Mazesoba

When we first started this blog, we found and gathered many prospective recipes on Pinterest. Now, we save so many delicious prospects, like this one, on Instagram. Who knows where we’ll be finding inspiration in the next five years!? This recipe for mazesoba caught our eye there, and we’re glad it did! Thanks Genius Eatss! We ended up combining a few other internet sources (see below) with his recipe for our final version, as we often do, and were very happy with the results this time!

Mazesoba is a “dry ramen” dish – as in it’s a similar setup to ramen soup, but without the soup broth. I saw it described as “Japanese Bolognese,” which I really think is a good descriptor. The meat and egg yolk make the noodles saucy, just like an Italian Bolognese would.

Prep work takes a minute but this dish actually comes together very quickly. I was thinking it’d be a fun dinner party meal, as you can do most of the work ahead of time, cook quickly, and allow everyone to assemble their own bowl to their liking.

Mazesoba

(Adapted from GeniusEatss, Just One Cookbook, & Sift & Summer)

Ingredients: 

• Pork
  • 2 tsp neutral oil
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1/2 onion, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 lb ground pork
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1 tsp oyster sauce
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp Chinese 5 spice powder
  • A couple turns of fresh ground black pepper
  • 3 tbsp cold water
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
• Assembly & Toppings
  • 3 servings (~300g) ramen noodles
  • 3/4 cup chicken broth
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp furikake
  • * Raw {or} sous vide egg yolk / Ramen Egg / poached egg / etc *
  • Spring onions, sliced
  • Chinese chives, sliced
  • Nori
  • Corn
  • Furikake, togarashi

_{* Several comments about the egg… While most of the toppings are optional, the egg is really essential. The runny yolk forms part of the sauce for the noodles. In Japan, a raw yolk would be common. This is generally not recommended in the US. We tried making a sous vide yolk, as linked above. Only one of the four we attempted survived intact, so do better than us if you try! A “ramen egg,” soft-boiled egg, or gently poached egg would all be good options – you just want a runny yolk!}

Instructions:

1. In a large pan or wok, heat oils over medium heat. Add the onions once hot and cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes. Then add the garlic and continue for another 3-4 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, set a pot of water to boil for your noodles. In a smaller pot, combine the chicken broth, soy sauce, rice wine, & furikake (from the assembly section) and bring to a simmer – let this simmer until reduced by roughly a third.
3. Now add the ground pork to the large pan. Break it up and combine with the onions & garlic as it cooks. Cook until no longer pink.
4. Then add the soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, and pepper. Stir and allow to simmer while preparing the cornstarch slurry – stir together the cold water and cornstarch, then pour this in. Combine well and simmer for another couple minutes.
5. To serve, add a couple spoonfuls of the liquid in the small pot to the bottom of the bowl. Top with noodles. Then add pork mixture, egg/egg yolk, and other toppings. Stir before eat to coat the noodles, breaking apart the egg in the process.

Serves 3-4