Adventures With Ramen

Do you ever wake up on a random Tuesday morning and think to yourself "I want to learn how to make Ramen"? I did. Is it bad that the first thing I think of in the morning is food? #notashamed

It took me almost a full week of researching (and by "researching" I mean pinteresting recipes at any free chance I could get) before I found the holy grail of Ramen recipes. I mean, why would you make regular ol' ramen when you could make curry roasted acorn squash and pork Ramen? right? exactly.

However, this recipe took not one, or two, but THREE shopping trips before I had all of the ingredients necessary.

A word from the wise: when making ethnic cuisines, do your research and know where to get your ingredients from!

As I found out (the hard way), if you want to make this recipe, you need to find an Asian market. Also, its a good idea to write down the ingredients because if you are going to a truly authentic market, the odds are you will not be able to pronounce them correctly, resulting in the attendants having no clue what you are looking for. Yep, this happened to me and it took me almost 45 minutes to find the things I needed by myself.

This recipe turned out amaaazing, the first time and every time since! I used my dutch oven to slow cook the pork in because, well, dutch ovens are the best.

I found this recipe on Half Baked Harvest https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/crockpot-crispy-caramelized-pork-ramen-noodle-soup-wcurry-roasted-acorn-squash/#bo-recipe

prep time 25 minutes

cook time 7 hours

total time 7 hours 25 minutes

servings 4 bowls of soup with extra pork

Ingredients

Soup

• 2-3 pounds pork shoulder roast or butt

• 4 cups low sodium chicken broth plus more of needed

• 1/4-1/2 cup + 2-4 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce <--Use low sodium

• 1/4 cup + 2-4 tablespoons rice vinegar

• 2 tablespoons fish sauce optional

• 2 tablespoons thai red curry paste

• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger

• 1 tablespoon sambal oelek chili paste, or to taste

• The juice of 1 lime

• 1 tablespoon Chinese five spice

• 1 teaspoon black pepper

• 2 tablespoons sesame oil

• 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon brown sugar

• 2 cups wild mushrooms left whole - or button mushrooms, sliced

• 4 packs Ramen noodles seasoning packets discarded

• 4 soft boiled or fried eggs for serving

• Chopped carrots sliced jalapenos, cilantro + green onions, for serving

Curry Roasted Acorn Squash

Order Ingredients

• 1 medium acorn squash seeded + diced

• 2 tablespoons coconut oil melted

• 1 tablespoon curry powder I use spicy curry

• 1 tablespoon white miso paste

• 1 tablespoon brown sugar

• Pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Add the pork to the bowl of a crockpot. Pour the chicken broth, 1/4-1/2 cup soy sauce (depending on your taste), 1/4 cup rice vinegar and fish sauce over the pork. Add the thai red curry paste, ginger, sambal oelek, juice of 1 lime, Chinese five spice powder, black pepper and 1 tablespoon brown sugar. Cover the crockpot and cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4-6 hours (I recommend going low and slow).

2. About 40 minutes before you are ready to eat, roast the squash. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

3. In a small bowl mix together the melted coconut oil, curry powder, miso, brown sugar and a good pinch of pepper. Add the cubed squash to a greased baking sheet and pour the curry mixture over the squash. Toss well. Bake for 30-40 minutes, tossing a couple of times during cooking. You want the squash to be lightly browned and crisp.

4. Meanwhile, remove the pork from the crockpot and add the mushrooms. Cover the crockpot and crank the heat up to high. Lightly shred the pork with two forks or your hands.

5. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sesame oil. Once hot, add enough pork to cover just the surface of your skillet, do not over crowd the skillet. Sprinkle a little brown sugar over the pork, add 2 tablespoons soy sauce and 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, toss. Allow the pork to caramelize, about 2 minutes. Stir and allow the pork to continue to caramelize, about 3-5 minutes total. Remove the pork from the skillet, repeat with the remaining pork. Keep the pork warm.

6. Add the Ramen noodles to the crockpot and allow them to cook 5 minutes. Once the noodles are cooked, stir in only half of the pork. Ladle the soup into bowls. Top with extra caramelized pork, curry roasted acorn squash and an egg. Season the egg with salt and pepper, Add the carrots, jalapeños, green onions and cilantro if desired. Happy slurping!

*The Ramen noodles soak up a lot of the broth if not eaten immediately when the noodles are done cooking. You can prepare this ahead of time, just make sure to add the noodles right before you are ready to eat.

#dutchoven