What's chili black bean paste, you ask? Well I'm happy to tell you! It all starts with thoroughly funky black soy beans, which are funky even before they are packed in salt and left to ferment. Don't do this part at home. It gets smelly. But you can go out and buy fermented black beans in your local chinese grocer, or online. And if you want to skip making your own sauce, Chen Kenichi might disapprove, but you can buy a jar of Lan chi Chili Black Bean Paste at Whole Foods for $7.00.
I ought to reiterate that this is not a recipe for the faint of heart. But if you decide to cut corners YOU WILL STILL BE REWARDED.
Chili black bean paste: Worth 12000 "Oh NO you DIDN'Ts" !
or just buy Lan Chi from Whole Foods.
2 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped
4 oz fermented black beans
1 oz Thai chili, chopped
1 oz xiaoxhing rice wine
1 oz peanut oil
First, fry your garlic and chiles in the peanut oil until it is crisp golden brown. Turn off the heat and empty the contents of the pan into your food processor. Add the beans. Drizzle in the rice wine and puree until it is a spicy, lumpy paste. Perfect!
Corn broth: Worth 4000 "Heck YEEEEEEAH" points!
You can also use sweet white miso instead of my highly recommended corn stock, and make this dish in about 20 minutes if you are quick at chopping veggies (I use a japanese manolin, and I am done faster than you can say "Shaved Finger Tips"). Just use 2 tablespoons of sweet miso and 1 leaf of kombu in 1 pt of water and skip to the xiaoxhing tofu!
Corn Stock:
10 Corn cobs, de-kerneled (save the corn kernels for the soup!)
5qts of water
3 star anise
1 tsp Sechuan pepper corns
1 cinnamon stick
10 cloves
1 tsp white pepper (optional)
Just add everything into a stock pot and bring it to a boil. Then lower the heat and simmer for 1 hour. Cool and strain. Season with 1/2c of the sweet soy sauce called "kecap manis".
You can keep fresh corn cobbs in the freezer and use them all winter for stock.
Xiaoxhing tofu: Worth 2500 "oh for REALS?"
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 inch ginger, minced
2 oz soy sauce
2 oz xiaoxhing rice wine
1 oz sesame oil
1 packet of tofu cut in half
Wanna skip this one? Buy 1 teriyaki baked tofu package from Trader Joe's. Put it in a plastic bag and simmer it in a pot of water for ten minutes. Open the bag and slice!
Mix the liquids together with garlic and ginger in a big ziptop bag. Put the tofu in the bag and marinated over night. You could also use strained or thawed frozen tofu for a meatier texture. Bake the next day at 350 for 45 minutes, basting when it looks dry. Let it cool, and ....
Buddha's chili black bean udon soup:
2 tbsp chili black bean paste (home made or jarred!)
1 pt corn broth (or try that sweet miso broth! It's way easy!)
1 xiaoxhing tofu steak, sliced (... or use the Trader Joe's method!)
3 oz dried upon noodle
and ...
Cilantro!
Sliced daikon radish!
Sliced winter squash!
Julienned cucumber!
1/4 fresh or frozen peas!
1/4 cup of corn!!
Crushed peanuts!
Bean sprouts!
Sliced scallions!
Julienned pineapple!
Sliced cabbage!
*Sliced green chiles with soy sauce and garlic and vinegar and sesame oil!
The Permutations are ENDLESS!
Simmer the broth, and in a separate pot, boil water and cook the udon noodles. When they are done, remove them from the pot and discard the water. Now it is an order of operations game. You can add whatever you like to this broth (and I find the more, quite often, the better), but you need to start with the things that take longest. So if you are using squash, start with that. Wait 3 minutes and add the cabbage. Wait another 3 minutes add the corn and peas. After 2 minutes more, turn off the broth. Serve the noodles in 2 bowls. Divide the broth and the cooked veggies between each bowl. Now you can pile on whatever you like. Just make sure that the last ingredient you add is a teaspoon of chili black bean paste. That's all you will need, but if you are feeling adventurous, keep it on the side as a condiment.
*Try it first. Still not spicy enough? So then try this:
slice up 2 green chili peppers, and set them in a bowl with 3 tbsp of soy sauce, 1 tbsp sesame oil, and 1 tbsp of rice wine vinegar. microplane in one clove of garlic. let them sit for 2 minutes before you start eating them like potato chips.
** as an end note, I am ashamed of how often I eat this. I just buy the miso and the trader joes tofu and the whole foods paste. Sometimes I just boil the tofu in its original packaging. It still tastes awesome. Don't Tell Danielle!
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