My badass take on Ramen soup

On Friday afternoon, I decided to go to the nearby supermarket and stock up on groceries for the upcoming weekend. Walking around, I quickly realised that the shop was filled with Asia-inspired products, which triggered my serious weakness for Asian takeout. The little devil sitting on my left arm started to fill my mind with thoughts like “hmmm” maybe I could have a lazy evening and order something sweet and sour and spicy with tons of noodles. The little angel from the right side, spotting packs with glass-noodles on the counter provided me with the idea of challenging myself to cook something inspired by Asian cuisine.

Since I spent the previous evening browsing recipes for the best Ramen soup, I decided to give it a try.  Now I know that originally, you are supposed to use those curly, tangled-up ramen noodles… but honestly, what could go wrong if I used the glass noodles instead? Now, after hooking myself up and preparing the soup three times in a row, I can safely say that everything went more than well J

Before diving into the preparation of the meal itself, I did my little research and learned that Ramen soup originally comes from Japan and its main ingredient is chicken or pork stock. That one I could do. Next, I found out that the soup usually has four main types of flavours: miso, soy sauce, curry and salt. I opted for the soy sauce one, since I always have it at hand.

When it comes to toppings, you can pretty much use any kind of raw vegetables as long as it is thinly chopped. The most used, however, are scallions (or spring onions), beans (usually mungo), carrots, mushrooms or some thinly sliced meat and half-boiled egg cut in two.

This is what I used:

•          glass noodles,
•          chicken breast,
•          dried chicken stock,
•          mushrooms,
•          carrot,
•          broccoli,
•          one egg,
•          shallot (forgot to buy scallions),
•          one clove of garlic,
•          yellow paprika,
•          dried chilli pepper,
•          soy sauce,
•          vinegar (I used a dill vinegar from my grandpa, but a white-rice vinegar or the classic one will do, too). 

I started with pouring water into a small pot and put the whole chicken breast in, together with the dried chicken stock. While I was waiting for it to be cooked, I started chopping all my veggies. Remember, you need to chop them nice and thin because you are going to use them raw.

Since I am a lazy-ass and I like convenient cooking, I decided to wash the egg shell clean and put the whole egg to the boiling chicken broth for six minutes – that´s how much time you need for a half-boiled egg. If you are cooking the soup for someone else and you want to leave a Jamie Oliver-worthy expression, I suggest to put the egg into a little soy sauce bath after it´s boiled and peeled; the white is going to soak the soy sauce and get a nice light-brown colour.

When the chicken breast is all ready and cooked, take it out from the broth (try to keep the broth hot) and slice it to smaller pieces. Then take a medium-size bowl or a plate and start building the toppings. Put the glass noodles on the bottom, add chicken breast and your veggies (for a nice presentation situation, keep them separated in small piles). When you´re ready, pour the hot broth over your toppings so that every ingredient is soaked. Cut the egg in two and place it on the top. Take your soy sauce and the vinegar and pour it over the top (don´t overdo it, the amount of two or three tablespoons of the soy sauce and one tablespoon of vinegar will do). Add a freshly chopped coriander or basil if you want and… voilà! Your badass take on Ramen soup is ready!

Hope you enjoy!

Until next time,

čauko, Lenka J