Lately, I have had an insatiable need to eat Asian food. All of it. Pho? Yes, please. Chinese everything? I'm on it. Dumplings? Lawwwwwwd. I love dumplings. And ramen. Sushi. You name it, I want it IN MY BELLY, right meow.
Happy Dumplings in Gloucester (https://www.facebook.com/#!/Happy.dumplings.gloucester) is my jam. They have insanely good dumplings of the traditional (pork and cabbage, pork and chinese chives) and untraditional (beef taco is soooooooooooo good). Their dipping sauces are ON POINT. The steak and cheese eggrolls come with a horseradish dressing that is perfection. They have spicy ramen with beef or pork that you can pick you can customize by picking your noodle type (lemme holla at them (gluten free!) rice noodles, plz). Soft boiled egg, bean sprouts, bok choy (may be even DJ Baby Bok Choy)... My brothy dreams are made of this.
But their hours, at least for this month, don't jive with my work schedule. My wallet doesn't want to shell out for take-out elsewhere when this is all I want. AND I certainly don't want the pre-packaged stuff at the store, even if it is $0.60 a package. There is like 2400 grams of sodium in that! And the noodles aren't gluten free.
What's a frugal bitch to do? Make that shit yo'self, gurrrrrrrl... And by shit, I mean ramen. Dumplings are too time consuming for a week night. Is it authenic? Naw. But is it tasty? Hell yes.
Here's what you need:
1 carton of Trader Joe's Miso Ginger Broth
2 baby bok choy, cut as small or large as you like. Feel free to use more. I wasn't sure how The Husband would feel about this so I went light.
1 package of shitake mushrooms. I got mine pre-cut.
Garlic
Soy sauce
1 package of firm or extra firm tofu (I don't remeber what I used), drained, pressed, and cut into cubes
Half a package of bean sprouts
Sesame Oil
Hot Sesame Oil
Sriracha (gotta get my rooster on)
Olive oil
Salt, pepper, garlic powder (The Holy Trinity)
Half a package of rice noodles
Eggs
A pinch of sugar
White vinegar--OPTIONAL
How to jerry-rig some ramen:
1. In a bowl, whisk together soy sauce, sesame oil, sriracha, and The Holy Trinity. Give it a try and add more to suit your taste. Toss cubed tofu in this. I poured the tofu and sauce into a large ziploc and upt aside until I was ready for it.
2. Empty the broth into a large pot. Set the burner on low. Stir occaisonally.
3. In a frying pan, heat some olive oil, sesame oil, and hot sesame oil on medium to medium high heat. Toss the mushrooms and baby bok choy in this to coat. Season with The Holy Trinity.
4. In a medium pot, cook rice noodle as directed on package. (Boil water, add noodles, cook for 3 minutes, drain)
5. Add garlic to the veggie mix (and more oil if needed. On the second go of oil I used Olive and regular Sesame). I love garlic. I have one of those large jars of minced garlic and added two heaping table spoons. Mix together and add bean sprouts. Cook until bok choy is tender. (I like mine a little crunchy)
6. Add veggies to broth.
7. Into same frying pan, dump tofu and marinade. Cook until hot, turning to get sides browned.
8. When noodles are done, add to large pot and mix well. Bring het up to medium high. Add a few dashes of soy sauce.
9. Add Water to the noodle pot and a capful or so of white vinegar. Once the water is simmering, poach them eggs!
10. Ladle out some ramen. Make sure to get some of everything! Spoon some tofu over the top. Add your poached eggs.
11. Send me a thank you email.
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