Ramen

Midnight Ramen: a quick meal for those who don't care if they turn into gremlins. It's late at night. You've just returned home from a long hard day of strenuous labor - day in which you had no time to stop for a proper meal. What to do? You've used up the leftover rice and beef from the other night. Hmm...there's some leftover chicken, but what to eat it with? It's time for another entry in the continuing "Ramen" series.

Ingredients:
1 pack instant Ramen Noodles (not in a cup)
1 leftover chicken breast (sliced or whole, preferably sliced)
1/4 cup diced white onion
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon Amateur Chef's Steak Sauce
2-3 teaspoons Amateur Chef's Asian Spice
1 teaspoon Amateur Chef's Original Spice
1/2 - 1 teaspoon garlic
1/2 - 1 teaspoon peppercorn medley

Steak Sauce will be covered in a later post. For now you may substitute the same sauce from previous entry:
Teriyaki Sauce
Soy Sauce
Tabasco Sweet Asian Sauce
Worcestershire Sauce
Amateur Chef's Original Spice

Leftover chicken should be plain or lightly seasoned.

Process:
If leftover chicken is not already thinly sliced, do so.
In a large pot or medium sautée pan, add olive oil and stir diced onion over medium heat. Once onions begin to take color, add the chicken. Drizzle the steak sauce (or the replacement sauce) and stir. Add 1 teaspoon of AC's Asian Spice, 1/2 of the garlic and 1/4 of the peppercorn medley. Stir until onions have taken the color of the sauce, and chicken has warmed. Remove from heat and set aside.
In medium pot, add enough water to cover noodles. Add a pinch of salt, and 1 teaspoon of AC's Original, and another of AC's Asian Spice. Add half of the peppercorn medley using a grinder or pre-ground pepper. (The fresher, the better) Cook Ramen as per instructions. For this recipe, I used chicken flavored, but you may use you favorite. Once noodles are ready, strain the water. To ensure the tenacity of the flavor, I like to add after noodles are strained. Add another 1/2 teaspoon of AC's Asian Spice, along with the garlic, and peppercorn medley. For a little added flavor, add a touch of the steak sauce. Stir to fully integrate spices.
In a large bowl, combine noodles, chicken and onion. Serve immediately.

Serves 1 or 2 people.

A better midnight ramen, you will be hard pressed to find - savory, tangy, sweet, spicy, and comfortingly warm. It is how a midnight snack should be.

Ramen

Here's another fun way to spice up the bland and ordinary instant ramen meal. Have you ever thought, "Yeah, I like ramen. I wish there was a way that I can enjoy it for breakfast." Wish granted. With this recipe, you can enjoy your favorite instant noodle meal in the morning or at anytime. Ramen with Steak and Eggs!

Ingredients:
1 steak(preferably left-over), sliced into strips.
2 large grade A chicken eggs
1/2 cup white onion chopped
1 package instant ramen
1-2 tablespoons of olive oil (you can use same amount of butter instead)
1 teaspoon Eric's Original Spice (recipe follows)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground peppercorn medley (black, white, green, pink)

Process:
Fill a small pot with enough water to cover noodles and turn stove to medium high. Once water boils, add noodles, but not the flavor packet. After three minutes, stir noodles then strain the water out. Add the flavor pack and mix. (I chose the chicken flavor but you may use your favorite) Set aside.
in a fry pan add 1 tablespoon of olive oil (or butter) and heat on medium high. Add onions and steak. Sprinkle half of the Original Spice and the garlic and black pepper. Stir continuously for 2-3 minuets or until onions begin to turn translucent. Add the eggs and stir. Continuously stir for a minute. Remove from heat and add any remaining spice.
Mix the egg mixture into a large bowl with the ramen and serve.

Can serve two, can be eaten by one.

Eric's Original Spice
1 part peppercorn medley (black, white, green, pink)
1 part crushed red pepper
1/2 part kosher salt
1/2 part garlic powder
2 parts dried cilantro

mix all ingredients into a spice grinder and pulverize into a powder.

This is a delicious way to add flavor to ramen and spice up your breakfast at the same time.

Ramen

Growing up in a busy home where we didn't always have a home cooked meal every night, I grew accustomed to instant dinners and the like. One of my favorites was instant Ramen noodles. I ate them at any meal of the day. Surprisingly, they are great at breakfast with some eggs. After many years of eating the ramen as directed(only with the broth drained out-I prefer just the noodles and not the soup) I decided to experiment with adding flavors and spices to the ramen either along with or in lieu of the provided seasoning packet. Since my tastes weren't very mature at the time, I found myself adding just about everything into the noodles including worcestershire sauce, vinegar, and all manner of seasoning mixes. Since then my tastes have become more refined and skill at seasoning improved. But I still find any opportunity to experiment with flavors and now with my desire to use my own seasonings I have new and tasty varieties of ramen dishes to share.
This one includes Asian inspired flavors.

Ingredients:
Leftover steak, thinly sliced
Pack of Instant Ramen(your choice of flavor) [not cup o' noodles]
teriyaki sauce
tabasco sweet asian sauce
Eric's Original Asian Spice Mixture(recipe follows)
1/6 of a medium white onion, cut into thick pieces

Process:
If the steak isn't already sliced up, do so. Place in a large bowl and drizzle with teriyaki and tabasco. Stir lightly to coat. Either heat in microwave for 1 minute or reheat in saucepan. Keep in mind that how the steak was previously seasoned will affect the final flavor.
Fill a medium or small pot with enough water to cover the noodles. Turn heat up to medium high and wait for water to boil. Place noodles in pot, but do not add seasoning packet. After about three minutes drain water from noodles. Add seasoning packet. For this recipe I used the chicken flavor packet, but you can use which ever you like. Stir to coat and drizzle some teriyaki sauce. Pour noodles into the bowl with the steak and mix to combine.
In a small sauce pan or pot, add the chopped onion with a pinch of the Asian Spice Mixture and a drizzle of teriyaki sauce. Cook on medium and stir occasionally. After 2-3 minutes the edges of the onion should be browned. Remove from heat and add to the noodle bowl.
Serves 1-2, time 6 minutes

Asian Spice Mixture:
1 part peppercorn medley(black, white, green, pink)
1 part crushed red pepper
1/2 part kosher salt
1/2 part garlic
1/2 part ground ginger

Mix all ingredients into a spice grinder and pulverize until everything is finely ground.

This is a great way to spice up what would have been a bland meal of instant ramen. It doesn't take long and could feed more than one person. If you like Asian food, this should be right up your alley. And the onions don't just go great with ramen; they are also great on hot dogs and hamburgers as well. Give it a try. You never know, you might not want plain ramen again after eating it this way.
There are many more varieties of ramen in my repertoire, and I would like to share them with you as well. Keep checking back to see what I come up with.