Chilled tan-tan men

I've decided not to continue with my cooking classes at ABC Cooking Studio, despite quite a bit of arm-twisting in March, when they wanted me to sign up for an additional year of their new offerings, without first telling us what those might be. I think I made the right decision, as it turns out that the Japanese dish offerings, which were my main reason for taking the classes to begin with, would be reduced, and those they did present would tend to be of a more basic nature. That's the reason I didn't take a class in June, and why I am taking two this month to finish off the last of my prepaid lessons before they expire at the end of the month.

As it turns out, ABC are doing chilled tan-tan men, something I would really like to have done, NEXT month. Typical, really (g). Never fear. I had a look round the net for a recipe, and found the one I translated below on a fan site for the Japanese TV program Danshi Gohan (meals for men).

If you've been reading along, you'll know that I've already featured one recipe for tan-tan men, that great Japanese take on a spicy mince-topped noodle dish from Sichuan, China, on S&L. This recipe is a totally different beast, and not just because it is chilled (a popular presentation for noodles in the hot and sticky Japanese summer). Unlike the earlier version, sesame is quite predominant in this recipe. In seed, oil and paste form!

Highly nutritious, sesame is used extensively in Japanese cooking. There are white and black versions of both seeds and paste. White ones are used in this recipe. If you can't get Japanese sesame paste (or Chinese zhima jiang), you can always substitute tahini. The taste will be slightly different as, unlike the Japanese version, tahini is made from un-toasted sesame seeds. It will still be delicious, I promise.

Negi (Japanese leeks) and nira (garlic chives) may also be problematic sourcing in other countries. Western leeks are not a good substitute for negi, but at a pinch, you could use the white innermost core (Japanese leeks are only around 2 cm in diameter), or substitute finely sliced spring onions. Nira is not absolutely essential, you could easily garnish with some nice cooked spinach or bok choi, more spring onions or any other green thing you fancy.

The soup in this rendering strikes just the right balance between lightness and flavour for a summer's dish. The flavour comes from a shelfful of lovely condiments. If you don't make a lot of Japanese or Chinese food, you might not have some of these, but they are all pretty much staples in any Japanese kitchen. Just in case, you'll definitely want to read the recipe before attempting this!

Also, the recipe is for two, so don't forget to scale up if you've got more mouths to feed. Oh, and this makes a great lunch the next day. I took the cooked noodles-and-meat topping and soup in separate (leak proof!) containers and supped contentedly, catching up on news of the new Iranian revolution, at my desk at work.

Chilled tan-tan men

Serves 2

2 single-serve packs of fresh Chinese noodles

For the soup
500 ml cold water
3 tbsp white sesame paste (or tahini)
2 tbsp toasted white sesame seeds, roughly ground
1.5 tbsp EACH miso paste, oyster sauce, rice vinegar
1 tbsp EACH sugar, sesame oil, soy sauce
1-2 tsp tobanjan (douban jiang in Chinese) or other chilli-garlic paste, or to taste (optional)

For the meat topping
120 g minced pork
10 cm negi Japanese leek, very finely diced [S: or 2 tbsp finely sliced spring onions]
2 cloves garlic, very finely diced
1 knob fresh ginger, as big as your thumb, very finely diced
0.5 tbsp sesame oil
1-2 tbsp toasted white sesame seeds, roughly ground
1 tbsp EACH cooking sake, soy sauce and oyster sauce
Salt and pepper

To serve
Nira (garlic chives), snipped
Rayu (layou in Chinese) chilli oil

1. Prepare the soup. Mix white sesame paste, lightly ground sesame seeds, and miso paste in a large bowl, then gradually add the water, stirring until well blended. Add remaining soup ingredients and stir well. Check the seasoning, and adjust if necessary. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate until needed.

2 Heat sesame oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Stir-fry the Japanese leek, ginger and garlic until soft. Add the minced pork and break up with a wooden spoon. Once browned all over, add the sake, then the soy sauce, oyster sauce and lightly ground white sesame seeds. Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.

3 Bring a large pot of water to the boil and cook the noodles according to the package directions (typically for 1.5-2 minutes), drain and plunge immediately into ice cold water to cool.

4 Once cool, drain the noodles and arrange in two large noodle bowls. Pour half of the soup into each bowl, top with half the meat topping and garnish with garlic chives.

Enjoy!

Cooking class 9: A Chinese party banquet

Another cooking class at ABC Cooking Studio. The Japanese pickings have been a little slim since ABC changed their set-up in April, so it was Chinese food this time.

In the old days, the Saffron household had a "live-in" Chinese chef, so there was never really any reason to have a go at it myself. More recently, the mouth-watering film Eat Drink Man Woman has been about the size of it when it comes to Chinese food (or Taiwanese, as the case may be). Being that it has been a long time between Chinese mouthfuls, I was happy to give this Japanese version of Chinese food a go. It certainly looked yummy on ABC's website.

The main dish was youlinji, or deep-fried chicken with a katakuriko ("dogtooth violet starch" if you will; a common Japanese ingredient) coating the same as Japanese karaage. This was served served with match-sticked veggies, wrapped in uncooked spring roll wrappers, with a garlic-ginger dipping sauce. The chicken was really gorgeous and crisp, the result of two fryings: first at 160 C to cook the meat, then at 180 C until the desired rich golden colour was reached.

