EASY WEEKDAY RAMEN
Just an easy weekday lunch on the cheap without compromising flavor or satisfaction. I learned most everything I know from the “way of ramen” channel on YouTube so check them out.
THE FIVE COMPONENTS:
Really good ramen has five basic components. Broth, noodles, aromatic oil, tare (seasonings like mirin and soy sauce), and toppings. Let’s take a look at some options I feel fit the cheap and easy vibe of this recipe.
The soup: at home I just use the packet from instant ramen, my favorites being Sapporo ichiban beef, and nissin’s tonkotsu from their raoh line.
I also like to add umami using a ground mushroom mix from Trader Joe’s, since I don’t like the texture of mushrooms. You could also use dried shiitake too.
NOODLES: again we turn to instant ramen for the noodles. They’re quick, and palatable enough for me, though I avoid maruchan where possible. I like to boil them separately from the soup usually, but lately I’ve gotten lazy and boil them together to save on dishes. You could also make your own noodles but beware, chefs mean it when they say it takes ten years to master making noodles.
OIL: This part seems to get overlooked a lot but it’s a big part of enjoying the bowl 🍲 I like to use about a clove of minced garlic and an equal amount of ginger paste. Fry in a quarter cup of vegetable oil for a minute or until the garlic and ginger are nicely browned and remove from the heat. To make this quicker and spicier you can also use chili oil instead.
TARE: traditional ramen gets all of its bolder flavors from the tare, but we’ve already got a lot going on here, so we’ll keep it simple. A table spin of soy sauce and a dash each of mirin and Worcestershire sauce. If you’re making this ahead of time you can also cook the tare on the stove with garlic and ginger to increase the flavor and mellow out the soy sauce.
TOPPINGS: everybody’s favorite part of ramen am I right? Now I presume you’ve seen naruto before and if not let me explain that he likes ramen with a soft boiled egg, extra chashu pork and pickled bamboo shoot (menma).
I don’t really care to make chashu and can’t seem to find it at my local grocer, so I go for lunch meats. Particularly sliced roast Beef if I’m making a beef broth. Here’s some other tasty toppings
Blanched spinach
Water chestnuts (sliced)
Sliced green/spring onion
Sliced and grilled leek
Small nori (dried seaweed) sheets
Bean sprouts (boiled is best)
Crispy bacon
I’ve also heard good things about corn and butter on miso ramen.
SERVING: we’re not done yet. Many chefs advocate serving in a warmed bowl. I made this easy by microwaving my bowls for 30 sec. adjust according to your dishes and microwave. From here we start with about a tablespoon of your aromatic oil, then a tablespoon of tare. As about two cups of soup, and then noodles. Pull your noodles from one end of the bowl across to form a visible patty in the middle of your showy like me. Finally add your desired toppings. I like a couple pieces of nori, roast beef, pickled bamboo shoots, and green onion.
And there you have it. Ideally this should have only taken two pots and a can opener for dishes, so it’s great for serving a crowd. And now that we’ve come to the end, do me a favor, experiment for yourself and tell me how it goes. See if you can make miso ramen work, because I can’t seem to get close to restaurant quality miso.
TLDR: add cheap toppings and umami boosters to your instant ramen to make it taste better.
