From Tampopo · 1985 · Reconstructed
Spring Onion Noodles
Serve when
Serve it right after the old vagrant reveals his 'secret recipe' — shredded pork and fried onion over noodles, good enough that the shop wants to sell it.
In the movie
Theatrical
- 01:34:48 The vagrants' old master shows Tampopo and Goro his own 'secret recipe': onions cut fine, pork shredded and fried, piled onto noodles with a dash of sesame oil. The shop tastes it, loves it, and starts bandying names for the new item — 'Spring Onion Noodles' or 'Spring Onion Special.'
Late in the film, the old vagrant who's spent the whole story teaching etiquette and technique finally hands over something of his own: a topping of fried onion and shredded pork he calls his "secret recipe." It's the smallest dish in the movie — one pan, a few minutes — and Tampopo's shop likes it enough to argue over what to put on the menu. After a film obsessed with decades-long noodle mastery, the gag is that the best new idea takes ten minutes and comes from a man with nowhere to sleep.
Ingredients
Method
- Boil the noodles until just tender; drain, reserving a splash of the cooking water.
- Heat the neutral oil in a hot pan and fry the shredded pork until just cooked through and lightly browned.
- Add the sliced spring onion and fry briefly, just until it turns fragrant and starts to soften — don't let it go limp.
- Toss the noodles through the pan with a splash of the reserved water and a dash of soy sauce to loosen everything into a light sauce.
- Finish with a few drops of sesame oil and serve hot, fresh off the pan.