A freaky gourmet ramen noodle creation for Halloween!
"..... hmmm... Yes waiter, Eyeballs In The Trash does sound like a very tasteful suggestion for dinner! We will have two, please!"
I decided to post a few creepy Halloween recipes this year. Some out of the ordinary Halloween desserts, candies, gelatins and pot au feu witches brew recipes are in the plans. Ordinary cute smiling pumpkin design decorated cupcakes are not really part of my macabre Halloween cooking style! Many of the ingredients of this Eyeballs In The Trash entree are considered to be normal everyday food in asia. By western standards, some of the ingredients are considered by some people to be exotic. The flavor of this entree is actually quite tasty! Smoked bacon adds a comfortable flavor to the common asian dried seafood ingredients. The dried seafood gives this Eyeballs In The Trash entree a desired trashy look and a pleasant umami flavor profile. Galangal (Thai blue ginger) adds an interesting flavor to the teriyaki sauce. The scrappy looking vegetables add a nice touch. Squid ink is a natural black food color. A simple squid ink cornstarch gelee was used to make the black pupils of the egg white eyeball shapes. The egg yolks were cooked, then added to the pile of trash for that "discarded leftover scrambled egg in a trash can" look that is so appealing! When presenting Eyeball In The Trash, the eyeballs have to be peering from the pile of trash in a tasteful manner. The trash should be loosely piled, so it has a haphazard three dimensional effect. The term Eyeballs In The Trash does have many interesting interpretive meanings like: An axe murderer's garbage can. A paranoid deranged maniac's vision of government agents searching through his can of garbage for evidence of a crime. A heavy duty bad acid flashback from the 1960's. Eyeballs In The Trash can also just be nothing more than a saying coined by a teenager who watches too many horror movies. Teens go through stages of thinking up freaky things to say. I know, because I was a teen who watched way too many horror movies and I have used the saying Eyeballs In The Trash many times. Kids say the weirdest things. Another good reference for use of the term "Eyeballs In The Trash" was made famous a music recording artist by the name of Malok. Hal McGee is a great experimental music artist and the link to the Eyeballs In The Trash Song leads to a Hal McGee website page. If my memory serves me correctly, Hal McGee was musician who was featured on one of the old Doctor Demento radio shows or on local public sponsored radio in Tampa Florida when I first heard the song Eyeballs In The Trash, by Malok many years ago. The song was released in 1990 as Eyeballs In The Trash, by Malok on the Electronic Cottage Compilation Volume 1 by various artists. Here is a link to Eyeballs In The Trash, by Malok, if you are interested in hearing this strange experimental song: http://halmcgee.bandcamp.com/track/eyeballs-in-the-trash Eyeballs In The Trash was my choice of a theme for this Halloween entree that has a weird creepy looking presentation. Halloween is a freaky fun time of the year and it is the most popular holiday that there is worldwide. Las Vegas is the place to be for the freakiest sexiest big Halloween party of them all!
Eyeballs In The Trash Notes: A few items must be prepared before the ramen noodles are cooked! A mold the size of a round tablespoon size measuring spoon works best for forming the whisked egg white eyeballs. The egg white eyeballs are best if they are steam poached the old fashioned German way. Squid ink is not always easy to find at grocery stores. It is a natural black food coloring agent. Effective black food coloring is a relatively rare find, but squid ink is the classic choice. Galangal root (Thai blue ginger root) can be purchase fresh at Las Vegas asian markets. Dried powdered galangal can be found in nearly any asian market. The umami taste sensation ingredients of sun dried anchovy, dried shrimp and dried shredded squid go by various names of the country of origin in asian markets. Dried shredded squid is usually sold as a pre-packaged prepared snack for those who drink asian alcoholic beverages in excess. It is a snack that is pre-shredded and flavored with sea salt and sugar sweetened rice vinegar. Dried tiny shrimp are sold with Chinese or Malaysian names. Sun dried anchovy goes by the Japanese name iriko or the Indonesian name ikan bilis. Galangal Teriyaki Smoked Bacon and Vegetables: Heat a saute pan over medium/medium low heat. Add 2 strips of smoked bacon that are cut unto bite size pieces. Gently saute, till the bacon just starts to get golden brown highlights. Add 4 tablespoon size petite wedges of savoy cabbage. Add 4 - 3/4" long pieces of celery. Add 1 chopped garlic clove. Saute till the vegetables become al dente and till caramelized highlights appear. The bacon should be lightly browned by this time. Add 2 tablespoons of tiny size dried whole shrimp. Add 1 cup of water. Add 1/2 teaspoon of ground galangal. Add 1 pinch of turmeric. Add sea salt and white pepper. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of thin soy sauce. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar. Simmer and reduce the liquid by one half. Mix a little bit of cornstarch and cold water together to form a slurry. Add just enough of the slurry to thicken the sauce to a thin sauce consistency. Simmer the sauce for two minutes. Keep the sauce warm on a stove top.
Simple Squid Ink Gelee: Heat a small saute pan over medium low heat. Add 1/2 cup of water. Add 4 drops of black squid ink. Mix a little bit of cornstarch and cold water together to form a slurry. Add enough slurry, while stirring, to form a thick consistency gelee. (heavy gel) Keep the squid ink gelee warm on a stove top. Egg White Eyeballs: Whisk 1 egg white in a mixing bowl, till soft peaks are formed. Very lightly brush two separate 1 tablespoon size (1/2 ounce size) 1/2 round semi spherical molds with vegetable oil. Pour as much of the whisked egg whites into the two molds as you can. Place the molds in a steamer basket, so they set level. Cover the steamer basket with a lid. Steam the egg whites, till they become firm. Keep the egg white eyeballs warm on a stove top.
Egg Yolk: Heat a non-stick saute pan over medium low heat. Add 1 pat of unsalted butter. Add 1 whisked egg yolk. Gently saute the egg yolk, till it becomes firm. Keep the sauteed egg yolk warm on a stove top.
Iroki Blanched Scallions and Ramen Noodles: Place enough water in a sauce pot to cover 1 portion of ramen noodles. Add 2 tablespoons of tiny sun dried anchovies. (iriko) Place the pot over medium high heat. Bring the liquid to a boil. Boil the sun dried anchovies for 3 minutes, so a broth starts to form. Add 2 green onions that are cut into 3" to 4" lengths. Blanch the green onions for 5 seconds. Remove the blanched green onions and set them aside. Add 1 portion of ramen noodles. Boil the ramen noodles, till they become tender. Remove the pot from the heat. Drain off all but 2 to 3 tablespoons of the broth. (The trash should not have a wet look!)
Eyeballs In The Trash: Place the ramen noodles and sun dried anchovies in a large noodle bowl. Try to place a few of the sun dried anchovies where they can be seen. Place the Galangal Teriyaki Smoked Bacon and Vegetables on top of the noodles. Tear the sauteed egg yolk into pieces and scatter the egg yolk pieces on top of the noodles. Place the steamed egg white eyeballs on top of the trash in the bowl. Place 2 small dabs of the squid ink gelee on the egg white eyeballs, so they look like black pupils. Scatter the blanched green onion pieces on top of the trash. Carefully place some pre-packaged prepared shredded dried squid snack around the eyeballs on top of the trash to create a three dimensional garbage effect. Use a squirt bottle to place small dabs of red serrano chile pepper sauce on the trash.
This is the best tasting Eyeballs In The Trash that I have ever had! In fact, it is the only bowl of Eyeballs In The Trash that I have ever had. This is a creepy looking bowl of gourmet ramen noodles for Halloween. Yum! ... Shawna
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