Spicy eggplant mazemen

Servings

Ingredients

600 g fresh ramen noodles or 4 blocks dried instant ramen noodles
320 ml vegetable stock or dashi
80 ml sake or mirin* - see headnotes
80 ml soy sauce or tamari (use low sodium if watching salt intake)
200 g corn kernels (fresh or frozen), blanched
4 scallions, finely sliced
4 tablespoons toasted white or black sesame seeds
sesame oil or rayu, chili sesame oil, to serve

Spicy eggplant ‘jam’

900 g about 2 medium eggplant, cut into 2cm / 3/4-inch cubes
1 onion finely diced
sea salt and black pepper
1/2 - 1 teaspoon red chilli pepper flakes (or to your taste), plus more to serve
60 ml neutral oil such as vegetable or grapeseed
2 tablespoons white miso paste

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Heat a large pot on medium high for 2-3 minutes. When hot, add the oil, onion, eggplant and 1 teaspoon of salt. Toss the eggplant and onion until it is coated in the oil and beginning to soften, 2-3 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cook for 45-60 minutes, stirring half way through, until the eggplant is very soft and jammy. Add the red chilli (pepper) flakes, and stir in the miso paste and season with black pepper.
Place a medium pot of salted water on medium high heat and bring to the boil. Add the ramen noodles and cook according to package instructions.
Meanwhile, to another medium pot, add the stock or dashi and sake and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. When you see bubbles around the edges, simmer for 1 minute and then turn off heat and add the soy sauce or tamari. Cover so that it stays hot while you prepare the noodles.
Set out four deep noodle bowls and divide the seasoned stock between them.
When the noodles are ready, drain and then divide it between the four bowls while they are still hot. Turn the noodles once or twice in the broth to coat them. Top each bowl of noodles with about 1/2 cup of the eggplant jam, 1/3 cup of corn, 1 tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds, scallions, red chili flakes (to your liking), and drizzle with a little sesame oil or rayu. To eat, toss the noodles with toppings until everything is well mixed and consume immediately.

Notes

If you’d like to scale this recipe down for less than four people, I’ve done the math for you: per 1 person, you will need 1 block of fresh or dried noodles, and for the seasoning, you’ll need 4 teaspoons (which is 1 Australian tablespoon) soy sauce or tamari, 4 teaspoons sake or mirin, 1/3 cup stock or dashi, 1/3 cup corn, 1 scallion, 1 tablespoon sesame seeds.

If you don’t have sake, you can also use mirin, but it is much sweeter so keep this in mind if you are using it - alternatively, omit it. At a stretch, you could also use Shao Xing cooking wine.

Storage: The eggplant can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7 days.