On my cookbook binge: where I go through all my cookbooks and decide on a recipe from three or four of them (look back a few posts, I did one from my French Cookbook, my Persian one, and now, this, from one of my Alton Brown cookbooks) to make for the upcoming... few weeks. Originally I was going to do it all in one week, but that didn't happen.While going through Alton's cookbook, I liked a lot of recipes: duh, of course! It's Alton Brown. He's only my personal hero. But when I paused on the ramen recipe. Man, that hit the spot. It went with the japanese-food craving I had (satisfied already with omuraisu, but I was still craving japanese when I found this), it went with my simple food craving. And, it implemented new things that I had never cooked before....
Dun dun dun... fish. I have cooked tilapia once in my kitchen. It didn't turn out so well, so I never made fish again. Fish scares me. Fish, in fact, terrifies me. So doing a recipe with fish in it... well, that felt gutsy to me.
I'm not talking about shrimp here. I'm okay with making shrimp-- I've made it a few times (though, that took me some nerving up to at first too. I had to perfectly find out how to make shrimp before I w
This recipe also contained lots of other things. Onions, mostly (which I love), shiitaki mushrooms. Ramen noodles, of course. A miso base, shrimp, white fish. It seemed super healthy, super easy, and it looked filling and delicious.
Oh yeah, and it was Alton Brown's.
So I had to make it.
It took me a few weeks to get around to it. We've been working really hard, long hours. They give us dinner at work, and it took me a while two weeks to finish off that potage crecy for lunch (haha). So the few dinners I have made at home (all have ended up on here) have been in the order of when I wanted to make things. I also didn't want to buy my fish in advance (fear of fish fear of fish) to keep it from getting icky before I made it, I wanted it to be fresh. So this recipe called for going to the grocer on the same day I made the recipe, something I don't have time for during the week anymore.
But at work we've been having all sorts of yummy things. BBQ, etc, etc. I even recently had soy ham-- which was... interesting, to say the least. If this goes on I might have to blog about those meals for awhile. But I still have Sunday's free, and I'll make as much as I can then. And on South Park Wednesdays too, of course.
By the way, I love that my life revovles around cartoons and food.
Anywho, so I made the soup which turned out to be SUPER filling. There was a lot of it, and it took me a few minutes to get the nerve to actually eat it. I opened up the packet and it smelled-- well, at first it smelled a little fishy, but I'm extremely sensitive to fish....
But, my fish was super fresh. The original recipe called for halibut but I got sole (my Whole Foods didn't have any halibut, and I didn't wanna go for black cod, and I was still a bit afraid of tilapia). Everything smelled super fishy there, so when I got home I was nervous, but I sniffed my sole before cooking it-- and it smelled nice! All fresh, and it wasn't slimey, it had a good texture. I was really pleased with the cut I got, and only for like, two dollars! Hurray!
So the scent of the soup, after the initial blast of seafood, was quite delectable. As I kept smelling it, I was getting the notes of sweet, spice, tang, everything. And when I finally had the nerve to try it....
It was good! The broth was both sweet and savory. The vegetables, especially the shitaki's, led a great texture and flavor to the soup.
And the sole.
Oh the sole.
I've never had sole before, so maybe it's always so damn tender and flaky, but gosh, it was good. It was rich, and sweet, and slightly spicy... but it was also so savory and filling. I loved eating the sole. I didn't even want the shrimp, I wanted the sole so much (but yes, I did eat the shrimp). It was too much food for me in the end, I have leftovers in the fridge (though not by much, which I'm also worried about. Like old eggs... how long will this last? With fish? I never thought you could eat leftover fish).
I think the only downside whatsoever was that the sole had some sort of thin cartiledge, or perhaps bones, still in it. I kept finding little crunhes of it-- too spindly to really bite, so I had to remove it from my mouth which as unpleasant. But still, I'd eat/make sole again. It's super tasty!
This recipe called for honey, which I used avacado honey. And it also called for miso paste, which I couldn't find anywhere, so I used a leftover dried miso soup packet and it worked just fine for me.
Ramen Radiator
Recipe from Alton Brown's I'm Just Here For the Food V 2.0
Versionated by moi.
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
4 ounces shiitaki mushrooms
1/2 package ramen noodles
1 filet of sole
kosher salt and fresh groundwhite pepper
1/2 tablespoon avacado honey (or rich honey)
red pepper flakes
3 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 sweet onion, sliced lyonnaise-style
about 1/8 cup, roughly, chopped leek
2 scallions, sliced on a bias
1 tablespoon lite soy sauce
1/8 cup mirin
1 cup miso soup broth/stock
Oven at 400 Degrees Farenheit.
Heat a saute pan over high heat, add the oils, then saute teh mushrooms. Toss and cook until caramelized, about 3-4 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside. Season the sole generously with salt and pepper, spread the honey on the filet and sprinkle with red pepper flakes.
Line your serving bowl with a generous amount of aluminum foil. Place the halved noodles inside and top with the fish. Surround with the shrimp, onions, leek, and mushrooms. Top with scallions.
Pull the foil up around the food and crimp it. Mix the liquids together and pour half into each pouch and seal the packet.
Set on a baking sheet and place in the oven for 22-25 minutes. Set the pouches back in the bowls and open when ready to eat.
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