Ramen

Ramen seems like a very difficult thing to make.  Really the difficult thing is just the broth. Looked at recipes over the years and the complexity of the broth amazed me. Now you can find very good ramen broth in most supermarkets. They still need a little help, for my taste, but try it without my adds then with my adds and see what you like. The recipe is for 2 people, double, triple, with more people. Here is what I add to the broth.

1 litre ramen broth

1 teaspoon soy sauce

dash of fish sauce

1 quarter sized piece of ginger

1 clove garlic pealed and slightly smashed

Put everything in a pot and bring to a boil. Remove garlic and ginger, its now ready to use.

So you have to think of exactly what ramen is, what’s in it. Here’s how I got my head around it. Basically it’s a salad and noodles with broth. So with the broth made you just slice vegetables add noodles heat them with broth. Make it with what ever vegetables you want and noodles, chow mein, rice, or soba. Here’s what I made.

1 litre ramen broth (with or without my adds)

1 cooked chicken breast cut into thin strips (you can use leftover chicken, beef, or pork)

4 leaves suey choy split in half and chopped in 1 and 1/2 pieces

2 cups of thinly sliced celery (slice on a heavy bias with the knife on an angle. You want them to look like question marks)

1/2 cup celery leaves

1 very large radish or a piece of daikon thinly sliced

1 large carrot cut into ribbons with a speed pealer

2 tablespoons parsley leaves

6 green onions cut on bias

fresh noodles (about what would equal 2 tennis balls)

salt and pepper to taste

2 hard boiled eggs

sesame oil

You can add bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, snow peas, bean sprouts, anything else you want.

Place noodles in 2 bowls, cover with boiling water for 3 minutes, drain. Separate all the vegetables except the parsley into 2 equal piles. Bring the broth to rapid boil, taste and add salt and pepper if needed, add 1 portion of vegetables to the pot, boil for 1 minute. Place half of the chicken in each bowl on top of noodles. With a slotted spoon remove vegetables from broth, put in 1 of the bowls. Repeat with the other portion of vegetables, add the broth equally to each bowl. Add parsley to each bowl, top with hard boiled egg. Sprinkle with sesame oil.