Did you eat ramen growing up? I didn’t. I don’t know if my mom didn’t like it or what. The closest I remember to having it in the house was occasionally she had the cup o’ noodles ones for my dad to take to work for lunch.
As an adult, I’ve grown in to eating ramen. I definitely don’t enjoy just a plain bowl of ramen. We often add in meat, veggies, or an egg to make it a little more substantial. And I always at least half the seasoning packet otherwise it tastes like a salt lick to me.
When I traveled to England a couple years ago, we stopped one night at a ramen bar for dinner. It was so fun to see all the inventive bowls of ramen. Off and on, we’ve tried recreating these dishes at home with mixed success. The nice thing about it is the base is familiar to the kids – noodles. If they have to pick around the other stuff, fine. But they are being exposed to more flavors.
This ramen is different in that it is in a garlic, buttery, soy sauce rather than a soup. It is kind of a ramen version of pad see we. But it was delicious and a great way to celebrate Chinese New Year. And you can probably make it with things you have in the house in less time than getting Chinese take out. Promise. Happy Year of the Ox!
Garlic Veggie Ramen (Serves 4)
⅓ cup low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1-inch piece of fresh ginger, grated
4 cups mixed stir fry vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, carrots, etc)
4 packets of ramen noodles, seasoning packets discarded
4 fried eggs for serving (optional)
- In a bowl, whisk together soy sauce, hoisin sauce, honey, and ¼ cup of water.
- Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When melted, add garlic and veggies. Cook until veggies are soft (5-10 minutes depending on size of vegetables).
- While the vegetables are cooking, cook ramen noodles according to package directions. Drain lightly (it’s ok if there is a little water still left in the pan.
- Add cooked noodles to skillet and sauce mixture. Stir around and simmer until the sauce coats all the noodles and veggies, about 5 minutes.
- Serve, topping each bowl with a fried egg if desired.
Nutritional information (Amount per serving): shown with egg/without egg
Calories: 601/ 511
Protein: 16 g/ 10 g
Fat: 27 g/ 20 g
Saturated fat: 13 g/ 11 g
Cholesterol: 199 mg/ 15 mg
Carbohydrates: 71 g (no change)
Fiber: 5 g (no change)
Sodium: 1402 mg/ 1307 mg
Recipe notes: I just use the regular, cheap ramen noodles. You could upgrade to a brown rice ramen or something nicer if you want. Use whatever blend of vegetables you like and have on hand. A bag of frozen stir fry vegetables would also work. I would just defrost them and drain them a bit before putting them in hot butter. A fried egg is easy and delicious. A poached or soft boiled egg is probably more “traditional”, but also more work. I like the fried here as well for the extra sauciness it gives since this isn’t in a broth. I know the nutrition on this looks high. But if this is made at home, controlling ingredients, and adding lots of veggies, imagine what take out looks like? If it is still making you nervous, you could serve this as a side to a protein, like grilled salmon. Then it would serve more like 8.
Source: adapted from Half Baked Harvest