A few month ago I discovered the joy of good imported ramen noodles from the Asian grocery store. So much better than the cheap stuff they sell at the regular supermarket. My go to way of serving is with a hard boiled egg and some stir-fried vegetables, usually bok choy, broccoli, maybe a little cabbage or green onion if I have it. And maybe a little siracha, although the Korean brands are often spicy already and don’t need the additional kick.
But, it would be nice to change it up from time to time, so does anyone have a different way you like to make it? I know in Japan ramen shops have many different ways of preparing it, even with things like cut up hot dogs in it.
I throw an egg in there to cook with it and snip up some chives from the backyard. If it’s Christmas or Easter, I’ll throw in a handful of frozen veggies. I’m not a fancy man.
Menma (fermented bamboo shoots) is a favorite of mine - you can usually find it in cans in the Asian section of your grocery store. Some dry nori also goes well, as it rehydrates immediately.
What are you using for broth? I, for one, can’t have ramen without tonkotsu - a creamy white broth made by boiling pork bones for up to 24 hours. It’s very time-consuming to make from scratch and hard to find in grocery stores, but there’s a concentrate I order from Amazon that’s imported from Japan and comes in single-serving packets that you mix with 2 cups of water.
Sometimes I’ll do a quasi-Thai style with cumin and a bit of peanut butter. Usually tuna and a can of mushrooms or whatever leftover greens we have on hand.
I add veggies and chik’n and hamburger-like crumbles to my ramen as a regular thing but my new favorite thing for ramen (and lots of other things) is this:
For a single serving of ramen, one teaspoon of hatch green chile powder makes my tongue tingle incessantly without ever rising to a noticeable level of heat while two teaspoons will cause my head to sweat but still only provide a modicum of heat in my mouth. With those benchmarks, I adjust for whatever my preference is at the moment.
Roasted chestnuts, packaged where necessary, make an exquisite addition to any ramen. They become chewy soft and sumptuous when heated, accenting other vegetables in their wake whilst adding a soothing under-flavor to the broth.
Shrimp, preferable raw (save shells and on your next batch of ramen, simmer the shells for 10-15 minutes to add favor and a touch of mouth-feel to your broth).
For a Thai influence, whole lemongrass stalks broken or cut into 1-2 inch segments, and kaffir lime leaves (you’ll probably need to order these online or from your local Asian market), simmer as above.
Fish sauce if you like funky flavors.
Thin sliced roasted pork loin, ideally one that was marinated with hoisin sauce to have a char sui style BBQ flavor. For bonus points, have your FiL smoke it the way I ask mine.
Various sesame oils, including sesame green chile oil, smoked sesame oil, or whatever suits your palate.
roasted garlic, to the point where it’s near liquid, smashed and added.
Bonito flakes, or in a pinch, prepped bonito granules.
Marinated teriyaki inspired chicken breast or thighs, sliced thin.
Stir fried mushrooms.
And on and on and on. Ramen is fun, and honestly, 80% of the time, the only thing I’m using from the store package (I normally go with Shin Ramen) is the veggie packet and the noodles themselves. I make homemade chicken, turkey, and beef stocks with leftovers anyway, which also adds wonder and mouthfeel. So far my experiments with homemade dashi have been less successful, but that’s a small worry.
ETA - this is of course in addition to the many quality suggestions in the list already, because if you’re not putting thin sliced green onion on your ramen, I don’t want to eat ramen with you anyway.
I really like a blend of Sapporo miso and chicken flavours with sesame oil, a bit of spicy chili sauce, grated ginger root, and a bit of soya sauce. If we have any left over chicken in the house I’ll add some of that as well.
I haven’t tried this yet, but it sounds good to me. Adding some Thai green curry to the broth to make the noodles into a curry soup sounds yummy to me. Oh, and of course, some nori (seaweed strips) is always good. And I don’t think anyone mentioned bean sprouts yet.
The beauty of ramen is you can put almost anything in it, but my particular favourites are sliced grilled chicken or pork. Since veggies like grilled peppers or onion are always nice, leftover chicken or pork kabobs that include those are ideal for putting into ramen the next day. I like mushrooms and fresh sliced mushrooms add a nice bit of texture.
Alternatively, if you don’t have chashu available, bacon also works well! There’s a ramen restaurant in Seattle I tend to visit when I’m in town that offers this, and I’ve found it a lot easier to make at home. You can also sauté some sliced mushrooms in the bacon grease and toss them in the soup as well.