There were 2 side dishes. The cucumber and zhacai (Chinese pickled vegetable) salad featured lots of different textures: slippery cloud ears (a Chinese fungus also known as tree ears), crunchy strips of reconstituted kanten, and bumpy bashed cucumbers (a common Japanese presentation), alongside the pickle. It was lightly dressed with sesame paste and sesame oil. I thought the salad had potential, maybe with a little more seasoning.

The "mixed" rice, was very tasty and took all of two seconds to make. A little gently fried pork cut into strips, a little salt and soy sauce, and a little sliced spring onion were simply folded into cooked rice and served up. The girls in the class were quite excited by this one.

We also made a sweetcorn soup, but I felt the egg white was a little rubbery and I'm not so fond of the chicken stock granules used at ABC, so enough said about that one, methinks.

For dessert we took an inordinate amount of time to make sweet bean paste-filled sesame-coated rice flour dumplings (zhima qiu in Chinese, goma dango in Japanese). These were lovely to look at and tasted fine, but if I wanted to eat them, I'd probably just nip down to Yokohama China Town and forgo the palaver of making them (then again, I'm not really a sweet person, so it might just be me...).

I did learn about shiratamako and ukiko (aka jin-ko), which Googling reveal to be "non-glutinous white rice flour" and "wheat starch". As a total novice when it comes to rice dumpling-making, I don't know a thing about either of these, but it seems that ukiko is also used in the translucent wrappers for har gao, the steamed prawn dumplings of yum cha fame. Another interesting nugget is that these fried sweets contain lard. For pliability, apparently. There you go, we both learned something today!

Saffron

The YM's favourites 3: Tan tan men: Noodles in a vibrant Szechuan pepper sauce

I've mentioned before that I am not a huge fan of ramen, or Japanese noodles in soup. I'm just not that into carbs, and you get very little by way of vegetables.

However, I am partial to tan tan men, the Japanese way with an originally Chinese noodle dish called dan dan mien. It is noodles in a ginger, garlic and spring onion soup whose top note is the eucalyptus-y Szechuan pepper, all topped with (normally spicy mince) and some Chinese greens.

When searching for a recipe online, I found out that the Chinese version is not soupy at all. In fact, I could not find a recipe for the version we know and love in this country, but this one (adapted from this recipe) is very tasty and the Young Man made a special requested, only with MORE SOUP this time!

You'll be doing a bit of fine chopping of garlic and ginger with this one. This is most easily achieved by cutting the garlic (or ginger) into fine slices, then lining them up like a deck of cards spread horizontally on a magician's table (i.e. with the "cards" slightly overlapping each other), and slicing along the row to create fine sticks, then turning the sticks (or the chopping board, even) around and slicing them into fine dice. If the dice are too big, just have at them with the knife again.

In the original recipe, the mince is deep fried to give it a dry finish. You can achieve the same result by frying the meat in a hot, dry pan until the fat has evaporated (this takes around 10 minutes, so be patient (g)). I picked up this technique from the dry Japanese mince dish soboro.

This dish is supposed to be spicy, but I suggest you be careful when you add the chilli oil and Szechuan pepper the first time. You can always add more if you feel it needs it.

Tan Tan Men

For 2

200 g pork mince
1 tbsp soy sauce, dark for preference
1 tsp salt (optional)
300 g egg noodles (2 bundles), fresh or dried
1 1/2 tbsp oil
3 tbsp garlic, finely chopped (around 6-8 cloves)
2 tbsp fresh ginger, finely chopped (around 4 cm ginger root)
5 tbsp spring onions, finely chopped
2 tbsp sesame paste (tahini is fine)
2 tbsp soy sauce, dark for preference
2 tbsp red chilli oil, or to taste (I use quite a bit less)
2 cups chicken stock (you may need to add more salt if using homemade stock)
1-2 tsp ground Szechuan pepper, or to taste (this has a very distinctive flavour so use a careful hand)
4-5 stems (a very small bunch) of komatsuna or spinach, cooked briefly in boiling water and cut into 4 cm lengths
1 double handful of bean sprouts, washed

1 Combine the pork, soy sauce and salt, if using, in a small bowl and mix well.

2 Heat wok or frying pan until hot and add the pork, breaking up the meat with cooking chopsticks as you go. Once the colour changes, reduce the heat to medium and continue to fry, stirring and breaking up the meat occasionally, until all the moisture has evaporated. When done, remove with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with paper towel.

3 In the same pan, heat oil until hot and add the garlic, ginger and spring onions and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add the sesame paste, soy sauce, chilli oil, salt (if using) and chicken stock and simmer for 4 minutes. Adjust the seasoning to your taste.

4 Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to the boil and cook the noodles for 2 minutes if fresh, or 5 minutes if dried. Drain well and divide between 2 large noodle bowls.

5 Ladle on the sauce and top with mince mixture, bean sprouts, and cooked komatsuna or spinach.

Enjoy!