Japanese Culture in New York - Chopsticks NY

-Vol. 8-

In this corner, Japanese chefs from restaurants in the Tri-State area share their secret recipes of home-style Japanese dishes with you.

If you hear the word “ramen”, you naturally think of soup noodles. But that is a common myth–ramen can be much more versatile. This month, Tadashi Fukada, owner/chef of Izakaya Don in Cliffside Park, New Jersey, shows how you can transform ramen into a refreshing salad with a Japanese flavor. Using typical ingredients for ramen soup noodles, the salad has a familiar taste but a completely new texture. Soy sauce-based dressing with white pepper and garlic powder gives a sharp kick. This recipe involves lots of toppings, but the steps are super simple: you just mix the ingredients (there is no room for failure). Chef Fukuda, who is actually a sake enthusiast, says, “This is a perfect dish for taking bites while drinking sake.”

Izakaya Don
671 Palisade Ave.. Cliffside Park, NJ 07010
TEL: 201-941-3400

Ingredients (Serves 2 people)

1/2 package dried or fresh ramen noodles
5-6 pieces roasted pork*
1 oz menma (seasoned bamboo shoots)**
4 cherry tomatoes
lettuce, onion, scallion, and wakame (seaweed) as desired
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
white pepper, garlic powder, sesame, and aonori (powdered green lavar)*** to season
vinegar to taste
*Store-bought roasted pork is fine.
**Roasted pork and menma are the ingredients essential for ramen.
***Aonori is a favorite Japanese topping for casual foods like yakisoba, okonomiyaki, and takoyaki.

Steps

1. Slice roasted pork, onion, menma, and lettuce. Shred scallion.

2. Put ramen into boiling water and cook for a few minutes. (For cooking time, please follow directions on package of ramen noodles.)

3. Cool cooked ramen under cold running water, drain well, and cut into three parts.

4. Put cut ramen, roasted pork, wakame, and vegetables into bowl. Add sesame oil, soy sauce, white pepper sesame, garlic powder, and aonori. Mix together.

5. Place mixed ramen salad on plate and arrange cherry tomatoes to serve.