Grown Up Ramen

Do it Yourself Grown Up Ramen

Warning: addictive but spicy...

 

looks pretty good too..

Drama Fever.com has a few new drama's I have been into lately. Two of which  revolve around food. Flower Boy Ramen Shop and Kimchi Family.  Both shows are as addictive as their culinary name sake. Watching makes you want to try the food.

I am not a fan of pre-packaged ramen noodles, you know the kind where you get the flavor packet of unidentifiable spices and the brick of noodles all neatly shrink wrapped in colorful packaging. Maybe it was because I ate so many as a kid, or because this was the standard "I am too poor to eat much else" food in college or because  I have eaten one too many packets in my youth only to look closely at the floating "pepper" and discover it had legs.

However, last week I was given a case of kimchi ramen from a store I like to shop at as a promotional freebie. It was sealed, then shrink wrapped, then wrapped in yet more outer packaging. So I figured the pepper probably was leg-less.  It looked nothing like the ramen on the drama I was watching but hey it was free...I tried it.  It was not bad and there were no extra bits of protein swimming around.  It was a bit salty and the vegetable flakes were unidentifiable, chewy and cut in uniform squares. Since I have never seen a square carrot I could only guess at what the vegetables were.  It was a bit of a turn off. Then I read the label. When we are young, label reading was not an issue. I almost had a heart attack reading this label. I was actually surprise that amount of sodium had not already put me at risk for heart issues.  Then there were the numerous unidentifiable ingredients on the label. No, not the Asian ingredients....the chemical ones.  What were these things? Why are they in my soup! I thought to myself...I can make this so much better and know exactly what I am eating. So I did. I decided I could make tasty ramen type soup from scratch and cut out all the preservatives and unknown ingredients.

Turns out this was very simple to make and has become one of my staple go to soups. 

Ingredients:

1 Package ramen style noodles (I found them in the Asian isle at Wegmans)
4 hard boiled egg (or soy pickled eggs)
4 oz steak sliced thin (I used leftover)
1/4 cup green onion
1/4 cup sliced zucchini
4 cups vegetable broth
1 tbs Hon-Dashi Instant Dashi (Bonito Stock: This is the Asian version of Soup bullion that is made from Tuna. No not the canned albacore with Charlie Tuna waving at you, but the actual good stuff. You can find a jar of it at Wegmans or whole foods or your local Asian market)
1 tbs soy sauce
1" slice ginger
1 tsp sriracha, optional Hot Sauce
1 tbs garlic paste
1/2 cup minced kimchi with liquid.(optional)
1tbs Gochujang (Korean Chili Paste found in Asian foods section of grocery store, optional)
Serves 4.


In a large pot boil vegetable broth, Hon-Dashi Instant Dashi (Bonito Stock), garlic and ginger for about 10 minutes. Reduce to simmer. Add in sriracha, gochujang, kimchi and soy sauce. Let simmer 5 minutes, remove ginger and add in noodles.  Season steak to taste with salt and pepper and cook to medium rare (it will cook more once put into the hot broth) Slice the steak thin. Slice the hard boiled egg (pickled eggs are good here to), chop the green onion and thinly slice or shave zucchini.  Put the noodles and broth into bowls. Top with eggs, steak, green onion and zucchini. Serve hot.