Several months ago I became obsessed with a show called The Mind of a Chef; which is produced by Anthony Bourdain and stars* chef David Chang of the renowned Momofuku.
David takes you on a journey through his career in food. He shows you the in's and out's of Japanese food culture and eats his weight in Ramen while doing so. When I laid eyes on that first shimmering bowl of noodles I think part of my spirit died... all I wanted in that moment was to eat ramen... real ramen... but alas my glutarded guts would murder me the moment I slurped down those tender noodles. I cried a little on the inside and let my dreams of ramen bliss wither up and die...until.
While walking through the isles of Whole Foods the other day I discovered (to my absolute bliss) Millet and Brown Rice ramen noodles! The heavens parted I swear.
Now, the ramen I came up with may not be traditional... but you guys, I was happy to be eating ramen I could have cried (tell that to my poor 19 year old self sustaining on Top Ramen). It is flavorful and oh so deliciously comforting, which is everything you want on a grey, dreary day is it not? To be fair I didn't have all of the things for 'legit' ramen... soooo instead of being 'top' my ramen likes to be on the bottom (go ahead giggle like a 12 year old boy, it's fine).
-BOTTOM RAMEN-
What you will need:
2 bricks of Millet & Brown Rice Ramen by Lotus Foods (the texture was amazing)
3-4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
1/4 cup chopped carrots
1/4 cup chopped celery
1 small onion diced
1/4 cup chopped zucchini
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger
1/2 tsp chili flakes
1/2 tsp sea salt
Optional toppings:
extra ginger
diced jalapeño
finely sliced scallions
soft boiled egg (I was aiming for soft boiled... forgot I was boiling eggs altogether and ended up with hard boiled, still delicious)
Combine- carrots, celery, onion, zucchini, and olive oil into a sauce pan. Sweat the veggies down until the onion is slightly translucent. Add stock, ginger, chili flakes, sea salt, sesame oil, and fish sauce, bring to a simmer. Place the ramen bricks into your broth, allow to cook for 1 minute then gently pull the noodles apart with a fork, continue to cook for 3 more minutes.
Add whatever extra toppings you would like and slurp up your bowl full of bliss.
I can't tell you of a time I was happier to eat a bowl of noodles. It truly is the little things in life isn't it?
Leave me a comment with a favorite food and dietary restriction and I will do my best to find (or invent) a delicious alternative... because let's be honest, there are some things that will never be the same (insert deep dish pizza here).
xx
*Season one on Netflix features David Chang, season two (out now I do believe) features two other chefs.
