I don’t know how it is at your house but things get pretty creative in the menu planning department around here towards the end of the month. Such is life when you only get paid once per month. Last week I was trying to figure out what to make when I started thinking about the cash-poor/starving-college-student staple, ramen. I decided to see if I could make a homemade version and take it up a notch. I scored! Here we go…
- 3 boneless chicken thighs
- a bit of oil for sauteing
- 1/2 onion, chopped small
- 2-3 carrots, chopped small
- 1 cup broccoli florets, small
- 2-3 baby bella mushrooms, chopped small
- 8 cups chicken stock, homemade or boxed
- 1 can corn
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
- 1 package of thin fettuccine noodles or thick spaghetti noodles
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 1 egg
- garlic powder, onion powder, salt & pepper
- 1 teaspoon cured sumac, optional but highly recommended *see note below
In a large stock pot quickly brown chicken in oil until almost done. Remove from pan and set aside to cool a bit then chop into small bite sized pieces. While the chicken is cooling saute onion, carrots, mushrooms and broccoli in the same pot until almost done. Add chicken stock to pan being sure to scrape up all the yummy bits from the bottom of the pot. Add chicken back to pot and season to taste with the spices. Once it’s come to a boil add noodles and cook until they are al-dente. Add the butter, corn and peas to the pot and mix well. Crack egg into cup and mix well. With a spoon in one hand, get the stock swirling in a circle. With the other hand slooowwllly add the egg to form ribbons. Serve it up. Tastes even better the next day when the noodles have soaked up the juices!
One of the beauties of ramen is all the different versions there are. Feel free to add or eliminate items to suit your own tastes.
*Sumac Note: I love to try new spices and this is my new favorite one. You probably won’t find it in your local grocery store. I get mine from The Spice House. This spice hails from Turkey. According to their description it is “Big and bright with lemony notes of sour cherry and dried cranberries…” It really did put the OMG in this dish. Try it out yourself! Will your ramen taste ok without it? Probably, but I’m not willing to risk it…