Up-leveled Instant Ramen
When I worked at Starbucks, one of the favorite marketing terms I learned was, “up-leveled.” Take something familiar, give it a small tweak, boom. Premium experience.
Today’s recipe is in that vein. Right now, it is 24 degrees Farenheit on a “warm” day in Chicago. I’m craving ramen almost every night. What I’m not craving is a ton of salt or paying $14-$20 per bowl.
Enter the “up-leveled” instant ramen. It uses low sodium chicken broth, spices, a handful of veggies, and a packet of ramen noodles. It delivers a premium experience that is a fraction of restaurant prices and a fraction of the salt of an instant ramen flavor pack.
You could further bedeck your ramen with an egg, bok choy, sesame seeds. It’s your up-leveled ramen world. The possibilities are endless.
INGREDIENTS
Makes 1 bowl of Ramen
2.5 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 two inch cinnamon sticks
1/2 star anise
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 small onion, sliced into thin rings; cut rings in half
1 carrot, diced small
1 package ramen noodles (discard seasoning pack)
1 small bunch scallions, diced small
fresh cilantro
RECIPE
Put chicken stock in a pot on medium heat and bring to boil. Add ground ginger, cinnamon sticks, and star anise (note: it’s not a tragedy if you use a full star anise; the flavor may just be a bit intense). Note that I use cinnamon sticks that are somewhat small and flat. If you have big, round sticks, you may want to use less.
These will “stick it to you.”
The “stars” of the show
Add carrots and onions. Boil until onions are transparent. Add ramen noodles and cook for the time recommended on the package (three minutes for me), poking and stirring to remove clumps.
I used some purple carrots, which curiously look brown here.
Pour soup into a bowl and garnish with scallions and cilantro. Enjoy!
So fresh and so green!
I ate so quickly that my bowl is actually empty here, but it still smelled a bit like ramen.
