Saimin

                           

 

     Saimin is one of my all time favorite meals. I was first introduced to it when I visited my brother in Hawaii around a year ago. I've been obsessed ever since. My brother describe it to me the first time as "fancy Ramen". Being that I've lived on a tiny budget before and paid my own way through college I obviously know what "Ramen" is. The idea that there was a fancy version was intriguing.

 

     When we got to the restaurant the air was full of the aromas of chicken and fish broths. We were given a menu with over 100 Saimin variations and concoctions. There was everything from pork to chicken to tofu and vegetables. You could have it spiced up or not. How about some Spam? It was almost overwhelming.

 

     When I got back to Maine I made it my mission to figure out how to make this at home. I was not about to lose my new found love. Besides which, I'm savvy. I know Asian dishes tend to be inexpensive to make, so I was excited to give it a go.

 

     I spent a few hours pouring over recipes I found online. A few were alright, they basically all had the same base. That's good it's easier to work from. I went down to the Asian market and picked up the noodles and other small items I'd need to round out what I already had in the pantry. After about the third attempt we had it perfected. Make no mistake, the first two times were delicious too, but the third time was magic!

 

    The best part about all of this is that one of my favorite meals has also become what is known as one of the greatest "clean out the refrigerator meals" of all time. Which makes me love it even more. At least once a week now we've taken to making Saimin. I can buy a package of Chinese noodles at the Asian market for around $1.49. The package will yield us three full meals.

   

      I start by browning some garlic and onion in a little oil. This gets thrown right into my cast iron soup pot. Then I add about 8 cups of vegetable or chicken stock to the pot. You can also use water and chicken bouillon cubes/powder if that's what you've got. To that I add about 2 tablespoons of dashi flakes and about 1/4 cup soy sauce. I almost always add some grated fresh ginger at this point too. Turn it on medium and let it go. Many online recipes will also suggest the use of shrimp stock or a fish stock as well. That's great if shellfish doesn't make you die or have some kind of seriously unpleasant reaction...me not so much. So we skip that part.

     From there you literally can add whatever you want. As I noted before, I love it spicy. So at this point, once the broth is how we want it, I split it into two pots. Into the grown-up's pot I add Chinese five spice and some cracked pepper. The girls' pot stays as is. Then I start to heat up any proteins we may want hot in the soup. The girls love tofu and I limit their intake of it, so this is really the only meal they get to have tofu, and it doesn't happen every time. I fry it up in a pan and get it nice and crispy. It gets added at the very end. For us, I'll use the pan to heat up our chosen proteins too.

     This is where the fridge clean out begins. Whatever vegetable might be kicking around in the refrigerator, or any meat that may be left over from the night before, or cold cuts left from school lunches are especially helpful in this meal. I'll add carrots, snow peas, mushrooms, celery, daikon radish, or cabbage regularly.  I'll also add chunks of ham or spare ribs (also a treat we grab form the Asian market) and the occasional gyoza. What's great is that we get rid of all the random, lonely, left behind produce and we can customize the dishes to each person if we want to. Often I let the girls pick what goes into their pot, and it varies from what goes in the grown-up pot.

 

     At the end the noodles go in to cook for about 6-7 minutes. If I've got them, I'll top with bean sprouts or something crunchy to give  it just a bit of extra dimension. And that's it. It's a win-win! In all, the meal cost me about $3. I can feed the whole family and I always have leftovers. My oldest loves to take some to school the next day. She gets to pack it in her thermos and pack along chopsticks. She is in heaven.

  

    

     It's such an unassuming, yet delicious dish. I think that may be why I like it so much. Either that or because it's Heaven's elixir sent here just for me. I haven't decided yet.

 

Simple City Sam