Closing-Time Tantan
Sesame, chilli oil and minced pork, sold only after eleven. It exists because the cooks wanted something to eat at the end of a shift and other people kept asking for it.
- Price
- $21.00
- Section
- Ramen
- Served
- After 11pm only
- Heat
- Properly hotSpice level 4 of 5 — Properly hot.
Tonkotsu, white sesame paste, and a chilli oil with sixteen ingredients in it
It goes on the board at eleven and comes off when the mince runs out, which on a Saturday is usually around half past one.
There is no clever reason for the time restriction. The mince is cooked fresh at ten, in one pan, in a quantity that fits the pan — about thirty portions. Making more would mean a second pan and a second person, and there is no second person after ten. So it starts at eleven, and when it is gone somebody wipes it off the board with their sleeve.
The chilli oil
Sixteen things go into it and the important four are Sichuan pepper, two chillies of different heats, star anise and cassia bark. Oil at 120°C poured over the aromatics, never the other way round, then left overnight so the sediment settles and the clear top layer can be spooned off for finishing.
Why it is not on the card before eleven
People ask. The honest answer is that a tantan at eight o’clock is a different meal than a tantan at one in the morning, and we would rather sell you the one that is right.