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Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Homemade Menma

I'd have to say one of my favorite ramen noodle condiment is menma. Menma is a Japanese condiment made out of dried bamboo shoots, often served with soup noodles. This is one item I cannot find in the Asian section of the grocery store. Even the Chinese stores carry something close, but it's usually seasoned with chili oil, so I have to get this at a Japanese store. My last visit to my parents house they gave me a bag full of unseasoned sliced bamboo shoots and told me I should try making menma. They were easier to make than I thought and came out quite tasty.


Here is an English recipe with general directions. I used a recipe from a Japanese site, here's the link with the step-by-step photos, and my translation:
Homemade Menma
300 grams bamboo shoots
1 T. sesame oil
500 cc water
1 T. dried chinese stock
1/2 T. sugar (to taste)
pinch salt (to taste)
1/2 T. soy sauce (to taste)
Slice the bamboo shoots into thin strips. (If using shoots from a can, boil in hot water for approx. 2 minutes first to get rid of the smell.) Saute in sesame oil, once coated with oil add the water, stock, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil and simmer until half of the liquid has evaporated. Add soy sauce and cook till most of the liquid is gone. (I added a little more sesame oil at the end for that added flavor.)
Not only is this good on top of noodles, it's good in fried rice and makes a good beer snack.

3 comments:

Handywoman said...

Can you provide a link to the dried Chinese stock? Not sure what that is.
Thanks,
Janet

Mother Bliss said...

It's called Chuka Dashi, a chicken & pork flavored stock/seasoning. There are different brands that make them but here's one so you can see what it looks like. This one also comes in a small jar.

http://shochiku-online.com/en/dashi/4371-ajinomoto-chuka-aji-48g.html

I'm not sure where to buy this online, I usually buy mine at a Japanese grocery store in San Diego.

Handywoman said...

thank you so much. We are making this dish for the New Year dinner and we couldn't find the Menma anywhere.
http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/shoyu-ramen