3 recipes for fans of Studio Ghibli films

To discover in the new recipe book by Thibaud Villanova.

Steamed breads like in Spirited Away, the gourmet breakfast at Howl’s Moving Castle, Ponyo’s ramen on the cliff… This season, Thibaud Villanova is having fun recreating 35 key recipes, seen in the best Studio Ghibli films, through a new cookbook (Gastronogeek: The Kitchen in Ghibli). Published by Hachette heroes, here is a preview of 3 star dishes to discover to celebrate its release.

The recipe for Shio Ramen From Homecoming from the movie Ponyo Sur La Falaise

Ingredients

For the Chintan broth
-50 cl of kombu and katsuobushi broth
-50 cl of chicken broth
For the shio tare
-40 cl of chicken broth
-90 g fine salt
-35 g caster sugar
-10 cl of cooking sake
-12 cl of mirin
For the ajitsuke tamago (pickled eggs)
-2 eggs
-30 cl of salty soy sauce
For dressage
-1 new onion, green
-4 beautiful slices of chashu pork or ham with herbs
-4 servings of instant noodles
-4 tbsp. toasted sesame oil

Preparation

1 • Prepare the marinated eggs first: you can of course use hard-boiled eggs, but if you really want to try ramen eggs, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Immerse the eggs in it for 5 min and 55 sec. Meanwhile, prepare an icing: a large volume of very cold or ice water. When the eggs have finished cooking, remove them from the boiling water and immediately place them in the glaze to stop the cooking. Peel the eggs and place them in a bowl. Cover them with soy sauce and let them rest for the rest of the preparation. You can make more eggs at the same time, marinating them in the same way for up to 24 hours before consuming them.

2 • Proceed to the preparation of the shio tare: pour all the ingredients into a saucepan and heat over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, cover and set aside over low heat.

3 • Prepare the chintan broth: in a large saucepan, pour the chicken broth and the bonito and kombu dashi. Bring to a simmer, cover and set aside over low heat

4 • Finally, move on to preparing the toppings: chop the green onion. Cut the pork slices in half. Slice the eggs in half quickly so that the runny yolk remains in the cooked, marinated white.

5 • For the dressing, divide the noodles into 4 ramen bowls. Add 2 good ladles of chintan broth, 1 small ladle of shio tare. Cover and let the noodles cook for 2-3 minutes. Then add 1 tbsp. sesame oil. Place 1⁄2 marinated soft-boiled egg on the surface of the broth. Add 2 half-slices of ham or chashu pork and finish by scattering the green onion. Enjoy these piping hot bowls of ramen!

Note: In the movie, Lisa, Sosuke’s mother, gives instant ramen to the kids. I prefer to put you on the path to homemade ramen, a fascinating and endless art, by offering you a recipe that respects a few fundamental principles: a powerful broth, an aromatic oil, a tasty tare – the seasoning that will give its specificity to the ramen – and carefully prepared toppings!

Howl’s Moving Castle Breakfast

Ingredients

-4 slices of smoked bacon, 5mm thick each
-8 large fresh eggs Pepper (optional)
-1 homemade sandwich bread or bought from the baker
-Black tea
-Montgomery’s cheddar or emmental cheese
– Chives or parsley

Preparation

1 • One might think that everyone knows how to cook bacon and eggs and yet! You will see that there is a trick… There are 2 things to know for this recipe: it is better to use a cast iron frying pan and, as far as cooking is concerned, it is better to favor a cold start.

2 • Depending on the size of your frying pan, proceed in two batches, ie 2 slices of bacon and 4 eggs at the same time. Place the thick slices of bacon in the pan and place the pan over medium heat: the heat will gradually heat the metal and melt the fat from the bacon. This cooking results in meat that is melting in the heart and crispy on the surface. Cook the bacon for 2 minutes before turning it over and continuing to cook.

3 • Once the bacon is nicely colored and well cooked, you should have enough fat in the pan: break the eggs into the pan and fry them for 2 minutes. You can pepper them if you wish, know
that they will naturally be salted with bacon.

4 • Serve when the egg whites have coagulated well and before the yolk begins to harden. It should stay flowing!

5 • Accompany these bacon & eggs with a nice slice of bread. This is also the time to serve a thin slice of cheese, cheddar or Emmental, which will go perfectly with your eggs. Finally, to get the day off to a good start and give you a boost, accompany your tasting with a good cup of hot black tea (Japanese kôcha or Ceylon tea)!

Tip: here, I reproduced the recipe as seen in the picture, adding nothing else to the plates but you can of course season your eggs, add parsley or chopped chives, beans with tomato… Be creative
and greedy!

Note: The old woman who has just joined the household tires you and intrigues you at the same time: she knows nothing about magic or the habits of Mr. Hauru, whom she does not know either, and now wants to cook breakfast! She will still have to tame Calcifer! But…here she manages to control the fire demon and cook some bacon!

The Nikuman Des Thermes recipe from Spirited Away

Ingredients

-300 g mashed aduki beans or homemade anko paste
For the Nikuman paste
-280 g of wheat flour + a little for the work surface
-18g of sugar
-1 pinch of salt
-1 tbsp. level teaspoon of baking powder
-1 tbsp. level teaspoon of baker’s yeast
-12 cl of lukewarm water (30°C max)

Preparation

1 • Prepare the nikuman batter: in a mixing bowl, pour all the dry ingredients. Mix them and dig a well in the center. Pour the water all at once. Lightly flour your hands then knead with your fingertips until you obtain a homogeneous mixture. Flour the work surface and lay out the resulting dough. Knead until you get a smooth ball. Place the dough in another bowl. Cover with a cloth and let the dough rise for 1 hour at room temperature.

2 • At the end of this rest, remove the linen and press the dough with your fist to degas it and to lose its volume. Flour your work surface and lay out the ball of dough. Shape it into a thick sausage and cut it into 10 regular pieces. Roll each piece into a disc about ten centimeters in diameter.

3 • Take a disc in the palm of your hand
and drop in its heart 1 tbsp. red bean paste. Close the disc on itself by folding it like a chaplain. Repeat the operation for each disk.

4 • Place a sheet of parchment paper in a steamer basket. Place the stuffed dough pieces on top and let them rest and rise for another 30 minutes.

5 • Once the nikuman have risen well, you can start cooking them. Under the steamer basket, bring the water to a boil. Count 10 min of cooking. Keep boiling over medium heat, the steam must not be too strong, it would shrivele the loaves. When finished cooking, remove them from the steamer basket and serve them immediately!

Since you joined Yubaba’s service, you no longer have a minute to yourself: in the oven and at the mill to manage the water in the baths with old Kamaji or even to brick the floors with Lin. Sometimes, when night falls, you could almost fall asleep without even eating. However, a bite of these delicious nikuman would do you the greatest good!