All posts tagged ramen

By Jessica | February 12, 2009 | Main Courses, Recipes | 7 Comments

Yes, I do like ramen more than the average person which is half the reason I make and eat it all the time. But I’m not going to lie to you. The other half of the reason I make ramen is because people look up that shit on the interwebs all day long and get to my blog because of it. And, who am I to not give the people what they want. (One time? someone got to my blog by searching for “roast beef vagina” – I shit you not. The world wide web is a beautiful thing.)

The other half the reason I make ramen (I studied art in school – not math) is because I can put a poached egg in it. And if you been reading Go Meat Yourself at all, you would know that I’m trying to pour egg yolk all over my everything. So on and so forth.

Ramen with Beef, Shitake Mushrooms and A Poached Egg

2 c ramen soup base (it comes in a bottle in the “asian” section of your grocery store)
1/4 c soy sauce
noodles for two (you can use udon, lo mein, or any other dried asian noodle here. Shit, use capellini, fuck it.)
10 ish fresh shitake mushrooms
1 tbs butter
1/2 c white vinegar
2 eggs
1/4 lb roast beef, thinly sliced
2 stalks of scallion, sliced
sirachi for garnish
kimchi for garnish
Serves 2.

In a large sauce pan, add your soup base and soy sauce to 6 cups of water and bring to a boil. While waiting for that boil, remove the stems from your cleaned shitakes and cut into strips. Add the butter to a saute pan and when hot, add the mushrooms, stirring occasionally until tender and buttery. When the soup base is boiling, add the noodles and cook until you like – al dente or whatever.

Add water to a deep frying pan so it’s a couple inches deep. Add the vinegar and heat until almost boiling. While waiting for it to heat, prepare your scallions, grab your beef and get ready to plate. Basically, when your noodles are one minute from being done, crack your eggs into the frying pan of water and vinegar. Let them cook for about a minute. You are looking for a solid ish white but a soft yolk (depending on the stove, the egg and your menstrual cycle, this varies, so explicit instructions would be misleading, but I trust you – you can figure it out).

With a tong, divide the noodles into to huge bowls, then divide the soup broth. With a slotted spoon, add one egg to each bowl. Grab a pile of roast beef, a pile of shrooms, a pile of kimchi and a pile of scallions, and place on top, all in their own little groups so that the eater mixes themselves.

Now, eat that shit. The best bite is when you open the egg and drag the noodle through the yolk. Oh man.

By Jessica | December 12, 2008 | Main Courses, Recipes | 2 Comments

What makes your mouth water? For some it’s pickles, for others it’s burgers. For me it’s both those things AND spicy noodle soup. Either of these three items would cause me to do a diddy if I could eat them all day long without getting to be a total fat ass.

When I found out how easy it is to enhance the 10 cent ramen from your college days, I made it at least once a week. I have now ventured into making it from a soup base with fresh(ish) noodles. Next will be homemade stock. Watch out David Chang, I’m either going to eventually out-ramen your ass, or maybe just come to your restaurant. But you’ll have to roll me out. There!

Anyway, here is a recipe for deliciousness. If you have never cooked anything before, you should start with this.

Ramen with Roast Pork, Mushroom and Poached Egg

1.5 c of ramen soup base (find this in the Spanish/Chinese section of your grocery)
5 c of water
2 inches of fresh ginger, very thinly sliced
one jalapeno, very thinly sliced
8 fresh shitake mushrooms
1 tbs of butter
1 cup of cooked roast pork
3 scallions, sliced
1 egg
your favorite asian noodle: udon, ramen, rice, up to you
kimchi for garnish
sirachi for extra fire mouth
This serves two.

Bring a big pot of water to boil for your noodles. You will also be using this boiling water for poaching the egg but more on that later.

I would really recommend you pause in your sheffin and go buy a mandolin right now. The mandolin has become the love of my kitchen life. But, if you are really not going to do that, grab your jalapeno and ginger and slice the shit out of them – you want them really thin. If you slice really thinly, you can get away without peeling the ginger. Combine the soup base and water in a medium sauce pan and add the ginger and jalapeno. Put on a slow to medium heat.

When the water for your noodles starts to boil, add the noodles.

Remove the stems from your mushrooms and slice. In a small sauce pan, add a tablespoon of butter and a bit of olive oil. Saute the mushrooms until soft. Set aside.

As your soup stock is simmering and your noodles are cooking, cut your scallions, heat your pork if it isn’t already, and get out your eggs and kimchi. I make my kimchi myself. It isn’t entirely traditionally but easy as shit. Check it here.

When your scallion is cut, and your pork is warm and your kimchi is no longer cold from from sitting in the fridge, maybe your noodles are ready, depending on the noodle you are working with. You are going to have to judge that for yourself. When they are done, it’s about moving quickly to assemble your bowl.

When the noodles are done, don’t drain – grab them with a tong and put them in the serving bowl. Add the broth to the noodles. Keep the water from the noodles boiling and very gently crack two eggs into the water. While those cook for 2.5 minutes, add the scallion, pork, mushroom, and kimchi to the soup bowl in pretty little clumps. Leave room for the egg. After 2.5 minutes, with a slotted spoon, carefully take each egg out of the water and add to the bowls. You are looking for a solid egg white but a soft yoke. It will be hard to tell but you’ll get better with practice. Swear.

Serve your ramen with sirachi sauce for the freaks and pop a beer cause this one is hot and spicy.

When you are ready to eat, crack your eggs with chop sticks and with each bite, swirl your noodles through the yoke. This will be the best bit of food you ever done had.

By Jessica | July 6, 2008 | Main Courses, Recipes | 5 Comments

C came over for lunch cause I wanted to show her my Ramen. I promised her beef to trick her into eating kimchi – totally worked. My obsession for spicy noodles was launched about a year ago, and I still want to eat them all day long. This is also my favorite dish to cook because it is damn cheap (see the receipt below), quick, easy, filling, and CAN BE healthIER when adding fresh ingredients.

The fanciest part of this whole recipe is the poached egg, which for me, has become an absolute essential item. I learned this from David Chang, which I guess everyone knew except for me for the longest. Thanks guys.

Check it. Cook it. Eat it.

3 packets of original flavored Ramen, whichever brand
1 zucchini, thinly sliced
10ish dried shitake mushrooms
1/4 lb slices roast beef from the deli
kimchi (mine’s homemade, that’s for the next post, you can buy it at most specialty food shop these days)
2 scallions, thinly sliced
2 eggs
a dash of vinegar

optional:
snow peas, frozen greens of any kind, bean spouts, cubed uncooked tofu… um, anything you want really.

The longest part is reconstituting the mushrooms. Boil 2 cups of water, add to mushrooms and cover. Let sit for 20 minutes. When done, remove the mushrooms to slice, and reserve the newly created mushroom broth.

Cook the Ramen according to the packet’s directions. For 3 packets, you will need 6 cups of water. Additionally, add the 2 cups of reserved mushroom broth and bring to a boil. Add the Ramen noodles, mushrooms, zuccini and any of the optional ingredients you desire.

Simultaneously, bring a deep frying pan to boil with a dash of vinegar for poaching your eggs. At a soft boil, crack your eggs directly into the water. They should congeal and turn a solid white. After about 2 minutes, the eggs and noodles will be ready.

Add the noodles to a huge bowl for eating lots. With a slatted spoon, grab an egg for each bowl and float on top of the servings. Divide the sliced beef and add to the steaming bowl of noodles. Garnish with kimchi and scallion. For added spice, I recommend using Sirachi, not some vinegar-based hot sauce like Tobasco.

And?.. You’re welcome.