I had a craving for Ramen recently, but I didn’t have much experience preparing it myself. I thought how hard can it be?.. Well it was actually pretty straight forward and Farmer Mike and I gobbled it up like it was the first meal we’d had in days (it was damn good).
I like to use what we have around when I prepare meals. Besides the produce we grow ourselves, I am often inspired by what other vendors at the farmers market have to offer. This recipe gives a shout out to Your Wildest Foods for the sea asparagus and Oyster and King for the Shiitake mushrooms.
You can prepare this using a stewing hen, which is a great way to use all of the animal. Not all grocery stores or butcher shops carry these though and so you can also use pre-made chicken stock (I always keep some in the freezer) and chicken thighs. Or you can make it vegetarian using a veggie broth and tofu or some other meat alternative.
The garlic we used #NewMountainGarlic was fresh picked. In June we are fortunate to have a large spread of garlic options. We have some garlic chives in there from our herb garden, green garlic still kicking around, garlic scapes from our Rocambole family and one of our first bulb garlics was ready, Thai Fire (in the Turban family).
This meal is meant to be served hot and I personally like to flame it up with added spice and a hot, pungent variety of garlic. Enjoy!
Ingredients
Garlic:
- 3-4 cloves of Fresh Garlic for the soup (Thai Fire or other hot variety)
- Garlic Chives to garnish
- Green Garlic to garnish
- Garlic Scapes to garnish
Sauces/ Seasoning:
- 1 tbsp Sriracha
- 1/2 cup Tamari
- 1/4 cup Rice Vinegar
- 2 tsp Sesame or Vegetable oil
- 2 tsp Fresh Ginger
- 1 tsp fish or oyster sauce
- Sea Salt and Pepper to taste
Main Ingredients:
- Rice noodles
- 4-5 cups Chicken Broth or Vegetable Broth
- 1 lb chicken or tofu
- 4 oz shiitake mushrooms
- 3/4 lb vegetables: carrots, baby choi, sugar snap or snow peas are options
- 1 shallot or onion chopped
- 1 cup chopped spinach
- Mustard greens to garnish
- Sea asparagus to garnish
- Soft boiled duck or chicken egg for each bowl
Preparation
Egg
Soft boil your eggs and set in an ice bath. After cooling the eggs, peel and gently set aside.
Noodles
If using fresh noodles, boil gently until cooked al dente, strain and toss some oil to prevent sticking. If using dry noodles, follow package instructions, toss with oil and set aside.
Garnish
Have some pre washed baby mustard greens, sliced up green (spring) garlic, garlic chives, normal chives, and garlic scapes ready to go! I also had some sea asparagus kicking around from my last trip to the market so this was an added bonus.
For the Soup
I prefer to use a stewing hen to prepare this recipe. You can find them in some grocery stores (at Earth Apple we use our own). You can get a beautiful stock out of it and with the meat of the hen simmered for so long it becomes tender and infused with the broth flavours.
You can also just use premade chicken stock and chicken thighs or you can make it vegetarian with a vegetable broth and tofu.
Sautée your shallot or onion in some vegetable oil until they soften then add your vegetables (except spinach- this goes in last so as to not overcook it) and mushrooms.
Add the garlic and ginger and stir fry for about 30 seconds (don’t overcook). Add the broth, tamari, rice vinegar, fish and/or oyster sauce and sriracha and stir to combine.
Bring to a simmer and add the chicken or tofu. If adding chicken it will take 15 min or more to cook through (temp should be 165°F). When the chicken is cooked, take it out, shred it with two forks and add it back in.
Mix in your chopped up spinach and you’re ready to serve your ramen into bowls.
Serve the Ramen
In a large bowl, add a serving of the noodles, a few full ladles of the soup. One sliced in half soft boiled egg and the sea asparagus and sliced up chives, scapes and green garlic. Season with salt to your liking.
Tip
Don’t add the noodles into your soup until serving. That way if you have leftovers (a real treat at the end of a long day) all you have to do is make the noodles. They go soggy if you leave them in the soup.
Photo by JS Gordon-Moran, www.
