We’ve been having a fair bit of ramen recently. Ramen which translates to ‘pulled noodles’ with it’s noodles soaked in a broth served with a medley of vegetables and meat, fish or even more vegetables is a super comforting dish that my daughters and I have had a fair few times at Wagamama, just one of many places in the UK that serve them.
How to make a basic Wagamama style ramen
The easiest way to make the ramen is to be prepared and make things ahead of time – remember we are using cooked meat so be sure to do that first.
First up, if you haven’t already, boil your egg in some cold water, bringing it up to a boil for 10-12 minutes and simmering, plunge into cold water and leave to one side, removing the shell and halving the egg before serving – one egg half per person Is fine.
Now make the broth, in a saucepan add the chicken stock, water, garlic, soy sauce, Worcester sauce, ginger powder, 5 spice and chilli powder. Bring to a boil stirring from time to time, simmer for approximately 5 minutes, then pour out the garlic through a sieve into a jug. Return the broth to a pan and leave to one side.
Now cook the meat (even though it’s already cooked, just to add more flavour) in a frying pan add the sesame oil and fry the chicken on both sides to lightly brown and flavour the meat, again remove to one side once done and rest on kitchen towel.
Finally for prep, cook the noodles to package instructions and once cooked leave in a bowl of cold water.
When ready to serve warm the broth back in it’s saucepan – taste the broth, if you are happy with it just warm it, if you want to tweak it, add honey to sweeten or more spices for additional kick. Add a portion of noodles to a bowl, fill the bowl with chicken, sweetcorn, spinach & the egg half and pour the hot broth over the ingredients, this will wilt the spinach and bring the other ingredients back to life. Top each bowl with spring onion and nori pieces. If you wish you could add poppy or sesame seeds on top. Serve instantly.
There we go, a basic ramen recipe with some hints and tips from an actual Wagamama chef that tastes brilliant and can be tweaked in lots of ways!