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How to make a delicious Chicken Tan Tan Men Bowl

By on October 19, 2015

When autumn rolls around, my thoughts turn to a bowl of good home-cooked ramen. Most ramen bowls served at noodle shops all over Japan are mostly made with pork. But because pork doesn’t appeal to  to my family as much as chicken does, I’ve ditched the pork for the bird and the result was heavenly!

Of all the ramen varieties found in Japan, Tan Tan Men, the Japanese version of Chinese Dan Dan noodles, has the most distinct flavour.   A typical street food in China, ‘Dan Dan’ literally translates to ‘noodles on a pole.’   The nutty aroma of goma (sesame) and rich rayu (Chinese chilli oil) flavor make for a truly hearty soup. Here’s a very simple way to do it.

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Ingredients (serves 4)

Onion Leeks 50 cms, chopped
Chinese Noodles  4 packs
Water 1800 cc
Ginger paste 2 tsp
Garlic paste 1 tsp
Chinese Chicken Soup powder 2 tsp (or 2 blocks of Knorr Chicken Cubes)
Vinegar 2 tbsp
Goma abura (Sesame Oil) 4 tsp
Goma salad dressing 4 tbsp
Salt
Salad Oil
Spinach (wash, cut water, wrap in plastic and microwave to cook)                                                                                        Japanese cooking sake         1 tsp
Minced chicken meat 400 grams                                                                                                                                                            4 harboiled eggs, 1 tsp sugar  (optional)

Step 1
Grease a small pan and saute your minced chicken meat on high until golden brown.  Flavour it with a tsp of soy sauce and a tsp of Japanese cooking sake.  Set aside.
Step 2
On a deep mixing bowl, put together garlic paste, ginger paste, vinegar, goma salad dressing, sesame oil, and vinegar.  Blend well with a wooden spoon and divide into 4 ramen bowls.
Step 3
Wash, pat dry the spinach and microwave for 5 minutes.  Set aside.
Step 4
Boil water and cook your noodles as per package instructions.  Some noodles cook as fast as 3 minutes.
Boil another casserole of water for the soup.  Put in the chicken bouillon cubes and mix well until dissolved.  Turn off the heat.
Step 5
Pour noodles on each ramen bowl.  Do not mix.  Next, put the soup and top with spinach, meat and chopped onion leeks. Pour the rayu (chili oil)  last.
The key ingredients to this recipe look like this:

 

garlic

Garlic Paste or ‘Niniku Oroshi‘

ginger

Minced ginger or ‘Nama Shoga‘

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Shisen Tobajan or ‘Miso and Chili paste’

gomaabura

Goma abura or Sesame Oil

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Ra yu or Chinese chili oil

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Kewpie Sesame salad dressing or Goma sarada doreshingu

 

About Tracy Nakayama