Take a few extra minutes to take your instant noodles from good to amazing.

Radish Ramen

Serves 1

Instant noodles make for a quick and delicious meal anytime. When we have instant noodles, I like to add a few simple ingredients to help make it more filling. These ingredients also help to change the flavor profile of your noodles and make them more interesting.

This recipe is a slight modification of one I saw made by Korean Chef Baek Jong Won.

Ingredients

1 package ramen

500 ml (2.5 c) water

200g (1 heaped c) Korean radish, julienne

45g (.25 c) onion, sliced with the grain

30g (1/3 c) daepa or scallions, sliced

4g (.75 t) ginger, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 chungyang or serrano chili, sliced - optional

2 t fish sauce

1.5 t sesame oil

Recipe Know-how

1.      Over medium heat, heat a medium pot with the sesame oil.

• Add the radish and onion. Saute 2-3 minutes or until the radish just begins to wilt.

• Add ginger, garlic and chili. Saute 45 seconds.

• Add the flakes and seasoning bags from the ramen package.

• Add the water and fish sauce. Increase heat to high and bring to boil.

• Add scallions and noodles

• Cook 4 minutes.

Using chopsticks or tongs, gently shake the noodles until they begin to separate. Continue gently shaking and lifting the noodles from the broth occasionally while cooking.

Adjust noodle cooking time based on your preferred noodle texture. Longer for softer noodles and shorter for firmer noodles.

2.      Serve.

Milk Ramen

Serves 1

This particular recipe is based on one I have seen floating around the internet. The resulting broth is slightly thick due to the milk and almost like having a light cream soup.

Ingredients

1 package spicy ramen

350 ml (1.75 c) milk

100 ml (.5 c) water

75g (2) baby bok choy, trimmed and leaves separated

60g (.5 c) carrot, julienne

50g (.25 c) onion, sliced with the grain

50-65g (1) smoked sausage link or smoked duck, sliced - optional

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 t soy sauce

1.5 t sesame oil

.5 t gochagaru - optional

Recipe Know-how

1.      Over medium heat, heat a medium pot with the sesame oil.

• Add the sausage, carrot and onion. Saute 3-4 minutes or until the carrot just begins to wilt and the sausage browns slightly.

• Add garlic and saute 45 seconds longer.

• Add the gochagaru, flakes and seasoning bags from the ramen package.

• Add the milk and water. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to boil.

• Add noodles. Cook 2 minutes.

Using chopsticks or tongs, gently shake the noodles until they begin to separate. Continue gently shaking and lifting the noodles from the broth occasionally while cooking.

• Add bok choy. Cook 2 minutes longer.

The resulting bok choy will be tender crisp. If you desire softer bok choy, add to broth 1 minute earlier.

Adjust noodle cooking time based on your preferred noodle texture. Longer for softer noodles and shorter for firmer noodles.

2.      Serve.