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Ramen is a mandatory item on the menu of most Asian cuisine establishments. The dish is considered national in Korean, Japanese and Chinese culinary traditions.
The combination of the main Asian products was able to satisfy the high gastronomic demands of people around the globe.
Despite the fact that the soup belongs to the fast food category, it has a high nutritional value and excellent taste. What is the history of ramen, is it safe to eat it and how to properly cook a traditional Asian dish?
What is ramen?Â
Ramen is a soup with wheat noodles, soybeans, nori, bamboo and variable components: various types of meat, fish or vegetables. Wheat noodles take up most of the plate. In addition to standard ingredients like flour, eggs, water and salt, it includes kansui.
This is a special alkaline mineral water, which consists of ordinary drinking water and potassium bicarbonate. Some manufacturers also add phosphoric acid to kansui.
China is the official homeland of ramen. In the 20th century, the Japanese really liked the structure and taste of such unusual dish, so it was decided to adopt the recipe.
Noodles with broth began to be sold in small mobile shops, and a little later the dish reached the restaurant level. Now manufacturers sell packages of wheat noodles everywhere.
Is it healthy to eat ramen?
Despite the fact that ramen is a kind of fast food, experts consider this dish useful. The benefits and harms of ramen depend on the quality of the ingredients. Its main advantage is nutritional value.
Noodles satisfy hunger, replenish energy reserves, and also have a beneficial effect on digestion and the nervous system. This dish is contraindicated in case of individual intolerance to the ingredients that are included in its composition.
In other cases, chefs consider ramen an excellent option for inclusion in the daily diet.
Seasonings to add to ramen
Various spices and seasonings give ramen a rich taste and aroma. However, how to choose them correctly and what are the options? Professional chefs identify a number of combinations that will enhance the flavor of your ramen. Among them:
- Classic ramen seasoning. You will need carrots, onions, bay leaves, black pepper, parsley, and a sprig of basil.
- Spicy seasoning for rice noodles. For such a dish, you will need ginger, lime, pepper, and soy sauce.
- Seasoning for udon noodles. For such an unusual combination, mix soy sprouts, plum wine, wasabi, and oyster or bamboo sauces.Â
What to add to instant ramenÂ
Instant ramen is a ready-made product. Manufacturers put various sauces, spices and seasonings in the packaging. However, you can improve the taste of such a dish by adding some classic ingredients to it.
For example, fry chicken in teriyaki sauce and place raw egg on a plate. In some cases, canned corn and nori sheets are a good addition. You can also use dried or fresh herbs to improve the taste.
What to add to chicken ramen noodles
Traditionally, chicken noodles is a delicious chicken soup with homemade noodles and seasonings. What and when can be added to this dish to make the familiar chicken soup even tastier? Professional chefs suggest including the following seasonings in this list:
- Black pepper. It perfectly sets off the taste of chicken broth, stimulates digestion and gives the dish a little spiciness. Add it directly to your bowl of noodles.
- Parsley. This herb has a spicy taste that gives the dish a fresh aroma. Add it directly to the plate or at the end of cooking, dried or fresh.
- Bay leaf. It has a tart spicy taste and aroma, and also has a lot of useful properties.
- Basil. This spice has a sweet aroma, slightly reminiscent of cloves. You can use it both fresh and dried.
How to season ramen noodles without packetÂ
However, if you decide to cook the noodles at home and you do not have a seasoning packet, just use the next list of ingredients.
For the ramen base, use packaged ramen noodles or brown rice, ground pork, bell peppers, green onions, and soft boiled egg. To enhance the noodles taste, use rice vinegar, lime juice, garlic powder, and coconut milk.
Oyster sauce, chili garlic sauce, and hoisin sauce are suitable as addings. Also, many chefs consider onion powder to be a good flavor enhancer for cooked ramen.
