Ramen Noodle Soup

Newsgroups: rec.food.recipes
From: the1edr@cabell.vcu.edu (Erica D. Rodgers)
Date: Tue, 1 Jun 1993 19:24:42 GMT

My brother showed me how to make Ramen Soup (a Japanese soup -- where the name of the noodles comes from) out of the noodle packages. Of course, my brother never measured anything, so I'll give approximate measurements for a single package.

1 skinned, boned, chicken breast

(or the equivalent of your favorite meat -- shrimp also workes very well)

half a cup frozen vegetables

(give or take - depends on if you like a lot of vegetables or not -- corn, carrots and peas are good. I'm sure canned would do as well, just make sure to drain them)

1 package ramen noodles

1-2 Tablespoons soy sauce

(again, give or take -- the soup should end up a brown color)

1 egg

(there should be an egg per person, so if 1 package makes enough for 2 people, then use 2 eggs -- my brother was a big eater, so he'd eat a package by himself...)

Cut up the chicken into little bites. Brown the chicken (or whatever meat you used). Meanwhile, make the soup as per the package directions, but do not remove from heat. When the soup is done, add the meat, vegetables, and soy sauce. Bring the soup up to a boil and add the egg -- do not break the egg yolk, it should be whole. Boil the soup until the egg is done, 8-15 minutes. And, Ta-Da! Call it soup.

And if you can manage to eat this with chopsticks, more power to you! My brother could... it was amazing to see him do it.

Brian's Comments

The above recipe is a good starting point, but one can improvise to a very large extent. Personally, I always use ``nests'' of egg noodles, rather than ramen (which I've been unable to find at a reasonable price), though I've made it with rice noodles too. I usually use one nest of noodles with two cups of water, and also add a teaspoon of chicken boullion to the boiling water before the noodles.

One of my past favourites drops the chicken and frozen vegetables, and instead adds a generous portion of shredded red cabbage, chopped green onions, and hot chili sauce. I've have also been known to scramble the egg with some paprika instead of using it unbroken.

As of fall 1995 I've taken to making it with irikodashi (Japanese fish/kelp stock) rather than the boullion. I've gone back to the simpler approach of just using frozen vegetables (oriental mix currently) and no meat. For protein I break an egg in and let the white cook a bit and then break the yolk and stir it around in the hot soup so it cooks while I serve it into bowls.

For lots more ramen links around the net, visit a Japanese ramen page.

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Ramen Noodle Soup

Brian Edmonds <brian@gweep.ca> February 22, 1998