Tuesday 24 April 2018

Recipe: comforting ramen

Spring is upon us here in Finland and I am being plagued by the spring cold. So here is my recipe for a comforting ramen dinner. I just used what I happened to have in my pantry and fridge: some greens and leftover teriyaki chicken.

Here are the ingredients:

Salad
Daikon
Cucumber
Avocado

Ramen bowl
Ramen
Soft boiled egg
Red bell pepper
Carrot, about a five cm piece
Two small shiitake mushrooms
About 1 dl of left over teriyaki chicken
Fresh spring onions

Broth
Half a cube of vegetable broth
One package of instant miso soup
Spring onion
2,5 dl water

Making this takes about 15 minutes and is super easy. I never measure ingredients precisely, I just use what I happen to have around and what I feel like eating. But let's jump into making this, starting with the salad:



Making the salad

Prepare a bowl with ice cold water. Start by grating some daikon. I had a piece lying around and grated enough that I could fit in my hand by lightly squeezing it. Julienne the cucumber into thin strips. I used half of a 6 cm piece. Add the cucumber strips to the ice water and let them sit there with the daikon for the rest of your prep time. Peel and slice some avocado.

When you are ready to serve, gently squeeze the water out of the daikon and cucumber mix and add to a bowl or plat together with the avocado.



The ramen bowl

Lets make the eggs first: Bring a good amount of water to the boil and gently lower an egg into it. Boil for 6 minutes and then remove the egg, dunking it into ice water to stop the cooking process. Before serving, cut the egg in half.

Cook your ramen noodles according to the instructions on the package. Mine took about 3 minutes. Pour them into a strainer and run them under cold water until cool to prevent them from going mushy.

For the vegetables: Slice the shiitake and julienne the carrot and pepper. Thinly. Since you will only be adding hot broth to the ramen bowl and won't cook the veggies it is best to slice them as thinly as possible. Slice the spring onions thinly at an angle.

Assemble by placing the noodles in the bottom of a bowl and arranging all other ingredients on top: vegetables, mushrooms, chicken and egg halves. Add the spring onion garnish last.


The broth

Add water to a saucepan and add in the vegetable broth cube, the instant miso soup (or a couple of teaspoons), and the spring onions. I usually save the white spring onion part for this and use the greener bits as garnish. Bring to a boil and simmer for a few minutes. Pour over the ramen bowl.



The cool crunchiness of the salad adds a nice juicy contrast to the ramen bowl. Need more salt? Add a splash of soy sauce. Enjoy while hot with some nice green tea.


~Stella

2 comments:

  1. This looks delicious! I've never had a ramen bowl in my life, but I think I need to soft boil an egg right now...

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    1. I tried making ramen for the first time this month and I am definitely in love. I've done this same thing before but without the soup broth/stock. Adding it felt like some kind of revolution. And the soft boiled egg is heaven on a plate.

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