Tan men Recipe!! (ty to skittles 4 helping me decide!! :3)

Tan men or タンメン is a ramen soup noodle with (stir fried) pork and veggies,, though you can substitute the pork with anything,, this recipe will follow using pork :3 i got inspired after rewatching 'Midnight diner' on netflix :3

(Attention!! some tips at the end of this recipe can be very important, so please read them!!)

now, let's get started!

ingredients needed

noodles:

♡ 6 pieces of dried wood ear mushrooms

♡ 2 inches carrot

♡ 4 oz bean sprouts

♡ 1 tbsp  vegetable oil (or any neutral oil, this will be used for stir frying!)

♡ 4 oz sliced pork belly (you can substitute this for any meat,, but this recipe will be using pork ^^)

♡ 1 tbsp sake (or amazake if you don't want any alcohol in ur food)

♡ 1/8 tbsp black pepper

♡ 1/4 kosher salt (use half [1/2] for table salt!)

♡ water (we'll use this to boil the noodles, obvi! :P)

♡ 2 servings ramen noodles (you can also use chinese style noodles, which can be found at your local asian minimart :3)

chicken stock:

♡ 4 tsp Chuka-dashi (chinese seasoning) [you pour it into hot water and dissolve it,, if you cant get your hands on this, asian chicken stock will do, specifically asian because asian and western chicken stock are different!]

♡ 3 1/4 cups hot water (to dissolve the chuka-dashi powder in!)

Now, Let's begin!!

First, Gather all the ingredients (obvi),, then we'll make the soup first!

In a medium saucepan, dissolve the chuka-dashi in hot water, mix well, boil, then set aside.

 Now, let's prepare the ingredients! we'll take the mushrooms, carrot, and cabbage first

In a small bowl, add the dried wood mushrooms and add just enough water to cover them. re-hydrate until soft then squeeze to remove the water!  Cut the cabbage leaves into bite sized pieces. Cut the carrot into thin slabs then cut in half! now we'll take the bean sprouts! rinse them under running water then set aside ^^

time to cook

start preparing a big pot of water (so we can cook the noodles) while waiting, start heating up the wok or large frying pan (i used a wok) on medium to high heat, once hot, add the vegetable oil and swirl around to coat the wok,, once coated, add the pork then cook till no longer pink. 

Add the sake to to the meat and quickly stir, then add the veggies! season with freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of kosher salt.

Once the cabbage is tender, add the chicken stock made earlier and veggie oil and bring down to simmer.

noodles!
it's time to make the noodles,, yknow that pot of water, we're using that now! when the water is boiling, add the noodles by loosening with hands (if using ramen noodles,, not instant ones,, like japanese spaghetti), follow the instructions on the packaging ^^

divide the noodles into two bowls (optional tbh u can just eat it all) then add the toppings and soup over the noodles and serve immediately! 

TIPS!!!!!!

Keep any leftovers in seperate, airtight containers; toppings, soup, and noodles [uncooked], store them in the fridge for up to three days, or in the freezer for up to a month.

chicken stock! making chicken stock isn't common in japan, as it's hard to find whole chicken or chicken bones,, and western and asian chicken stock usually have a different flavour (with my experience), so asian chicken stock is recommended for this recipe, if you cant find any chuka-dashi,, you can just buy asian chicken stock from your local asian market! ^^

please let me know if you make it! ^^