How to make ramen noodles
Making ramen at home is an easy task. You just need to prepare the required list of ingredients:
- chicken breast (or vegetable broth) – 2 pieces (or filet)
- fried egg – 2 pieces
- spinach – 1 bunch
- fish sauce – 2 tbsp. spoons
- olive oil (or chili oil) – 2 tbsp. spoons
- ramen noodles – 100 grams
- chili pepper – 0.5 pieces
- Beijing cabbage – 4-5 pieces (leaves)
- spring onions – 2 pieces (feathers)
- flavoring packet – to taste
Step-by-step cooking technology:
- Place the breast in cold water. Boil the broth for about 1 hour, and remove the finished breast.
- Pour fish sauce and a little oil into the simmering broth. Add cut filet into large pieces.
- Then add the noodles. At the very end, add spinach and Chinese cabbage, picking them up.
- Immediately remove the soup from the heat, pour it into portions. Boil the egg separately so that the liquid yolk remains. Add egg halves. Enjoy your meal!
Easy things to put in ramen
There are situations when you want to make ramen from improvised means. What can you put in such a dish? Choose the simplest – none peanut butter, toasted sesame oil, or chef roy choi.
Use chopped scallions, simple instant noodles, hot sauce and frozen vegetables. And to satisfy the taste buds, add to such noodles flavor packet and stir fry such soup over medium heat for 15-20 minutes.Â
Is Paprika good in ramen?Â
Ramen is part of Asian spicy dishes. To add extra flavor, choose spices and herbs. For example, professional chefs advise adding paprika to such a soup.
Paprika is a spice that has a rich bright scarlet color, a pleasant aroma and a sweet taste with a slight bitterness. Manufacturers create it from sweet or slightly burning varieties of capsicum, the fruits of which are pre-dried and then ground to a powdery state.
The main rule is not to add too much paprika, otherwise the rameni will be too spicy.Â
Does Cajun seasoning go with ramen?
The classic version of Cajun seasoning consists of only 5 components – paprika, dry pepper, salt, hot pepper, and black pepper. However, the number of components can reach up to 12.
Then you will have to add coriander, onion powder, cumin, oregano, and thyme to the mixture. Such seasoning will be a great addition to ramen. It gives the soup a sharp taste and an incredible aroma.
How do you make Kylie Jenner ramen noodles?Â
Many celebrities come up with their own recipes for cooking ramen. However, the most popular of them was Kylie Jenner’s dish. For this recipe you will need:
- vegetable oil – 3 tablespoons
- medium yellow onion – 1 piece
- garlic – 4 cloves
- fresh ginger – 1 piece
- chicken broth – 8 cups
- boiled chicken – 300 grams
- soy sauce – to taste
- sesame oil – to taste
- sesame seeds – to taste
- noodles – 600 grams
- eggs – 6 pieces
- green onions – 4 twigs
Step-by-step technology of preparation:
- Pour 2 tablespoons of oil into the broth and put on medium heat.
- Add the coarsely chopped onion, salt and cook the broth for 5 minutes.
- Then place the finely chopped garlic and ginger there. Reduce the heat.
- Cover the pot with a lid and cook the dish for about 30 minutes.
- Add 1 tablespoon of oil, mushrooms, chicken and put it to cook again. If desired, you can dilute the broth with soy sauce and sesame oil.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a minimum. Close the lid and cook for 3 minutes.
- Put the eggs in boiling water for 5-6 minutes. Remove the eggs and leave them under cold for 1-2 minutes.
- Prepare the Ramen noodles according to the instructions on the package. Put it in cups. Add the broth with chicken, half an egg and sprinkle with green onions.
Are any ramen noodles vegan?
Ramen is an absolutely universal dish. If you add pork and eggs to it, then such a dinner will become satisfying and nutritious. However, egg noodles with vegetables are a completely vegetarian product.
There are special brands of instant vegetarian ramen. Among them – Top Ramen Oriental Flavor and Top Ramen Chili Flavor.
Such packages initially contain only those ingredients, seasonings and spices that are available for use by vegetarians.
