Drew loves ramen. Not the cheap store packages. The real stuff from ramen shops. However, we don’t often eat out because it can be expensive. So for the first time, we tried to make ramen from scratch. This was a spur of the moment decision resulting from watching a few youtube food videos. After taking a few notes and googling recipes we went to our local Asian mart and bought all the necessary ingredients. This meal was relatively inexpensive considering all the veggies we purchased. We had a lot of items on hand already like garlic, soy, fish sauce, and pork. Also, we ate the pork and unused veggies for leftovers many days after.
What we used:
- Fresh Pulled noodles
- Shallots
- Garlic
- Bok Choy
- Pork Shoulder (we know it’s supposed to be belly)
- Ginger
- Homemade vegetable stock (made with carrots, mushrooms, onion, and celery)
- Shiitake mushrooms
- Enoki Mushrooms
- Dark Soy Sauce
- Mirin
- Fish Sauce
What we did:
For the pork, we roasted it in the oven in a combination of mirin, soy sauce, and shallots.
The broth was made with pork drippings, the veggie broth, shallots, and all the mushrooms.
The noodles were cooked in boiling water and the bok choy was blanched in the water after the noodles.
After that, we combined everything into bowls and chowed down. We had reserved some of the pork sauce to add on top of the dish for extra flavor.
How it ended up:
Overall, Drew would say it was a resounding success except that our homemade stock was a little weak in its flavors. This kinda watered down everything else. Beyond that the flavors were excellent. The pork was juicy and the drippings were so good we saved them. The noodles were doughy but full of flavor. The vegetables were fresh and added a richness to the soup. Kay enjoyed the bowl but usually avoids carbs like noodles so it was extremely filling. However, Kay absolutely loved the mushroom flavored broth! We would recommend this for everyone who is a fan of ramen or soup. In general, try to make it yourself.
Have you ever attempted making one of your restaurant favorites from scratch? How did it go? Let us know in the comments!
Two Spartans 