The class was a demonstration on how to make shoyu ramen with Japanese cha siu (醤油チャーシューラーメン), a noodle classic if there ever was one! Over the course of three hours or so, Yuki rustled up some chicken stock, prepared some Japanese cha siu, and assembled a cracking bowl of ramen. Some of you may be thinking that this is a bit quick, but it's not impossible with the aid of a pressure cooker. Moreover, the course was more about Yuki sharing her knowledge about the techniques used rather than attaining noodle nirvana.
I'm not going to give away all of Yuki's tips and tricks, as otherwise there's a danger that you may not sign up to the course! However, I do want share with you some of the things that I learnt. For example, I discovered that Japanese cha siu is very different from the Cantonese original, as the pork is braised rather than roasted or BBQ'ed. For a twist, Yuki added green tea and sake to the shoyu (soy sauce) in the braising liquor – proper genius.
After the cha siu was cooked and sliced, Yuki started assembling the bowl of ramen. The soup was made by combining the chicken stock with a glug of the braising liquor. Added to this were perfectly cooked al dente ramen noodles (sadly, the noodles used are only available in Japan). The accoutrements of negi (spring onion), wakame (seaweed) and nori (dried seaweed) were added together with half a boiled egg, and finally, a few slices of cha siu pork.
The finished article was a belter, although without wishing to sound too churlish, the pork could've been tenderer. But as I mentioned earlier, time wasn't really on our side and it's more important to learn the techniques.
I certainly picked up a lot of knowledge from Yuki, and that's in no small part to her enthusiasm and passion for food. So if you have some spare time then I recommend popping along to one of her courses.
The ramen course cost £50, which includes the ingredients - for further details about the Japanese cooking courses that Yuki runs, please check out her website. I learnt about Yuki's class through Edible Experiences, an online resource that helps you discover food & drink experiences in London – for further details click on the logo below:
Sung I know you told me once that you weren't really the type to do experiences, so am utterly delighted that we sufficiently tempted you to try one, and blog about it to boot!
ReplyDeleteThank you and very pleased you had such a good time at Yuki's.
Wen
Sounds like you leant some interesting things. Can I expect a lunchtime ramen delivery to Clerkenwell some time soon...? I really like the addition of the tea to the dish, a real Japanese addition. Sounds like the class is well worth it.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great course - and a good idea to use a pressure cooker to get around the issue of long ramen cooking time.
ReplyDeleteWen - I really enjoyed it and I picked up more than few tips for the kitchen.
ReplyDeleteGworm - you've got me thinking, as Yuki did joke about how some blokes in Japan throw off their suits and open up ramen shops.
GChick - it could've got quite boring if we waited for the pork to cook without a pressure cooker!
I love ramen! It's one of my favourite comfort/hangover foods and being able to make ramen at home would just be amazing. Have you tried making one yourself yet?
ReplyDeleteA ramen shop would be such a good idea, get going Sung!
I've got so far as having some pork bones in the freezer! But I do intend giving it crack at some point!
DeleteI've just spied this on Edible Experiences and came over for a look! We went to her first supperclub on Thursday night - wonderful. Just writing about it now. Inspired to go to one of her classes - sushi or meat? Or home cooking? Too many choices!
ReplyDelete