April 8, 2015

Hey all,

This is a dish I’m particularly proud of: chicken ramen made at home. And no, not the kind that comes in the cup that you just add hot water to – I’m talking about the real deal, cooked for hours type of ramen. Except so much easier (not to mention less salty). Ready to make it yourself?

My fiance Sean is something of a connoisseur of ramen. If it’s available on a menu at a Japanese restaurant, he’s pretty much guaranteed to order it. Tonkotsu ramen, toto ramen, spicy ramen, extra concentrated broth ramen – you name it, he’ll try it.

The sad thing is, we’ve both looked into making the delicious ramen we eat out at home, and it’s hard. Really, really hard. Hours of labor, simmering bones, stirring broth, making noodles and slaving away, and I don’t know about you, but I know I don’t have time for that. In the immortal words of Sweet Brown: “Ain’t nobody got time for that.”

But then, a miracle happened. What do you do when you have a recipe that takes a long time? You break out the crock pot. Aww yeah…

So behold, homemade chicken ramen with the smallest amount of effort possible to make ramen. Put some chicken and eggs in a slow cooker, add broth, cook, add ramen, cook more, done. Bada bing, bada boom. Try this recipe some afternoon and tell me you’re not a believer.

Homemade Chicken Ramen

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken broth
• 2 quarts (8 c.) of low-sodium, fat-free chicken broth (or dashi broth if you have access to that)
• 1 tbsp. minced garlic
• 1 tsp. grated ginger
• 1 bunch of scallions
• 6 large eggs
• 3 (5 oz.) packages of ramen noodles (I really liked the Hokan Curly Soba Noodles Chuka Soba)
• 2 tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• Optional: Bamboo shoots, dried seaweed, mushrooms

Directions:

1. Place the chicken breasts, whole eggs in shell, garlic, ginger, scallions (green tops cut off and saved for later, and tied together with a rubber band or twine) and chicken broth in a slow cooker. (Optional: you can also soft boil the eggs on their own on the stove if you prefer.)
2. Cover and turn the slow cooker on low for 2 hours.
3. After 2 hours, check if the eggs are soft-boiled by chilling and peeling one. If they are, remove all the eggs to an ice bath, if not, give them an extra 10 – 20 minutes and check again.
4. Once the eggs are done, check the chicken is cooked through after 2 – 2 1/2 hours.
5. Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and the scallions.
6. Place the ramen noodles in the slow cooker broth (and mushrooms, bamboo shoots and seaweed if you’re using them), then cover with the chicken breasts to make sure they stay submerged.
7. Cook covered for another 10 – 15 minutes until the noodles are cooked.
8. Remove the chicken and slice, divide up the noodles, broth and sliced chicken among six bowls, add 1 egg peeled, sliced in half to each bowl and garnish with chopped scallions, crushed red pepper flakes and a splash of soy sauce for extra flavor.
9. Homemade ramen: crushed it.

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This post is part of the monthly link up party Our Growing Edge. This event aims to connect food bloggers and inspire us to try new things. This month is hosted by Nikki from Everyday Life Mother and Wife.