Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Tempura Over Ramen Noodles - Video

When the Chef was on NBC Nightly News in June, he cooked Japanese tempura with ramen noodles for the producers and crew to film. Fresh veggies come and go at 99c only Stores, but broccoli, carrots and mushrooms are frequently stocked. Usually, tempura is served as an entree with a dipping sauce.

I first had it served over ramen noodles at a favorite noodle restaurant called Atch-kotch, located in a Hollywood mini-mall . Frying vegetables in a tempura batter creates a light coating while keeping the veggies crunchy. For this recipe you can serve tempura as a side dish and use it as a sponge to soak up the miso flavored ramen broth. I also provide a traditional tempura dipping sauce recipe. All ingredients were purchased at this 99c only Store were the "walk and talk" was filmed.

My friend Drew tagged along to video the NBC interview. What is the saying: "You don't want to know what goes into the making of sausage?" Well, the Chef lets his audience get a glimpse into the making of his news story. So here is a short video featuring the "sausage makers."


Shooting The NBC Nightly News Story - Video

Play it here. The video runs 2 minutes 24 seconds.

Ingredients for tempura batter (serves 2)
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon baking power
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup sparkling water, chilled
Ingredients for frying
  • 99 cent fish filet cut in half or 2 small filets (tilapia or pollack)
  • 1/2 cup broccoli florets - small to medium florets
  • 6 whole button mushrooms
  • 4 green onions cut into finger size segments (leave about an inch of green stem)
  • 1/2 bell pepper, cut in strips
  • 6 baby carrots (2 inch size)
  • 3 cups vegetable oil for frying
  • Add more veggies for a vegetarian tempura
Tempura dipping sauce:
  • 1/2 cup 99 cent white wine
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
2 small packages of ramen noodles per directions

Directions

Heat oil to 375 degrees (medium/high heat.) Combine tempura batter ingredients; should be consistancy of pancake batter. Clean and dry vegetables. Pat dry fish filets. Coat vegetables with batter and fry (in batches if necessary.) Batter and fry fish last. Frying should be 5 - 8 minutes for each batch; tempura batter does not need to brown like a typical fry, just enough to cook vegetables but still be crunchy. While tempura is frying prepare ramen per package directions. Serve ramen with broth; top with vegetable and fish tempura. Put tempura dipping sauce in a shallow bowl for extra dipping flavor.

10 comments:

Pasadena Adjacent said...

I cooked the 99 cent way last night. Swedish meatballs, ramen and a salad of shredded carrots and tomatoes. I'm not a purist so a few contraband ingredients were brought in. Yummy.

99 Cent Chef said...

Hi palm axis, do you have a 99c recipe for Swedish meatballs you can share?

Pasadena Adjacent said...

The 99 cent store occasionally gets in pre-made swedish meatballs. When they show up, I stock up. I heat them up, cut them up and mix them into the ramen with garlic, olive oil and feta cheese. I guess you could call it fusion cooking on the cheap.

Kelly said...

Hey 99 Cent Chef ,
Our 99 Cent store has bags of really sweet pears in stock .
I bought 2 bags and have been serving them sliced over a mixed greens salad , with candied walnuts and a homemade mustard vinegar dressing .
I was thinking of making a carmel pear tart , but don't really have a recipe.
Any suggestions for a .99 Cent pear dessert ?

99 Cent Chef said...

Hi Kelly, The Chef picked up a bag of pears as well and adds one peeled and sliced to his oatmeal. How about a pear crumble? Slice about 6 pears and sprinkle with brown sugar on bottom of lightly oiled pan. Top with a cup of oatmeal mixed with 1/4 stick of butter, brown sugar and bake for about 30-45 minutes at 350 degrees. And you can certainly top it all off with carmel!

Kelly said...

Thanks Billy,
Pear crumble sounds great , and I have all the ingredients . I'll let you know how it turns out .

Patrizzi Intergarlictica said...

The video is my favorite thing. Behind the scenes peeks are irresistible.

Inspired by agent 99 I ventured down to the corner 99 in Pasadena (Villa & Los Robles) where I found Tempora batter mix (just add water) and some teriyaki dipping sauce.

I've got some fresh broccoli from the farmer's market this morning.

I don't know if I want noodles or rice or a shredded bed of iceburg lettuce to go with.

Thank you 99 Cent Chef!

99 Cent Chef said...

99c tempura batter mix - what a great find Miss Havisham, I'm envious, and glad you like the behind-the-curtain video.

Unknown said...

This did not work out so well for me. Not enough oil? Not hot enough? But the batter stuck to the pan, and everything just taseted greasy. But it was fun to try! Tempura batter, I will have to look for that next time!

99 Cent Chef said...

Hi Marjorie, sorry your crumble was yucky, the Chef will get another bag of pears and remake the crumble, it worked last week - maybe a shallow pan was used? A 4X8 inch loaf pan is best and pears go on the bottom. By all means try the Tempura, it's tasty. And if any visitors out there have a pear recipe for Marjorie, please share!

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