Beef Ramen

Ramen (ラーメン) is a Japanese noodle dish served in broth. There are many variations of ramen. The broth is often meat based and meat and vegetables are commonly added. I got to try ramen a few times when I vacationed in Japan and I have ordered it from several local Japanese restaurants. Ramen can be very labour intensive to make. You can make your own noodles and you can make your own broth. Or it can also be as simple as adding some boiling water to a cup of instant ramen.

You can make a tasty and healthy ramen at home fairly easily. You can use a store bought stock but it is better to make your own. I almost always make ramen soon after making some fresh stock. I have tried adding soy and sake for a soy based broth and I have tried adding miso for a miso based broth. One good thing about making your own stock is that you probably have some leftover meat to add to the ramen as well. For example, if you made roast beef you could use the bones to make some beef broth and then add slices of leftover roast beef to the ramen. I also tend to throw in whatever vegetables that I have on hand. Some of my favorites are spinach, bean sprouts, corn, shiitake mushrooms, baby bok choy, etc. I like to blanch the vegetables in the stock to add a bit more flavour to the stock.