20-Minute Japanese Ramen

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I started on Project Ramen. It means I am making Japanese ramen with various toppings, the noob cook style of course with short cuts such as instant ramen stock and cooked char siu. As a noob cook, I’m simply too lazy to even entertain the prospect of tolling for hours making ramen from scratch. Even though I really appreciate a good ramen that takes hours of simmering for that perfect rich pork broth and tender pork char siu, I’m just not ready for that at the moment (will I ever be, haha). This also gives good practice for making the “real thing” if I ever want to challenge myself in the future. For now, I’m totally enjoying making Japanese ramen the fun, quick and gratifying way, so that we can enjoy many bowls of value-for-money ramen in the comfort of home :p

Ramen Toppings Recipe:

• Ramen Eggs Recipe
• Spicy Bean Sprout Salad Recipe
• Seasoned Black Fungus Recipe

Upcoming Ramen Recipes:

• Char Siu Ramen with 5 Toppings
• Spicy Char Siu Ramen
• Spicy Tan Tan Ramen

STEP-BY-STEP PHOTOS

STEP 1: COOK RAMEN NOODLES (5 MINS)

There are fresh and dry ramen noodles. Fresh ones are expensive and harder to find, so I opt for dry noodles. This is the usual brand selling at the local supermarkets and I find that it’s pretty good.

Cook ramen in boiling water according to desired doneness. I like firm noodles, so I take about a minute off the package recommended timing for dry ramen noodles. After that, cool down the noodles under running tap water and set aside.

STEP 2: MAKE QUICK RAMEN SOUP (5 MINUTES)

This is the short-cut ramen soup paitan (which means thick and cloudy soup) I bought from the supermarket. There are pork (what I used) and chicken versions. This instant ramen soup concentrate was what inspired me to make ramen at home – I’m too lazy to even think of simmering the soup stock for hours. This is really a huge convenience!

First, add garlic paste to the pot (this is optional). I remember in many of the ramen order forms at restaurants, there is an option for more, less, normal or no garlic. I always pick normal.

Add the ramen soup concentrate to the pan.

Dilute with water to desired richness (about 1:8 for me).

Make sure to stir through completely and bring to a boil.

Cheat code: I dissolved a small amount of miso paste for a deeper and richer flavour. But not too much in my opinion, as this is not miso ramen. So if the ramen soup is still not rich enough after the miso, I recommend adding more soup concentrate or dashi powder instead.

STEP 3: WARM THE CHAR SIU SLICES (1 MINUTE 30 SECONDS)

This is the brand of cooked and vacuumed sealed Japanese char siu I found. I bought it from the Deli section at NTUC for S$8.20. It’s another huge convenience! The catch is that one has to finish using all 10 slices within 3 days of opening, but I prolonged the shelf life by re-vacuuming the leftover pieces to smaller packets immediately upon opening.

Just warm up the Japanese char siu slices in the hot broth for about 30 seconds. Be careful when taking them out, making sure to keep the char siu slices intact.

STEP 4: ASSEMBLE AND SERVE THE RAMEN (7-9 MINS)

In each ramen bowl, add the noodles followed by char siu slices and ramen egg (part of my meal prep). Pour the hot soup over. Garnish with cooked corn kernels, pickled red ginger, seaweed and spring onions. Serve immediately! Itadakimasu!!