Fan Side Menu – Touken Ranbu

It was pretty difficult, for me, to find something I could make for/from Touken Ranbu. Though… I did find something I could put my own twist on: Ramen. There’s a lot more udon in this series, but we do see a bowl of ramen in S02E10 of Hanamaru. I’ve never had authentic ramen (I haven’t had any authentic Japanese food; my first experience with ‘Japanese’ food was the curry I shared with you in the Fan Side Menu Starmyu post). So, given that fact, this is more a ‘ramen inspired’ meal using instant noodles.

Recipe Ratings:

• Health: 1/5.

(Given that the main ingredient is instant noodles… Yeah. I wouldn’t recommend it as a mainstay in

your diet. The toppings are fairly healthy though; particularly the vegetables.)

• Ease: Easy.

(It’s a little ‘fiddly’ in timing everything, but otherwise a fairly easy recipe.)

• Speed: Moderate.

(I didn’t time myself, but I think it was probably ±40 minutes to 1 hour; this was mostly due to carving the carrots.)

Just a quick side note before I say anything more about this ‘ramen’. This was my first time ever making anything like this. You are seeing the result of that first attempt. The one thing I feel that may need improving if I ever make this again is the amount of broth. There is actually broth in there, you just can’t see it as there wasn’t enough to cover the noodles (despite my throwing in some extra water before taking it off the stove…). I also think the noodles absorbed more of it while I was setting up the toppings and then taking the photo… With that being said, the other elements; particularly the soft boiled egg and flower (supposed to be sakura…) shaped carrots, came out well as far as I’m concerned. Those two were the most ‘iffy’ of the five toppings I chose. Now, onto my reasons for choosing such toppings.

This ‘ramen’ was inspired by is the 5 Starter Swords in the Touken Ranbu game (starting at the top and going clockwise):

• 
  Mutsunokami – Thin Steak. (‘Minute steaks’ ~ don’t know if they’re called that elsewhere. I felt it ‘matched’ him fairly well.)

• 
  Hachisuka – Corn Kernels. (Closest thing I could find to ‘gold’.)

• 
  Kashuu – Red Bell Pepper Strips.

• 
  Yamanbagiri – Soft Boiled Egg. (Doesn’t it look like his cloak and blond hair?! ^-^)

• 
  Kasen – ‘Sakura’-Shaped Carrots. (Because I couldn’t find something purple to put in… and this sort of suits Kasen’s personality in how he likes things to be elegant and well-presented. ^-^)

If you’re also new to this kind of recipe, here’s what I did:

1. Carve the carrots into desired shapes. (I had watched some videos on YouTube on how to carve carrots, but ultimately ended up figuring out my own technique.)

> Once carved, boil for 10 minutes or until soft.

- I took them out of the water and set aside in a bowl, while saving the water for boiling the noodles ~ thus holding onto the nutrients from the carrots that cooked out into the water.

2. Boil egg and cook corn.

> I let my egg (fresh from the fridge) come up to temperature in the pot with the water and once it started boiling, I switched off the plate, put the pot lid ajar and timed it for 2 minutes and 30 seconds (but it may have been in there for 3 minutes as I was busy prepping the meat while it was cooking).

> My corn was frozen corn which I cooked in the microwave.

3. Cook meat.

> I cooked the meat in a frying pan with a little water in it on the stove; seasoning it with pepper and salt.

4. Cook noodles (mine were beef flavoured) and slice desired amount of red bell pepper.

5. Assemble everything in a bowl as aesthetically as possible.

Also, one last thing, I’ll be honest, the chopsticks you see in the image are for looks only. I can use

chopsticks to pick up some things, but I haven’t tried noodles yet and… I just really wanted my lunch so I used a fork to eat this. (Just wanted to be transparent with you.)

If you make (or have made) your own Touken Ranbu inspired food, let me know! (You can find my Contact details on the About page.) If you post your images on Twitter, use the hashtag - #fansideoflife or #fansidemenu to help me and other fans find your work.

Until next time, keep enjoying your fan side of life!