Miso Ramen and a 9 Hour Layover
Sometimes you have to make the best of a bad situation…and a 9 hour layover is a bad situation. I was in Indonesia for work and on the way back I had a layover in Japan. After an overnight flight into Narita, Japan, I got off the plane and saw that it was drizzling outside…perfect weather for soup. Since I had so much time, I headed into the town of Narita. It is a popular place to visit if you are stuck with a layover, so it is pretty easy to get around. One great comfort food is Miso Ramen, which is ramen in a strong miso broth. Miso ramen is definitely not your typical wimpy miso soup. This stuff sticks to your ribs.
I stopped by Ramen Bayashi which is pretty popular with international flight crews. When I was there it was almost all foreigners…then again I was there at 11:30 am which is probably a little early for a local to be having lunch. Not too surprisingly, they mostly had ramen on the menu.
There are tons of different styles of ramen soups, and you can top each with different fixings. I searched around for a recipe that gets close to the bowl I had in Japan. For the noodles, you want to try to find something close to a yakisoba or chow mein type of noodle.
I used a brown miso because that is all I had on hand, but I have seen recipes that call for using both brown and white miso. It sounds like a good idea and will probably add a bit more depth. Using homemade broth will add more flavor, but I am lazy so I never have it around.
Miso Ramen
Ingredients:
- 1 quart chicken broth
- 3 Tbsp miso paste
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 2 clove of garlic, minced
- 1 tsp minced ginger
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- Chili flakes
- Yakisoba or chow mein
Toppings:
- Carrots
- Shredded cabbage
- Bean sprouts
- Seaweed
- Cooked sliced pork
Directions:
- Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook noodles as directed. Drain the noodles and set them aside.
- In the same pot, heat the cooking and sesame oil. Sauté the ginger, garlic and chili flakes until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add the miso and stir to combine with the other ingredients. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add the noodles back in. Simmer for 3 minutes to all the flavors to combine.
- Dish out and add the toppings.
The Best of Cookography
Any chance you could attempt the recipe for their Hot Chili Ramen?
Loved this so much – i made it again! thanks, y’all.
This is pure love in a bowl – I could easily make this a standard daily diet.