In our new series, eats with, The Restauranteurs deliver their know-how in easy to follow recipes to ensure your dining in is the new going out.
This week, chats to Alex Stumpf, who is known for honing in on Japanese, Mexican and Far-Eastern delicacies. He believes a talented chef should be able to apply himself to any cuisine and he prides himself on being able to do so.
With two decades of kitchen experience, which has seen him manage teams of over 80 chefs and stewards, win awards and oversee one of the UAE’s most recognised Asian restaurants, BB Social Dining, among others. The critically acclaimed chef says “it’s never too early or late to begin cooking”.
“You just have to have passion, play with amazing ingredients, travel around the world, and respect the food and the ones you prepare it for,” he adds
With BB Social Dining, he is able to express his passion by rebelling against the executive chef trajectory to create a gem-like Far-Eastern menu that incorporates all of the culinary elements he knows his guests will love. We’re talking single plate bao buns, bites, bowls and barbeque dishes with a delicious nod to Middle Eastern ingredients, being amongst them. What’s not to love?
Wagyu beef ramen, the recipe which he is sharing with , is one of his favourite dishes. “Our ramen stock has been cooked over 12 hours,” he says of the dish. “It is based out of a lot of chicken bones to get the right flavour from the beginning as chicken broth is a very healthy dish, in itself.
“We then mix the broth with our own recipe of soy tare which makes it into a clear Ramen soup. Its best served with egg noodles and a variety of Asian vegetables along with a soft boiled, soy-marinated egg.”
Wagyu beef ramen
- 1kg chicken bones
- 100g wagyu striploin
- 2 eggs (soft boiled for approximate four and a half minutes)
Take the striploin and trim it into a nice rectangular shape. Season it with salt and pepper and coat with a tablespoon of pomace olive oil. Heat up a frying pan to near smoking heat and sear each side of the beef for five seconds to a nice charred color. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge.
- 1 small piece of ginger, sliced
- 5 garlic cloves
- 1 white onion
- 2 carrots
- 1 packet of Enoki Mushroom
- 2 spring onions, finely sliced
- 1/2 leek
- 1 packet of baby bok choy blanched in hot water for 30 seconds.
- 2 packets frozen or fresh egg noodles
- Shichimi pepper, to taste
- 1kg chicken bones
- 2 litres water
- 15g Ginger, sliced
- 2 Garlic cloves, crushed
- ¼ white onion, chopped
- ½ carrot, chopped
- Put the stockpot full of water and bring water to a boil.
- Add the chicken bones and cook for two minutes while stirring.
- Strain the water and rinse the bones off with cold water.
- Place them back in the pot and fill with cold water bring up slowly to boil and skim off the buildup foam.
- Once it starts simmering keep skimming gently.
- Two hours later add prepped vegetables and simmer for another four hours and keep topping up with fresh water after each hour.
- Turn off the flame and let it sit for another 30 min and strain gently through a fine-mesh sieve, set aside.
- Now season the stock with soy tare.
- One litre chicken stock to 140ml soy tare. Season with salt to your taste.
- 60ml soy sauce
- 10ml water
- 4tsp rice vinegar
- 4tsp mirin
Preparing tare
Mix all ingredients and set aside in the chiller.
Assembling the dish
- Plating is an art so first of all have all ingredients ready for assembling most important is that the food should be hot and tasty.
- Line your ingredients up so you can assemble quickly, and it will help you to achieve serving hot and delicious food.
- Heat up the Egg noodles in boiling water so they will separate and place it in a large bowl then stack in the vegetables layer by layer. First the mushrooms followed by the carrots, leeks, sliced spring onions, red chili slices, the bok choy, the egg cut in half (add one or two half) finishing with sliced beef on top. Fill up on the side with the boiling broth and as a final serving touch sprinkle with shichimi pepper.
