Mushroom and chicken ramen – A Japanese evening with the neighbours.

Ready for ramen.

Every year since our houses were built (1998) we have had a street barbecue. We set the date well ahead of time and invariably seem to pick the chilliest and dampest summer evening of the year. Not that this is a problem as it means the fire pits can be dragged out and lit, keeping the evening going well into the small hours of the morning. You’d have to say that as a group of neighbours we all love our food. Last year it was decided that we shouldn’t have to wait a whole year to get around the table, we ought to get together to share a meal more often. Taking a country each for inspiration, we have travelled from Spain, to Greece and then onto Italy. When it came to my turn I decided we needed a little long haul travel and took us all to Japan for the evening.

Home made sushi!

Home made sushi to start, followed by mushroom miso ramen with chicken and home made mochi for dessert. I supplemented the dessert with bought mochi and some Chupa Chups sweet sushi too!

Mushroom miso ramen with chicken  –  serves 4

• 15g/½oz dried shitaki mushrooms
• 1.4 litres/2½ pints just-boiled water
• 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• 4 tbsp brown miso paste
• 200g udon noodles
• 2-3 tsp sunflower oil
• 4 large free-range eggs, 2 tbsp dark soy, 1 tbsp mirin and 1 tsp water
• 1 100g pack of speciality mushrooms (enoki, oyster etc)
• red pepper finely sliced
• 2 pak choi, roots trimmed, leaves separated, washed and halved
• 100g/3½oz fresh bean sprouts, rinsed and drained
• 6 spring onions, trimmed, very thinly sliced
• 4 chicken breasts
• Teriyaki marinade

How to …..

• Place the dried mushrooms in a heatproof bowl and pour over enough hot water to cover. Leave aside for 4 hours to re-hydrate.
• Coat the chicken breasts in teriyaki marinade and leave in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight.
• Place a pan of water onto boil, take the eggs from the fridge and place in the barely boiling water.Boil for 6 minutes exactly and then plunge into iced water. Leave to cool and then peel.
• Combine the soy, mirin and water in a zip lok bag and pop in the eggs. Place in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight.
• Drain the dried mushrooms, reserving the liquid. Trim the mushrooms to remove the hard stalks and slice finely.
• Place the liquid, stock cube and boiled water into a large saucepan. Stir in the miso paste and add in the finely sliced re-hydrated mushrooms.
• Grill the chicken and finely slice. Keep warm.
• On a platter, arrange the beansprouts, mushrooms, halved marinated eggs, spring onions and red pepper.
• Cook the noodles as directed on the packet.
• Place noodles into the bottom of a bowl. Pour over the soup. Add in the vegetables, egg and chicken as desired.
• Invite the neighbours and enjoy.

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