Regular readers (hah!) of this blog will know that my topics have always been programming and photography focused. However, I’ve recently come up with a ramen recipe of my own that I want to write down, not only to share but also to preserve it for my own fragile and failing memory. It is far from an authentic Japanese recipe, but it does scratch the itch.

I have dropped some links to the ingredients I normally use. I don’t get any kickbacks from them.

You will need the following ingredients per person that you are cooking for:

• Broth
  • 500 ml water
  • 1 x S&B Golden Curry Cube (https://www.sbfoods-worldwide.com/products/search/009.html) – a packet like the one I have linked contains two containers with four cubes in each! Please make sure you only use a single cube per person!
  • 1 x chicken stock pot (https://www.knorr.com/ie/knorr-products/stock-pots/chicken-stock-pot.html)
  • 1.5 teaspoons of white miso paste
• Other ingredients
  • 100 grams of chicken (mini fillets work well)
  • 1 x large egg
  • 1 x portion of ramen (https://hakubaku.com.au/product/ramen/)
  • 80g of canned sweetcorn
  • 40 grams of baby spinach
  • 5 button mushrooms
  • Spring onion / scallions
  • Tonkatsu sauce
  • Mild chilli powder

What if I am a vegetarian? Firstly allow me to offer my condolences and deepest sympathies with your condition. I would then suggest to switch out the chicken stock with vegetable stock and find a suitable alternative to the chicken. Perhaps tofu or a plant-based meat.

Start cooking!

Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon, or not at all.

Julia Child

Chicken

Coat the chicken fillets in tonkatsu sauce and sprinkle some mild chilli powder on top. Pop them into the airfryer (12 to 14 minutes) or oven grill them until done.

Eggs and Broth

You can do the broth in parallel with the eggs !

Ramen

As soon as the eggs are in the ice bath, drop the ramen into the boiling water (you can use the same water that you used for the eggs). Cook the ramen for ~4 minutes, ensuring that it does not cook too soft.

Mushrooms

You may decide to use proper shiitake or other mushrooms for this recipe, but baby button mushrooms work well and you can find them anywhere. Grab about 5 baby mushrooms per person and fry them in a pan coated with a shallow layer of butter. You can add some herbs (italian herbs, rosemary, etc.) if you want, but it’s not necessary.

Plating

You’ll want bowls of a decent size as the portions are fairly large.

Drop the noodles into the bowl and peel the eggshells from the eggs. Split the eggs lengthwise and place on top of the noodles. Add the spinach and sweetcorn (drain the can first!) ; keep in mind that the spinach will wilt to a much smaller size! Place the chicken and mushrooms on top of the spinach.

Now pour the broth into the bowl, making sure beforehand that the curry cubes have dissolved properly. Chop up some spring onions and sprinkle onto the broth.

Bon appetit!