Oishinbo Sytle Miso Ramen

What is Oishinbo? It's actually the title of a cooking themed manga by Tetsu Kariya and Akira Hanasaki. I got to know this manga series last year, after looking for some new interesting manga to read. I have always been interested in manga since I was a child, even though I have to say the quality of manga nowadays is quite disappointing. I used to look forward to reading new mangas after school. Those masterpieces such as Orpheus no Mado (The Window of Orpheus) from Riyoko Ikeda or Yokohama from Waki Yamato. That manga flair from the 70s, 80s and 90s is something that I completely miss and cannot find from most of the modern manga...

Even though I mostly read manga written by female mangaka, I very much enjoy reading cooking-themed manga which are often written by male mangaka, such as Chuka Ichiban (Cooking Master Boy) by Etsushi Ogawa which always made me drool as I read ;), and recently Oishinbo. There are 7 Oishinbo manga which are translated into English. They are quite entertaining to read, even though it's rather cheesy in a way. But something cheesy can be fun sometimes ;). I prefer Chuka Ichiban actually, even though the characters and style are slightly more eccentric and the storyline even cheesier ;), but I just couldn't resist seeing all those beautiful Chinese dumplings being paraded in the manga...;D)!

Well, let's get back to our topic: Oshinbo-Style Miso Ramen. After I read Oishinbo: Ramen and Gyoza, I was inspired to recreate one dish from this manga, which is the miso ramen. I simplified some of the ingredients though. For example, instead of making dashi stock myself, I used instant dashi. I didn't use fresh ramen noodles either, because I didn't have any, so I used the instant noodles from Indomie ;). However, for a dumpling lover like me, a meal is never really complete without some dumplings, so I added two boiled dumplings as well to my ramen:).

Ingredients - serves 4

• 450 g fresh ramen noodles (I used Indomie noodles!)
• 1 l water
• 15 g dashi powder
  
• 4 tbs soy sauce
• 3 tbs miso paste
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tbs sake
• 2 tbs sesame oil
  
• 1 large shallot, finely chopped
• 4 large Shiitake mushrooms
  
• 200 g ground pork
• 4 scallions, finely chopped
• 2 boiled dumplings (optional)
  

Instructions

• Put the sesame oil in a wok and turn the heat to high.
  
• Add the minced garlic and fry it for 30 seconds.
• Add chopped shallot and ground pork and cook for 3 -4 minutes
• Add the scallions and Shiitake mushrooms and stir-fry for 1 more minute.
• Toss in miso paste, soy sauce and sake and cook until the liquid in the pan is almost gone, but the pork is still moist.
• Turn off the heat and set aside. Keep warm.
  
• In the meantime, make dashi stock: simply cook the water + the dashi powder for around 2 minutes. Keep warm
  
• Then cook the ramen following the package instructions. Drain.
  
• Place the ramen noodles in a bowl. Pour the dashi stock. Top the noodles with the miso-flavoured pork, boiled dumplings and garnish with chopped scallions.