Sticky Chilled Spicy Udon with Moroheiya and Okra, Made with FlareLine CITRUS EMBER

The only cooking is the two minutes it takes to pass the okra and moroheiya (jute mallow) through boiling water. Once boiled, the more you chop the moroheiya with a knife, the more slippery it becomes.

A slippery bowl like this goes down easily, but the finish tends to fall flat. Shake FlareLine CITRUS EMBER over at the end and the citrus of lemon peel and makrut lime leaf comes first, with the heat of habanero rising a little behind it, giving the whole thing an outline.

Total time: about 30 min

Ingredients (Serves 2)

• FlareLine CITRUS EMBER: to taste
• Frozen udon: 2 portions
• Moroheiya (jute mallow): 1 bag (about 100 g)
• Okra: 8
• Onsen tamago (slow-cooked soft eggs): 2 (store-bought or homemade — the method is in Preparation)
• Myoga (Japanese ginger buds): 2
• Shiso (perilla) leaves: 4
• Mentsuyu (noodle base, 3x concentrate): 4 tbsp
• Water: 150ml
• Salt: 1 tsp
• Sesame oil: 1 tsp

Preparation

1. If making the onsen tamago yourself, start with them before anything else. Bring 1 L of water to the boil in a smallish pan and turn off the heat, add 200 ml of cold water, then lower in 2 eggs (size M) straight from the fridge, gently, with a ladle. Cover and leave for 12–13 minutes, then move them to cold water to cool. Crack the shells just before serving. They simply sit in the off-the-heat water, so the rest of the preparation can carry on in the meantime.
2. Pick the moroheiya leaves from the stems. The thick stems are tough and are not used.
3. Pare around the cap of the okra, lay them on a board, sprinkle over half of the “salt: 1 tsp” and roll them under your palm to rub the fine hairs off the surface.
4. Cut the myoga in half lengthways and then into thin diagonal slices, and cut the stems from the shiso before shredding it finely. Do not soak them in water; set them aside in a dish as they are.
5. Combine the “mentsuyu (3x concentrate): 4 tbsp” and “water: 150ml” in a bowl and chill it in the fridge.

Instructions

1. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and add the remaining salt. Put the okra in, boil for 1 minute 30 seconds, lift it out with a skimmer into cold water, pat it dry and cut it into 5mm rounds.
2. Put the moroheiya leaves into the same water, boil for about 40 seconds, drain, drop them into cold water and squeeze the water out firmly with both hands. Water left in will thin the sauce and blur the flavour.
3. Lay the squeezed moroheiya on a board and chop it, striking about 30 times, until it turns slippery. Move it to a bowl, add the sliced okra and the “sesame oil: 1 tsp” and mix together.
4. Boil the udon in a separate pan as the packet directs, tighten it in cold water while rinsing off the surface starch, and drain it thoroughly.
5. Put the udon into bowls, spoon the dressed moroheiya and okra over, and pour on the chilled mentsuyu. Break an onsen tamago into each, and top with the myoga and shiso.
6. Finally, shake FlareLine CITRUS EMBER over the whole bowl, to taste.

Try a mouthful before you stir it in. The citrus comes first, and the heat arrives a little behind.

CITRUS EMBER contains habanero. Shake over just a little first and taste, then add more until the flavour and heat are where you like them.

FlareLine is salt-free, additive-free and 100% plant-based. Adjust the saltiness with the amount of mentsuyu.