Easy kimchi ramen

I always have a soft spot for noodle, no secret about that by now. I’ve been craving for a ramen noodle AND kimchi badly today and decided to whip up this easy kimchi ramen. Like many other noodle soup, a good ramen needs a very good rich broth (and of course a chewy ramen noodles too). When you drink the broth, it actually has good body and smooth. I’ve had some of the best ramen noodles I’ve ever tasted when I lived in Singapore and thank God for the past few years there have been really good ramen shops here in Minnesota too.

When I was reading about ramen noodles, I saw a post at serious eats and I decided I wanted to give it a try. I did some modification to the recipe, but overall it’s pretty satisfying and you don’t need 3 days to brew that broth like the one prepared at the restaurants (at least that’s what I heard). I still make my own chicken stock from scratch. It’s a no brainer and just brew it for 2-3 hours and I had a good gelatinous stock. Of course you don’t have your own gelatinous stock and this bowl of ramen will still turn out delicious.

EASY KIMCHI RAMEN (4 servings)

Please rate the recipe if you have tried it!

REVIEW & RATE PRINT

Ingredients

• ▢ 4 tablespoons of cooking oil
• ▢ 8 oz of boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into small bite size
• ▢ Kosher salt
• ▢ 1 medium onion finely diced
• ▢ 1- inch fresh ginger peeled and minced
• ▢ 5 medium cloves garlic about 5 teaspoons, minced
• ▢ 3 quarts gelatinous chicken stock or regular stock if you don't have one
• ▢ 1 packed cup kimchi plus 6 tablespoons kimchi liquid chopped
• ▢ 3 tablespoons miso
• ▢ 2 tablespoons soy sauce

For the Ramen:

• ▢ 4 tablespoons baking soda if using angel hair pasta
• ▢ 1 lb of angel hair pasta or 4 servings ramen-style noodles
• ▢ 4 soft-boiled eggs use old eggs if possible, halved
• ▢ 2 scallions white and light green parts only, very thinly sliced

Instructions

 

Cooking the eggs:

• Place the eggs in the large sauce pan with cover. Fill it with cold water until it covers the eggs
• Bring it to a rolling boil. As soon as it boils. Turn off the heat. Remove it from the stove and cover the pan. The eggs on the picture sat in the covered pan for 4 minutes (kinda runny, which I like). If you want them much firmer, try 6-7 minutes. You'll have to experiment with them to get them right.
• Gently use the back of the spoon to crack the shells all over, but don't peel just yet. Transfer them to a bowl of ice cold water and leave them there for about 15 minutes and then peel. You will have a higher chance of peeling the shells smoothly. I have several that still didn't peel as well. I supposed not all of the eggs have the same "age"

Preparing the noodles:

• Preheat 2 Tbsp of oil over medium to high heat until shimmering. Add chicken meat and season with salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken has cooked through and turn opaque, about 5 minutes or so. Dish out and set aside for now
• Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil to saucepan, then add onion, ginger, and garlic. Cook, stirring up any brown bits on bottom of saucepan, until onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
• Add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer. You can strain the stock if you want to. I just leave it as I don't mind eating the ginger and onion. Stir in kimchi and its liquid, miso, and soy sauce and return to a simmer. Have a taste and season with salt, if needed. Keep it warm while you prepare the noodles
• Bring 4 quarts of salted water to a boil and add baking soda to it. Cook noodles until al dente; drain completely (do not overcook the noodles). The baking soda will help to give the pasta that chewy kind of texture like in traditional ramen noodles. I gave the noodles a quick rinse in cold water to get rid of that "after taste" from the baking soda
• Transfer noodles to large serving bowl and spoon the hot kimchi broth on top. Top each bowl with 2 egg halves, reserved chicken and spring onion and serve immediately

Marv's Recipe Notes

I made some home-made chicken stock using chicken wings. You can use regular chicken stock or store-bought one and sprinkle in 2-packets of unflavored gelatin to the chicken stock and let it sit until you are ready to use it in the recipe or really, no gelatin at all really works too

Did you make this recipe?Let me know how you like this recipe and consider rating it! Tag me @whattocooktoday I'd love to see your photos/videos on Instagram

The next time you are craving ramen and already in your pajama or your favorite ramen shop has long queue or it’s not open for whatever reason, or it’s 100 F outside and the humidity is blanketing you all over and you just want to stay inside….whip up your own to tame that craving until you can get to the shop!!!!