate. The chef offers people not just a dish, but a certain mood. Having tasted such a dish once, you will want to taste it over and over again.
Why this is so, you can better understand by watching the movie "Sushi girl", which explains and shows the whole philosophy of cooking.
How to cook noodles
If you don't have enough time, regular instant noodles will do. But it's better to cook the noodles yourself.
In Japan, special flours with low and high vegetable protein are used to make noodles. But in other countries it is not, so ordinary wheat flour will do.
You will need
- ¾ glasses of flour
- 1 egg
- ¾ tablespoons of salt
- 1 tablespoon water
How to cook
Mix dry ingredients. Make a hole in the middle. Pour the egg and water into the hole. Mix gently. Then knead the dough. It should be harder than bread dough. The dough is done when it is no longer sticky. Put your hand to the ball of dough, raise it. If the dough falls off and falls in a second, you no longer need to knead. If the dough is too sticky, add a little flour and knead again. If it's too dry, add a little water.
Hold the dough in a damp towel before rolling. In summer, it is postponed for 30 minutes, and in winter up to two hours. After that, the dough can be rolled out.
Take a ball of dough, sprinkle some flour on it and start rolling. The result should be a flat circle about 1mm thick. If the dough starts to stick, add more flour. If it doesn't roll out, let it sit for 1-2 minutes.
Place the dough on a pre-floured cutting board. Fold the dough twice, dusting it with flour. Take a large flat knife and start cutting the dough into strips. Sprinkle flour on the dough from time to time. Once the noodles are sliced, separate them with your fingers without cutting them.
Place the noodles in boiling salted water. It is important to lay in separate strips and not in a lump, otherwise the noodles will stick together. Stir the noodles with the chopsticks. Cooking time takes about four minutes. Taste the noodles before draining off the water. If the noodles are soft, they are ready.
Some chefs recommend cooking the noodles with baking soda instead of salted water. In this case, the taste is more authentic.
How to make soup
Broth is an important component of Japanese noodles. True masters of Japanese cuisine cook it for several hours, and sometimes even days. In total, there are three main varieties of noodle broth: soy, miso, and salted. Pork, chicken or seafood are usually used to prepare the broth. Then salt, soy sauce or miso is added to it. You can boil a simple stock on a cube and add soy sauce to it.
But there is a more complex and delicious recipe.
You will need
- 1.5 liters of water
- 50 g ginger root
- 3 cloves of garlic, peeled
- green onions to taste
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sake
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
How to cook
Rub the pork with salt and refrigerate overnight. The next day, place the sliced ginger, garlic, green onions and pork in a saucepan. Cover everything with water and boil the broth. Remove grease and limescale from the broth. Then cook for one and a half to two hours. Let the broth cool. Take out the pork. Cut it into thin pieces.
Prepare the rest of the ingredients and the noodles. As additional ingredients, you can use boiled egg, green onions, pork wedges, spinach, Chinese cabbage, corn, green peas and any vegetables.
Boil the broth again and add the soy sauce, sake, salt and sesame oil. Leave everything to simmer over low heat until tender.
Place the noodles on bowls and top with the broth. Add the rest of the ingredients.
