My mother, when she was a little younger than I am now, served a mission for 18 months in Fukuoka, Japan. She fully immersed herself in the culture, became fluent in the language, and ate every meal they ate.
As a result of this, she always taught us that first, diversity was something to be cherished and second, that the cuisine of another culture was perhaps the best way to connect with them. Growing up we ate ALL sorts of things from so many places. My favorite was what we would call “octopus balls” or takoyaki. It’s a ball of dough with pieces of octopus in it that we would get from a Japanese marketplace.
I’m sharing this with you because I feel that lesson she taught me is invaluable to everyone. Food brings families and cultures closer to one another. I witnessed it many many times when I followed in my mother’s footsteps and served a mission in Portugal. Man oh man did we eat some…interesting things. Arroz de Cabidela, aka chicken and rice with the blood mixed with vinegar and poured back in at the last minute. Also pigs intestines, cow’s tongue, rabbit head, etc. Guess what? It wasn’t all that bad and the memories I shared with the people who cooked those meals for me? Priceless.
Now, I’m not going to convince you to eat Arroz de Cabidela or anything, but I do want to share a nostalgic recipe with you that is SUPER delicious and friendly for every picky eater you know 🙂 It’s called Remen (ray-men) in my house but another name for it is Hiyashi Chuka and it’s a Japanese cold noodle salad, so perfect for all the hot weather lately!
Easy Ramen Cold Noodle Salad
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients:
4 packages of Instant Ramen noodles
1 cucumber (Japanese or English cucumbers work best)
3 Roma tomatoes
8 oz deli sliced ham
4 eggs
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp sesame oil
White sesame seeds to garnish
Sauce:
3 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp rice vinegar
4 tbsp water
1 tbsp sugar
Directions:
1. Prepare Ramen noodles as instructed on the package leaving out the flavoring packet. Drain and rinse the noodles in cold water until chilled. Drain well.
2. Heat sesame oil in a frying pan at a low temperature. Combine the eggs and sugar in a bowl and whisk until well blended. Cook on low and only on one side until eggs are almost cooked through. Turn off the heat and flip the egg to finish cooking through on the other side. The egg should be in one round, flat piece resembling a large pancake. Once the egg has rested in the pan, remove it and place it in the fridge to cool.
3. While the egg is cooling, peel and remove the seeds from the cucumber. Remove the seeds from the tomatoes as well.
4. Slice the cucumber, tomatoes, ham, and egg thinly and place on top of the noodles.
5. Combine all sauce ingredients in one bowl and whisk until blended.
6. Pour sauce on top of salad and garnish with sesame seeds
Enjoy!!
Also, be sure to send me your favorite recipe so I can try it out and get to know you a little better!!