Chicken Miso Ramen

Ramen is misunderstood by most. The mention of ramen brings about memories of dried, lifeless noodles  tucked into a styrofoam bowl, alongside its friends: spice packet and spice oil; not pretty. For example, when I asked my parents if they've had ramen before, they laughed mockingly under their breaths and continued to glue their eyes to the television... oy vey!

Well, this is the time when I tell you, all you styrofoam-fearing, stranger-to-true-ramen readers, that ramen is not what you think it is. Real ramen, real Japanese ramen is delicious, complex, and comforting.  I make sure to get my hands on it whenever I can, see here, here and here. This ramen is two of the above adjectives: delicious and comforting. I'd like to describe it as a poor man's ramen - that is, if poor men eat delicious things such as chicken miso ramen.

I had some white miso on hand and while searching for recipes to use it up, I came across this simple ramen recipe. The best part of this soup is all of the add-ins. I straight-up gobbled down the buttered corn and soft-boiled egg. Next time though, I need to find myself some really good ramen noodles from a Japanese market. Still, a comforting bowl indeed. 

Chicken Miso Ramen

Yields: 2 servings

Original recipe here.

4 cups chicken stock

2 tbsn. shiro/ white miso

1 1/2 cups shredded chicken

1 small onion, thinly sliced

1 cup corn kernels (I used canned, you can also use frozen)

1 tbsn. butter

2 cups spinach

2 eggs

2 servings of ramen noodles

optional garnishes: sliced green onion, cilantro, nori, sesame seeds

Heat up your chicken stock in a large sauce pot and gently stir in the miso until it is mixed in. Taste and add more miso if needed. Miso pastes vary in saltiness, so adjust accordingly. Bring a pot of water to a boil for the eggs. Gently lower the eggs into the boiling water and cook for 6 minutes. Remove from the water and run under cold tap water until they are cool to the touch. Peel and slice in half, facing them yolk side upwards so that they runny yolks don't spill out. Heat the butter over medium heat and add the corn. Stir to coat each kernel of corn in the butter, set aside. Blanch the spinach in salted boiling water until just wilted, remove from the water and set aside. Cook the ramen noodles according to the package, drain and place in the bottom of two large bowls. Top the ramen with the shredded chicken, thinly sliced onions, egg, corn, spinach and a sprinkling of garnish. Enjoy!