Holiday Hijinx Ramen #MoviesandMunchies

I have been terrible about participating in Movie & Munchies recently. I missed both September's The Secret Life of Bees and October's Enchanted. I knew that I wanted to jump in as Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm hosts Elf.

It's been quite a few weeks for me...since my mom went into the hospital at the beginning of September. So, I was excited to start my parade of holiday movies early!

On the Screen

If you haven't seen Elf, do. It's fun. Just imagine a human raised by elves - North Pole elves, not Lord of the Rings elves - who goes to New York to find his biological father who has no idea he exists. Oh, and add to that Will Ferrell, James Caan, and Zooey Deschanel and hilarity ensues.

I was tempted to create something with the Elf Food Groups - candy, candy corn, candy canes, and syrup - but my teeth ached just thinking about that. Still I hope that others are inspired to make homemade marshmallows or eggnog (here's a post with an eggnog tasting and my homemade eggnog).

I thought about spaghetti and meatballs, minus the maple syrup, but that's a already household staple. So, I went a different direction. The bowl of soup that Jovie (played by Zooey Deschanel) is eating when she sees Buddy (Will Ferrell) on the news in Central Park, with the news banner 'Holiday Hijinx', inspired this dish...

Holiday Hijinx Ramen

I have named this to be movie-appropriate. But it's really: Tantanmen Ramen: Long-Simmered Broth, Local Pork, and Soy-Pickled Eggs.

Ingredients

Soup Base

• 8 cups Homemade Ramen Broth with pig trotters and chicken paws (my process in this post) or your favorite ramen broth

• 8 Tablespoons tahini

• 2 Tablespoons sesame oil

• 2 teaspoons hot sauce (I used Sriracha)

Pork

• 2 Tablespoons oil

• 1 pound ground pork

• 2 Tablespoons green onions, finely sliced

• 1" ginger root, peeled and grated

• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and pressed

• 2 Tablespoons fermented black beans

• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

• 2 teaspoon hot sauce (I used Sriracha)

• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce

To Serve

• 4 portions of noodles (I used millet & brown rice ramen noodles)

• 2 small bok choy, halved lengthwise

• 4 to 6 Tablespoons shredded cabbage

• 4 soy sauce pickled eggs (recipe to come), halved

• sesame seeds for garnish (I used black sesame seeds)

Procedure

Bring the broth to a boil in a large pot, then reduce to a simmer and keep warm.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, preferably one with a strainer basket so cook the bok choy and noodles in the same water without having to re-boil. Blanch the bok choy. Remove it from the pan and rinse it with cold water. Keep the water at a simmer for the noodles.

Pork

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add in the ground pork, green onions, ginger, and garlic. Cook until the pork is mostly browned. Stir in the beans, sesame oil, hot sauce, and soy sauce. Continue cooking until the meat is a dark brown and some bits crispy.

To Serve

Place 2 Tablespoons tahini, 1/2 Tablespoon sesame oil, and 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce in the bottom of each serving bowl.

Cook your noodles according to package directions, if you're using packaged ones! While your noodles cook, gently ladle 1-1/2 C broth into each bowl and whisk to incorporate the tahini, oil, and sauce into the broth.

Divide the noodles into the serving bowls and ladle in another 1/2 cup on top of the noodles. Top with the ground pork, soy sauce pickled eggs, boy choy, and shredded cabbage. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve hot.

November is young. You might see another Elf-inspired post before the month's end. Or I might just move on to some other holiday favorites as it appears our next month's theme will be a viewer's choice of holiday movie. Stay tuned!

What are some of your holiday favorites? I would love some suggestions although I am not above re-watching all the Die Hard movies. I might even dig out my Krampus DVD. Kidding. Sort of.