INtroduction
As an educator, the ends of semesters are always the busiest times for me. There are piles of papers to grade, another semester to plan, and several dozen students needing help or recommendations. At busy times like these, it’s important for me to both eat well and save time.
That’s where this recipe comes in. I’ve been a fan of ramen since my own undergraduate days, but as an older person who has gotten into cooking, I’ve found ways to make it better, for not much-added cost. Now, I eat ramen because it’s both good and cheap. By the time you try this out, you won’t believe or care, how cheap it is. My goal here is simple: make a fast meal that’s really good and makes a long, difficult days seem a little bit better.
Ingredients
To make my fast and good pork ramen, you’ll need:
- 1 Packet Ramen (If you can find pork flavor, do that. All I had was “soy sauce” flavor on hand)
- 1 egg
- 3-5oz pre-cooked pork (I had a pork tenderloin I had made two days prior in the slow cooker, I’ll cover that in a few weeks)
- Soy Sauce
- Sriracha
Instructions
This one can be made, start to finish, in under fifteen minutes.
Start with two pots, one small, and one medium-sized, both with water in them. Turn the small one as hot as it will go, and the medium on low to get the water warm, but not boiling.
I like a soft-boiled egg in my ramen. To make that, wait for the small pot to boil and using a slotted spoon, add the egg for exactly six minutes. Not five, not seven, six. Once six minutes are up, put the egg in a bowl of cold water and ice for a few minutes to cool down while you’re finishing the ramen.
As soon as you put the egg in the small pot, crank up the medium pot to high, and add about 1oz soy sauce, and Sriracha to taste: I like mine spicy and went with half an ounce last time. Once the water starts to boil, add and stir in the flavoring from the ramen, and add the noodles. At this point, I bet the egg is about done and needs to be taken out.
With the egg cooling and the noodles cooking, now to the pork. I had a piece of pre-cooked tenderloin, and it worked great for this. Any pork roast will do. Slice it into slices as thin as you can get them, and then put them in a layer on the bottom of a shallow bowl: I use a plato hondo, or soup bowl, for the occasion.
Once the noodles are done, pour the soup from the medium bowl into your soup bowl, and peel the egg, adding it carefully on top. Drizzle with Sriracha for effect and more spice, and enjoy with a spoon and some chopsticks.
At some point in the near future, I’ll also cover how to do this in a slightly more expensive, and homemade way with homemade pork broth. But, for today, this is a great option for a quick, delicious, and satisfying weeknight meal.