Annie found a packet of three servings of miso ramen at the Asian grocery, on sale for 3 bucks. These aren’t your typical fried and dried “Top Ramen” type packets with the overly salty spice powder packet. The noodles are fresh and the sauce is a wet paste. The preparation is straightforward – boil water, make broth, pour over warmed noodles.
To the soup bowl, I added in some frozen corn sauteed in butter, blanched bean sprouts, a barely hard-boiled egg, some slices of home made char siu, and garnished with nori and chopped green onions. I added a few dashes of shichimi chili powder to mine to spice it up a bit.
This really hit the spot. It was just as good or even better than Ramen Halu in West San Jose (supposedly the best ramen in the South Bay).
Most of the Malaysian/Singaporean restaurants here in the Bay Area are not quite authentic because their chefs use local ingredients and adjust their recipes to suit local tastes. Here in San Jose, we’re lucky to have a branch of the Singapore-based restaurant chain Prima Taste. Prima Taste ships all their sauces pre-made from Singapore, and so preserve the flavors.
We’re also lucky that an Asian grocery near our place carries the Prima Taste brand of sauce and seasoning packets, for a pretty good price. This is their Singapore Curry Laksa.
You have to buy all the fresh ingredients – the noodles, bean sprouts, fish cake, shrimp, and egg. But to make the soup you just add the contents of the spice packet to water and bring to a boil, then assemble all the ingredients. In no time, you’ll have a delicious bowl of fragrant laksa.
We went to Manresa Restaurant in Los Gatos to celebrate Annie’s birthday. We made reservations a month in advance, since this very popular restaurant garnered more attention when it was awarded 2 out of 3 stars in the prestigious Michelin Guide. When we arrived, we were seated right away. We told them that we were here for their Tasting Menu, which consists of the best plates the Chef had to offer that night.
All told, there were 4 amuse bouche, 8 entree, and 5 dessert courses. Here are some of my favorite dishes from the dinner:
Raw oyster and uni (sea urchin roe) on the half shell, with sea urchin-infused gelatin and nori (dried seaweed) flake. Wow. It went down so smoothly. *sigh*, I think I could eat a dozen more.
Our neighbor made a great tasting soup for us that we had to get the recipe for.
Saute some sliced onion in a stock pot. Add minced pork and brown. Cover with water, add chopped tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Add in sliced eggplant and stir. Season with a bit of fish sauce.
Chop up some shiso (perilla) leaves and add them to the soup. Serve hot. So good, one bowl is not enough.