Ingredients for vegan ramen
To make vegetarian ramen nutritious and healthy, use only the right set of ingredients. As a base, replace the chicken broth with a vegetable one.
Take any noodles, but it’s better to choose vegetable. Next, do not forget about vegetables: mushrooms, cucumbers, and corn.
To enhance the taste, chefs advice adding tofu, soy sauce, miso paste, sugar, and rice sauce to vegetarian ramen. Otherwise, the technology of preparing ramen remains classic.Â
How to make easy vegan ramenÂ
If you don’t want to buy instant vegan ramen, then just cook it yourself. For traditional ramen, you will need the following set of ingredients:
- vegetable broth — 1 liter
- of tofu — 120 grams
- champignons — 100 grams
- canned corn — 150 grams
- spinach — 30 grams
- miso paste — 1 tablespoon
- soy sauce — 3 tablespoons
- garlic — 2 cloves
- ginger — 10 grams
- udon noodles — 120 grams
- sugar — 1/2 tablespoon
- rice vinegar — 1 teaspoon
- turmeric — 1 pinch
- chili pepper — 1 pinch
Step-by-step technology of preparation:
- Cut the tofu into cubes. Add salt, turmeric and hot chili pepper. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes.
- Boil the noodles according to the instructions on the package. Drain the water, rinse the noodles in cold water.
- Cut the champignons into slices and fry in oil.
- Put the vegetable broth to heat over medium heat. Add finely chopped garlic and ginger. Bring to a boil and turn down the heat.
- Add sugar, miso paste, soy sauce and rice vinegar to the broth.
- Boil spinach in broth until soft. Then separate from the broth.
- Place tofu, mushrooms, canned corn and spinach separately in a plate.
- Put the noodles in the center and pour the broth. Vegetarian ramen is ready, serve it with chopsticks and a spoon for broth. Enjoy your meal!
Spicy ramen recipe
Spicy ramen is the most favorite dish in many Asian countries. The process of preparing such a dish is very simple. Follow the instructions:
- Cook chicken broth and add noodles to it.
- Take fresh or frozen veggies and chop them finely. Add to the boiling broth.
- Next, boil the eggs and add them to a plate with ramen. For sharpness, soy sauce, hot pepper and wasabi will be a good addition.Â
Quick homemade ramen recipe
However, not everyone is familiar with the traditional ramen recipe and with its large set of ingredients. In this case, homemade ramen is a great option for you.
Here, instead of chicken, you can use ham or chicken fillet. Udon can easily be replaced with ordinary egg noodles. Instead of soy sauce, chefs recommend using ordinary vegetable oil.
The taste of the final ramen will not differ much from the restaurant version.
Gluten free ramen featuresÂ
Unfortunately for those who adhere to a gluten-free diet, both ramen served in restaurants and instant ramen contain gluten. This is due to the fact that most ramen noodles are made from wheat flour, which contains a lot of gluten.
Almost any ramen you see in a standard grocery store will also contain a large pile of gluten. To fix this problem, manufacturers are making a special gluten-free product.
Rice noodles or glass noodles act as the base ingredient in it.
Recommendations
Professional Asian chefs have prepared a number of tips that will help you cook a great classic ramen. Among them:
- The best noodles for ramen are wheat noodles. It has sufficient density and does not soften in the broth.
- There is already salt in the composition of ramen, so you do not need to add it when cooking.
- Look at the cooking time of the ramen on the package and reduce it for a minute so that the noodles, which are filled with hot broth, do not exactly soften too much.
Final
Ramen is a great option for dinner or a snack. It has become popular not only in Asian countries, but also around the world. You can cook such a dish easily and quickly by buying instant noodles or making everything from scratch.
Such meal prep will not take you much time – only 15 or 20 minutes. If the ramen seems too bland to you, then just add various sauces or fresh aromatics to it.
And to make the dish look exactly like in a restaurant, just sprinkle it with fresh herbs and toasted sesame seeds.