A Bowl of Ramen Noodles Soup

Several days ago, I posted a recipe for making Dashi stock. It is one of healthiest, easiest stocks to create at home. Before I talk about how to make this simple dish, Ramen noodles had an especially sweet memory for me. It is true that when hungry, everything tastes wonderful – even simple Ramen noodles with hot water. When my family was finally permitted to leave Vietnam to unite with my father in the USA in the summer of 1984, we first landed in one of the refugee camps in Thailand and stayed there for ten days for medical checkups. During the time we stayed in that camp, Ramen noodles soup was the best soup I had ever tasted – well at that moment anyway. However, Ramen noodles play a significant part in meals of Asian cultures. In Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese groceries, one can be lost when choosing which Ramen noodles to buy. In my family circle, both of my nieces, never go on vacation without packing Ramen noodles, and these noodles correct their tastebuds after they had eaten something that they do not like. I can envision their disapproving faces with what I am will create here because for them eating Ramen noodles can only be just adding hot water and using the included small spice pack. Even though I agree with them, I still think for a healthy choice, adding Dashi stock and vegetables to the Ramen noodles soup and not using the spice pack are much healthier. However, it will give Ramen noodles a different taste. It is a personal choice. However, because a bowl of healthy Ramen noodles soup on a winter day brings back a sweet memory, it is a wonderful choice for me.

Ingredients:
1 pack of Ramen noodles
2 cups Dashi stock
1 hard-boiled egg. shell removed and cut in half
Vegetables:
1 cup total of daikon. carrot, and Japanese pumpkin
2 shitake mushrooms, soaked in water
Handful of bean sprouts
1 tsp mirin
2 tsp soy sauce
1/8 tsp black pepper

Some other toppings of your choice: left over roasted chicken or fish, shrimp

Garnish with chopped green onions and cilantro

Directions:
In a sauce pan, add Dashi stock and bring to boil. Add daikon, pumpkin, carrot, and shitake mushrooms. Bring to boil and simmer until the vegetables are soft but still tender.
In another saucepan, bring 2 cups of water to boil and cook the Ramen noodles for 1 minute. Remove and place on the bottom of a serving bowl. Top with bean sprouts and hard-boiled egg and pour the soup over the noodles. Sprinkle with green onions and cilantro and enjoy.