As we approach the end of this lockdown period, I wanted to try another Marion Grasby recipe. During this MCO, she has been my source of inspiration a total of 12 times (at times, more than 1 recipe a day)! I think Safari on my phone must be getting tired of being directed to her blog, marionskitchen.com, every time its owner goes online.
Tonight, I had the mental image of my kitchen goddess cum idol as I cooked her Easy Tantanmen. Tantanmen is Japan’s answer to Szechuan’s Dan Dan Noodles (担担面). Unlike its Szechuan cousin, which can be served dry or in a soup, Tantanmen is ramen in soup, a spicy mellow nutty sweet soup to be precise. The spicy element comes from the use of dou ban jiang chilli bean paste (豆瓣酱) and chilli oil while the mellow nutty sweetness is derived from the combination of white sesame paste and unsweetened soya milk. I did not adhere to Marion’s recipe 100% as I just made use of what was available in my pantry. Chilli oil was replaced by a small teaspoon of XO sauce, white sesame paste was substituted with peanut butter (as advised by Marion) and a dash of sake was modified into a few drops of vodka. I did not have fresh ramen as well but egg noodles worked well. I regret not planning this meal in advance for if I had, I would have tried making ajitsuke tamago or ramen soft-boiled eggs in its soy sauce, the way Marion does. Oh well, there will always be another time. At least, today I managed to nail the slightly runny, jammy yolk!
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| Easy Tantanmen |
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| A closer look at the flavourful spicy minced pork topping the bowl of noodles |
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| Mix everything up, especially the soup! |
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| Scrutinising the heavenly soft-boiled egg |
What did hubby have to say to this Easy Tantanmen? “Ooh! Different! Nice! Mmm...good!” 😄
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