MISO RAMEN
Reheating time: 5-10 minutes- boil a pot of water!
It’s our favorite day of the week! Wednesday! Today is not just any old Wednesday- because we’re having ramen tonight. Ramen is definitely up there on our list of favorite things to eat. It has everything that we love- really good broth, chewy noodles, lots of fresh veggies, oh yeah, pork belly… It’s the best of the best, all in one bowl. With so many different types and styles of ramen, it’s really hard to pick just one. We settled on simplicity- spicy miso + pork belly. The whole bowl revolves around these two components. If you enjoy dinner and a movie, I would highly recommend watching the movie Tampopo tonight. If anything, it will inspire you to eat more noodles. Get in there!
For the ramen:
A perfect bowl of ramen is a work of art. To be honest, ramen is what I miss most since COVID happened. There’s something about sitting down to a fat bowl of broth and noodles on your day off that heals the soul. Tonight, you get that in your home, which is pretty cool. Now, your bowls may not have the beauty and precision of assembly that you can find in a true ramen shop, but that’s ok. It’s still gonna do the trick. First, let’s figure out what we got. There’s the noodles, these are raw and we’re gonna boil them. So get some water on! Next, we’ve got our veggie garnishes- these are all plated together in one box. Then, we got pork belly, pork bone broth, and spicy miso paste.
First things first, we boil the noodles. While you wait for the water to broil, you can begin heating your broth in a separate pot. We want it nice and hot but not boiling. The pork belly can either be warmed up in the bowl when you pour over the broth, or broiled if you want it hot hot hot. I don’t bother with broiling, I feel like the gentle heat of the broth is enough to warm it up. Once your water is boiling and your broth is warm, drop in your noodles, one bundle at a time. Stir them up so they don’t stick together! Once they have cooked for 90 seconds, using a small strainer, scoop them out of the water and shake them to release excess moisture. Plop the noodles right in the bowl- it’s time to decorate!
Start with the raw veggies- cabbage, bean sprouts, and scallions get stacked around the edge of your bowl. Then, corn and mushrooms, slightly closer to the middle, and finally, lay out the pork belly in a flat layer right in the middle. The last thig to go on there is a dollop of the spicy miso paste. Taste some of this by itself to figure out how much you want to add- it’s not like blow your face off, but it’s warm. I’d add the whole thing but I love this stuff. Just start with a small dollop on top of the noodles.
Broth time! Using a ladle, pour the hot broth over the miso paste, noodles, and pork belly. Give the bowl a little shake so the noodles float freely in the broth, grab some chopsticks, and start slurpin’!
For the kale + seaweed salad:
Dress it up with the yuzu ginger vinaigrette, season with a bit of salt and pepper, and enjoy this crunchy salad as a side for your noods.
That’s it!
We hope you enjoy tonight’s dinner, and thanks again for ordering 🙂
ROASTED CHICKEN GRAIN BOWL
Thanks for ordering!
It’s so funny- there are some combinations of things that you guys absolutely love. I think roasted chicken and grains is one of the most popular so far. I can’t say I blame you. Lean protein, roasted veggies, and ancient grains sounds like a perfect dinner to me- especially when you top it off with some goat cheese, cranberries, roasted pepitas, and a tarragon dressing. I’m sure there are so many obvious health benefits in here, but to me, that’s just a bonus. The most important thing about this lovely little bowl to me, is how delicious it is. Health is wealth, for sure- but flavor is… flavor. And flavor is also wealth. Things that taste good make us happy. And when we are happy, life is easier. So, eat grain bowls, be happy, enjoy life. New motto. You can bake this if you want- just scoop everything out and bake on a sheet tray at 375F until everything is nice and hot. Once it comes out of the oven, put it back in a bowl, and top with the goat cheese and tarragon vinaigrette. HOWEVER, I would probably eat this cold. The textures and flavors to me work better as a grain salad, without the leaves. But you do you. Whatever you want! Just don’t forget the tarragon vinaigrette!
