Ramen Recipe

If when you picture ramen, you think of those little packets of salty noodle bricks that cook up in a minute or two using a microwave or a pot of boiling water, then with all due respect, you are doing it all wrong. Instead, you should be picturing a beautiful bowl filled to the brim with all sorts of fresh ingredients that blend into what chef and recipe developer Tricia Wheeler of Peaceful Dinners calls "a complete meal in a bowl."

Indeed, this "meal in a bowl" tastes every bit as wonderful as it looks — but don't be scared off by the apparent complexity of its looks. Wheeler says this recipe is very straightforward. If you have a bit of time on your hands, you owe it to your taste buds (and to those of your family, dinner party guests, or one soon-to-be impressed date) to try your hand at this traditional take on a staple of Japanese cuisine. Once you grow comfortable with this recipe, you should by all means put your own spin on everything from the spices to the veggies to adding in whatever sounds tasty to you.

As for serving suggestions, as this really is a complete meal, may we humbly suggest a glass of sake to enjoy alongside your ramen?

The most intimidating thing about this ramen recipe is the long ingredient list. As per Wheeler, preparing a proper batch of ramen entails a trip to an Asian or international store for ingredients. You'll need chicken broth (or veggie as a sub), cloves of garlic, a 1-inch knob of ginger (chopped), a red onions (sliced), a Thai chili (cut in half), soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, fried chili in oil, pure sesame oil, fish sauce, 2 limes, a 12-ounce pack of fresh ramen noodles, 2 eggs (soft boiled and sliced in half), a jalapeño (thinly sliced), a small head of Napa cabbage, bean sprouts, fresh cilantro, fresh mint, crushed peanuts, scallions (sliced), and optionally a stalk of lemongrass and 2 star anise, both for added aromatics.

This ramen recipe calls for soft boiled eggs, and we don't want to assume that everyone out there is innately comfortable with this specific egg preparation. So, here is your 30-second rundown on the six minutes needed to make perfect soft boiled eggs.

First, bring a small saucepan of water to a boil, using just enough water to cover the eggs. Use tongs (or a spoon) to ease the eggs still cold from the fridge into the boiling water. Maintain a full boil for six minutes. Immediately cool the eggs under running chilled sink water, then peel under running water.

Now, you can set your soft boiled eggs aside, slicing them right before they are needed in the recipe.

In actuality, once your eggs are cooked and your ingredients chopped and measured, there are really only three steps to making this ramen: prepping the broth, cooking the noodles, and adding everything together in the bowl. But, if each step goes at all amiss, then the whole dish fizzles. So, take care!

In a stockpot, simmer the chicken broth, garlic, ginger, red onion slices, Thai chili, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, fried chili oil, pure sesame oil, fish sauce, juice of one lime, and the optional aromatics (lemongrass and anise), for 30 minutes to infuse the broth with all the different flavors.

After the simmering, remove and retain the onion slices to add back into the soup, then let the broth sit off the heat and continue to infuse until ready to serve.

Right before you get to cooking the noodles, strain the aromatics out from the broth, and, if necessary, reheat it up to a simmer.

In a separate stockpot, boil 8 cups of water with a teaspoon of salt. When the water is at a rolling boil, cook the noodles for one or two minutes, as per package instructions, then drain them and place the noodles in a large soup bowl. Ladle enough hot broth over the noodles to submerge them.

Top the broth-covered noodles with sliced cabbage, jalapeño slices, the cooked onion retained from the broth, bean sprouts, egg, mint, and cilantro leaves, and garnish with sliced scallions, crushed peanuts, and extra lime. Enjoy!