I’m fascinated by foods that have been transplanted from one country to another and in the process become their own unique dish. Some dishes like Chop Suey get totally lost in the translation, while others, like Tacos Al Pastor, and Japanese Curry take on a different, though no less tasty life of their own.
This dish originated in northern China as a dish called Zhajiang mian. In its native form, it’s a fried mixture of fried scallions, garlic, ground pork, and black bean paste that’s all served over a bed of thick wheat noodles. The dish migrated to Korea with Chinese immigrants and there it began to change. The Korean-Chinese dish is called Ja Jang Myeon and is a popular staple in Chinese restaurants there. As it evolved, it took in more veggies like onion and zucchini, and got a black bean “gravy” thickened with cornstarch.
I’ve had both versions and my recipe below takes it in a new direction. It’s lighter than both the original and Korean versions and has a full compliment of veggies. The sauce is less cloying and strikes a pleasant balance between sweet and savoury, enrobing the veggies and noodles like a satiny black cloak. I don’t like wimpy noodles and this dish is no exception. I’ve found that dried linguine cooked al dente makes the perfect foil for the sauce, putting up a good fight from the beginning until the very last noodle is slurped up.
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I know what you all must be thinking “enough with the ramp recipes”. I promise I’m starting to reach the bottom of the bag from my most recent foraging trip, so you shouldn’t see many more:-) In case you’re still looking for a place to buy ramps, there are a few sellers on ebay you may want to check out.
This is less a recipe and more a way to serve the ramp kimchi I made last week. The cold creamy texture of the hamachi makes a perfect foil for the intensely briny and spicy kimchi. This goes well with an ice cold glass of soju (korean vodka) as an appetizer, or along with a bowl of rice and some other small dishes as a main.
ramp kimchi (garlic chive kimchi works as well)
sashimi grade hamachi (yellowtail)
Put a plate in the freezer for a few minutes to get it very cold.
Using a very sharp knife, and cold hands, slice the hamachi into moderately thin slices (a little less than 1/4″).
Working quickly, wrap each piece of hamachi in a ramp leaf then plate. You want to handle sashimi as little as possible as the heat from your hands will melt the fat in the fish and change its texture.
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So this weekend we made another trip north to pick ramps. This time we brought home a grocery bag brimming with these delightful members of the onion family (they’re sweet and have a flavor somewhere between leeks and garlic). The reason for this large harvest is that L had the brilliant idea of making ramp kimchi, and I wanted to make a ramp confit.
Kimchi, for those unfamiliar, is a fiery Korean side-dish that’s pickled in a potent mix of chili powder and garlic. The specifics and vegetables vary by region and season, but Korean families take pride in the number of urns of kimchi they prepare per year. Prior to winter, families would gather to pickle the last of fall’s vegetables to last them through the cold months until spring.
Confit on the other hand traces its roots to France before refrigeration where meats like duck and goose were cooked in their own fat to preserve them. The word is derived from the verb “confire” which quite literally means “to preserve” and can refer to fruits or vegetables as well as meat.
If you haven’t guessed by now, the common thread here is 2 ways to preserve these perishable gems so they last more than a few days. I figured it would be fun to employ methods coming from 2 continents, and the results were fantastic!
While ramps are a vegetable that aren’t available in Korea, they work perfectly for kimchi because of their strong (though not overpowering) garlic flavor. The long leaves are well suited for wrapping around a slice of steamed pork, or a bit of rice and the flavors just burst with spicy goodness in your mouth.
The confit on the other hand roasts the ramps in an ample amount of olive oil, rounding out the flavor and intensifying the sweetness. The olive oil it’s cooked in is redolent with ramp’s leeky garlicy aroma and is marvelous on pizza dough or bread.
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