An Ivan Ramen Specialty
By Ivan Orkin
This eggplant mazemen, like many other dishes at Ivan Ramen, employs a decidedly Latin cooking technique and component: the sofrito.
Ivan Orkin's Eggplant Mazemen
Ingredients
Per bowl of mazemen:
- 60 milliliters eggplant sofrito (see below)
- 20 milliliters soy sauce
- 20 milliliters mirin
- 20 milliliters sake, boiled for one minute and cooled
- 10 milliliters rendered chicken fat
- 100 milliliters of vegetable stock, or half-and-half chicken stock and dashi
- 130 grams ramen noodles
- To garnish: slivered scallions, chipotle powder
Sofrito:
- 500 grams yellow onion (small dice)
- 150 grams Japanese eggplant (large dice)
- 400 grams canned tomato (rough chop)
- 11 grams chipotle powder
- .75 liters canola oil
Instructions
Mix together the sofrito (recipe below), soy, sake, and mirin. Warm slightly, and place into the bowl to serve.
Boil the chicken/dashi mix or vegetable stock, keep hot.
Cook the noodles (our noodles are thin and take 40 seconds).
Pour the hot broth into the bowl.
Drain noodles very well.
Add the noodles to the serving bowl and slightly agitate the noodles in the broth to mix them.
Top with a pile of scallion shreds and dust with chipotle powder.
Chili Eggplant Sofrito
Prepare onions, eggplant, and canned tomato. Keep separate.
Add oil, onion, and eggplant to the pot and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for 2 hours.
Add tomato and cook for another hour.
Add chipotle and cook out for another hour.
Cool.
