Asian Noodle Soup (Cheater Vegetarian Ramen)

 

I’m back and it feels good! I took quite the blogging hiatus in order to move across the country, go on some road trips, get settled in a new town, and adjust to a crazy new life style. My husband graduated from medical school in May and started his Intern year of residency a couple weeks ago. The last year of medical school was really chill and because he front loaded his schedule, he had months off at the end. And switching from him being home all the time to him almost never being home has been an adjustment for all of us. I needed to take some time to figure life out and just keep things simple, so I put blogging on the back burner. And then I hit a point where I realized that I needed at least a smidgen of purpose beyond being yelled at by a two year old all day. And so I’m back with a vengeance with a million ideas for new recipes bouncing off the walls in my head. And did I mention it feels grand?

Ever since my sister in law, Chelsea, took me out for a girls night to get authentic Japanese Ramen, I have been in love with it. However, I don’t really love the fact that it takes at least a full day to make and it is usually full of pork. This recipe is by no means authentic and I’m not trying to be, but it satisfies my longing for hot broth with lots of noodles. And it only takes about 30 minutes to make.

I know, I know…that egg is not an authentic ramen egg. I was going for quick and easy and with a runny yolk, because I love runny yolk. If you want to make an authentic marinated soft boiled ramen egg, CLICK HERE for instructions. For me, a simple soft boiled egg with a runny yolk totally hits the spot.

Feel free to customize this recipe if you have other veggies you need to use up in the fridge. I think mushrooms would be an amazing addition to this soup. And I know a lot of ramen recipes use miso, too, so feel free to add a little bit of miso paste to taste if you feel like it.  Mmmm. Slurp away!

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 1 TBSP. toasted sesame oil
• 1/2 yellow or white onion, diced
• 2 celery stalks, sliced
• 1/2 red bell pepper (any other color would work, too), diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 1 1/2 TBSP. grated ginger
• 1 C. shredded carrots
• 1/2 head of cabbage, thinly sliced
• 8 C. water
• 1 C. green onions, sliced (both green and white parts)
• 1 C. shelled edamame
• 5 TBSP. soy sauce, plus more to taste
• 2 TBSP. vegetable bouillon (I used Better Than Bouillon )
• 1 TBSP. sriracha (more or less depending on your spice preference)
• 3 packages of ramen noodles, seasoning packets discarded ( I actually pot a big packet of just the noodles from an Asain market, but noodles from the instant packets work fine, too.)
• one egg for each bowl of soup you are serving
• green onions and sesame seeds for topping

Directions:

1. In a large pot, heat the sesame oil over medium high heat. Once sizzling, add the onions, celery, and red pepper and stir until the onions become soft and translucent. Add the garlic and ginger and stir for another minute.

2. Add the carrots, cabbage, green onions, edamame, water, soy sauce, vegetable bouillon, and sriracha sauce. Bring to a boil. After a couple minutes of boiling, cover and reduce heat to a  simmer until the cabbage is tender. Taste and add more salt and sriracha as needed.

3. While the soup is simmering, cook the soft boiled eggs. Bring some water to boil, drop eggs in, cook for seven minutes, remove from water. Peel gently. Set aside until ready to serve the soup.

4. Also start cooking the noodles. Boil enough water to cover the noodles, then set the noodles in the water and cook for two minutes. Drain the water and toss with a few drops of any kind of oil. Set aside until ready to serve the soup.

5. Assemble the soup bowls. Place a portion of noodles in the bottom of the bowl. Ladle on the soup with plenty of broth. Slice open an egg and place it on top of the soup. Sprinkle with green onions and sesame seeds. Eat with chopsticks and a soup spoon.

By Edible Experiments