Yakisoba - Japanese fried noodles

Beni shoga and new wok
Originally uploaded by electric counterpoint.

Here, in what is quickly becoming a regular feature, is your latest Recipe with a Narrative Structure.

You’ll need:

1 lb. bok choy (Napa cabbage), chopped
Several ounces of whatever kind of mushrooms you’re always intending to buy but can never justify.
8-12 oz. soba noodles
1 block fried tofu
Handful of green onions, chopped
Small white onion, chopped
Half inch of gingeroot, grated
Beni shoga
Rice wine or sake or, more likely, vinegar
Soy sauce
Sugar

Prep time: 3-5 days, 25 minutes

1. Google “beni shoga.” Ponder it.
2. Google “Japanese grocery in Ann Arbor, MI.” When you come up with nothing, try “Asian,” and then settle on Chinese,” even while you insist to yourself that you recognize the difference between different Asian cultures and their cuisines, even if Google doesn’t.
3. Try that place up on Broadway. Tell the nice lady at the counter you’re looking for beni shoga, then when she doesn’t know what you’re talking about, say “pickled ginger.” A-ha! She’ll lead you over to the gari shoga, which is not what you need. Buy it anyway, because you’re spineless.
4. Search the internet for beni shoga retailers. Settle on something from an Amazon seller. Delight in the $2.49 price tag. Heck, order two bottles.
5. Balk at the $11 shipping fee.
6. Wait 3 to 5 days.
7. In the mean time, head down to Meijer for groceries. Decide to check out the international foods aisle that everyone’s been saying has just been revamped and expanded. Swallow your pride when you find several bottles of beni shoga on the shelf.
8. Boil some water, drop the noodles in.
9. Oil the wok, sautee the onions then add the tofu and mushrooms.
10. Throw the bok choy into the wok, cook until soft. Pay no attention to the fact that for all outward appearances you are frying up a salad.
11. Drain the noodles, run them under cold water, then drop them in the wok.
12. Mix half a cup of soy sauce with a bit of rice wine and a teaspoon of sugar. Drizzle it into the wok and keep everything stirred up.
13. Set the biggest lid you’ve got over the wok, and let it cook for eight minutes on low heat. Stir occasionally.
14. Sprinkle with green onions and garnish with beni shoga, then serve. When your girlfriend tries the pickled ginger and doesn’t like it, sigh loudly and take twice as much for yourself.