Foodie excerpt - Chapter 2. Hard work is a reward in itself.
Kai gave a quick glance at the time, only then realising how late it was. Swinging her jacket on and grabbing the finished techstaff, she headed out. The streets were busy, as they almost always were regardless of the hour. She passed a hand through her short chestnut hair, appreciating the open air. Actively making her way along the familiar route, she reached an open crossroad and as was becoming tradition, stopped. Kai looked up, her eyes tracing the soaring buildings all the way up until she could almost see the night sky. The galaxy always seemed to pause right at this moment. With a determined smile on her face, she kept going, hustling by a group of teenagers blasting music before reaching her favourite street food peddler.
“Comin’ in late tonight, ain’t ya?” greeted Prav as she sat down on one of his five bar stools, at this time all empty. “I saved ya your favourite,” the old Toydarian added.
“You’re a dream,” Kai said as Prav hovered up to grab a bowl on one of the higher shelves.
A tight fit among the other food stands in the area, he had expanded upwards, allowing more storage space for fresh ingredients and exotic treats, making his the best meals in the sector. As a small winged alien, it was easy for Prav to navigate in the restricted space. Placing the bowl on the counter, Parv skilfully poured the broth and added noodles, bean sprouts, a few other ingredients, and topped it off with fried shallots. Kai's mouth started to water at the sight. Parv placed the dish in front of her and she dug in, relishing in the savoury richness of the broth and sweetness of the shallots. Parv looked at her and gave a snort as she devoured the dish, barely taking the time to come up for air. Not long after, Kai gave a deep, satisfied sigh.
“As good as ever." Kai said as she wiped her month.
Shallot ramen
Serves 2
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
Ingredients
2 shallots
50 ml neutral cooking oil
1 tsp soy sauce
100 g bean sprouts
1 tsp chili powder
1 clove garlic
75 g shiitake mushrooms
1 tbsp sesame oil
100 g pak choi
150 g ramen noodles
200 ml vegetable stock
600 ml oat drink
1 tbsp miso
Instructions
Dice the shallots. In a pan, add the neutral cooking oil and fry the shallots on medium heat until they start to turn brown. Once ready, strain the shallots, keeping the oil separately, and set both aside.
In a pan, add the soy sauce and cook the bean sprouts for 30 seconds on high heat. Add the chili powder and mix together. Remove from heat and set aside.
Mince the garlic and cut the shiitake mushrooms into strips. In a pan, add the sesame oil and sauté the mushrooms and the garlic for 4 minutes. Once ready, set aside.
Cut the bottom inch of the pak choi. Separate the pak choi into individual stems and add to a medium pot of boiling water. Cook for 3-5 minutes until the stems start to become tender. Remove from water and set aside, keeping the water.
In the same pot of boiling water that was used for the pak choi, cook the ramen noodles as per package instructions and set aside.
In a different medium pot, combine the vegetable stock, oat drink, and miso on medium heat. Cook the broth for a few minutes until everything is mixed well. Whisk to combine well.
To serve, add a teaspoon of shallot oil in a bowl. Pour a portion of the broth mix into the bowl. Add ramen noodles and top with spicy bean sprouts, shiitake mushrooms, pak choi and fried shallots.
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