Taiwan Mazesoba (台湾まぜそば, Nagoya brothless spicy noodles)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Fine-mesh strainer lined with a clean cloth
• •Suribachi (Japanese ridged mortar), or a spice grinder for gyofun
• •Large pot for noodles
• •Wide skillet
• •Two deep ramen bowls

Instructions

1. 1

   Make clear dashi

   Wipe the konbu with a damp cloth, but don't wash it; the pale bloom on the surface is flavor. Put it in the cold water and warm it slowly until the water trembles and small bubbles climb the sides, then lift it out before the boil. Add the katsuobushi, take the pan off the heat, and leave it for two minutes. Strain through a fine mesh strainer lined with cloth and let it drip. Don't squeeze, because squeezing presses harsh, oily flavor into the clear stock.

   Only 1/4 cup dashi goes into the tare. Keep the rest refrigerated for miso soup or to loosen the bowl if the noodles sit a moment.
2. 2

   Set the tare

   Measure 1/4 cup of the dashi into a small saucepan with 1 tablespoon soy sauce and the mirin. Simmer for one minute to settle the mirin's alcohol and concentrate the seasoning. Take it off the heat, then stir in the rice vinegar and sesame oil. Taste it. It should be a little too strong to drink, because the noodles, pork, and yolk will soften it.

3. 3

   Cook the mince

   Stir together the miso, tōbanjan, sake, remaining 2 teaspoons soy sauce, sugar, ginger, and minced garlic. Heat the neutral oil in a skillet over medium heat, add the pork, and spread it out. Let it color underneath before you stir, then break it into small grains. When no pink remains and the fat looks clear, add the miso mixture and cook until the pork is glossy, dark, and almost dry. Cooking the paste in the pork fat wakes the miso and chili without leaving a raw, salty edge.

   Keep the mince loose, not saucy. Taiwan mazesoba gets its sauce from mixing, not from a pool of liquid in the pan.
4. 4

   Prepare the toppings

   Cut the nira into short pieces, slice the scallions thinly, grate the second garlic clove, and cut the nori into fine strips. Set the gyofun ready. Keep these in separate small piles because each one hits the hot noodles differently: nira and garlic sharpen, nori and fish powder deepen, and scallion lifts. Cut the nira close to serving time so it stays crisp and green.

5. 5

   Boil the noodles

   Bring a large pot of water to a strong boil and cook the ramen noodles according to the package, aiming for a firm chew. Drain hard and do not rinse. The surface starch is not dirt now; it helps the tare, pork fat, and yolk cling to the noodles.

   Fresh thick chūkamen are best here. Thin noodles go soft before the mixing is done, and this dish asks for a strand with some backbone.
6. 6

   Build and mix

   Spoon half the tare into each warm bowl. Add the drained noodles and turn them once so the lower strands start to shine. Mound the spicy pork in the center, then arrange the nira, scallion, nori, gyofun, grated garlic, and rāyu if using around it. Set one egg yolk on top. Carry the bowls to the table and mix hard before the first bite, until the yolk disappears and every strand is speckled with pork and green. The arrangement is for the eye; the mixing is for the dish.

   If you wait, the noodles cool and the sauce stays patchy. Taiwan mazesoba rewards the cook who ruins the pretty bowl at once.
7. 7

   Finish with oimeshi

   When the noodles are gone, add a small spoonful of hot rice to the sauce left in each bowl and mix again. This is oimeshi, the last rice that chases the noodles. It gathers the pork, fish powder, garlic, and yolk that would otherwise be left behind, and it is part of the bowl's proper ending.

Chef Tips

• •Use thick fresh chūkamen if you can. The soba in mazesoba is the ramen-shop word for Chinese-style wheat noodles, not buckwheat soba, and the chew matters.
• •Buy nira by smell and posture. It should stand up, look glossy, and smell cleanly garlicky when cut. Limp nira turns harsh in the bowl, and no amount of chili will make it young again.
• •Gyofun is fish powder, not instant dashi granules. Grind dry katsuobushi or buy a plain fish powder with no salt or added seasoning. The powder gives aroma when it meets the hot noodles.
• •For the yolk, use very fresh pasteurized eggs and keep them cold until serving. If raw yolk is not safe for your table, use an onsen tamago, a soft hot-spring egg, and say plainly that the texture will be gentler.

Advance Preparation

• •The dashi and tare can be made up to two days ahead and kept refrigerated. Warm the tare gently before using so it loosens into the noodles.
• •The spicy pork mince can be cooked one day ahead. Rewarm it gently with a spoonful of dashi so the fat turns glossy again.
• •Do not boil the noodles ahead. Cook them last, drain them hard, and build the bowls while they are still hot.
• •Nira, scallion, and grated garlic are best prepared just before serving. Their sharpness is part of the seasoning.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 420g)