Myself, Rebecca, Kevin, Brendan, Rainier and Amelia were kidding so much about Umami during Rebecca's Table for Four till I keep thinking of making an Umami dish, but without the common ajinomoto and just natural ingredients which has natural Umami flavour involve.
I was once told by my lecturer that if you deep fry kai lan(chiffonade) you would get something like a seaweed. And *ding* I think I've got a connection with Umami!
I felt like, why not put my own twist on it; deep fried kailan soup which will taste something like a korean seaweed soup? Umami dish?
That was the idea, and i normally get really excited when I have an "experiment" on my mind. Don't you?
Well, here's for you to pick my brain a little. Enjoy!
Whaddaya' need?
Kai Lan, chiffonade
Chicken Stock, homemade
Meatballs (i cheated and used ready made pork balls. beef or chicken meatballs will be fine too)
Salt & Pepper
Soy Sauce
Oil
Directions:
1. Prepare chicken stock. *keep in mind, you can do this beforehand.
2. Marinate Kai Lan with salt and pepper. (5minutes will do)
3. Deep fry Kai Lan till crispy.
4. Add fried Kai Lan into chicken stock.
5. Add meatballs and soy sauce to taste till meatballs are done.
Raw Kai Lan, chiffonade
Crispy Fried Kai Lan
Crispy fried kai lan which has some bitter taste at the end, due to the natural taste of kailan. It can be served with rice. Hmmm...Perhaps I should add some toasted sesame seed for extra colour and better presentation?
Deep Fried Kailan Soup
I was really happy because it did really taste like seaweed soup :)
On a not-so-good-note; It was quite oily, maybe the next time I should try this recipe but sun/toast the kailan and add some suitable noodles, toufu or maybe use ikan bilis stock? Aah, we'll leave that for another day. Umami without Ajinomoto, its possible! Mission Accomplished! :)
