Tantanmen is what noodles were meant for. Garlic, hot pepper oil, pork, onions… Come on!

This is one of those dishes that has been around so long, there’s a bunch of variations of it. What follows is the recipe I like the most. It serves two:

Ingredients:

2 cups chicken broth
2 servings ramen noodles (we used rice noodles to be gluten free..)
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp rice vinegar
3 tbsp shoyu
4 tbsp tahini
2 tsp hot chili oil
2 cloves of sliced garlic

1/2 lb ground pork
4 tsp sake
2 tbsp shoyu
2 tbsp tobanjan (sweet bean sauce)
3 scallions, sliced diagonally
2 cups spinach or kale

The Pork – Pre-heat a wok with teaspoon of sesame oil. Mix the sake together with the ground pork and saute until cooked through.  Add the tobanjan and shoyu to the pork, set it aside.

The Sauce – Saute garlic in the wok with a little sesame oil for about 2 minutes. Put the garlic, sesame oil, tahini, rice vinegar, soy sauce, cooking sake and hot chili oil together in a bowl and set aside.

The Broth – Cook the spinach or kale in the chicken broth until tender, then put to one side.

The Noodles – In a separate pan, cook your noodles al dente (3-4 minutes for ramen usually.)

Plating –  Start with the spinach and broth, adding it to a wide low bowl so you can display it well. Be careful not to put too much broth or else you won’t be able to move the bowls.  Next, place the ramen atop the spinach, leaving a bit of a flat spot in the middle. Next spoon some of the pork in the middle. Next, add the scallions.

Finally, drizzle with the hot chili sauce.  OISHII!