I loved my own take on fire ramen today. Fire ramen is the popular name for Samyang Ramen, a brand of spicy chicken roasted noodles that comes with a sauce packet that packs powerful heat. The spice is so intense that people have taken to the “fire ramen challenge”, which entails shoveling the noodles into your mouth for the chance at masochistic glee.
Wanting to enjoy my meal instead of crying from a burning sensation, I added ingredients and created a dish with plenty of flavor, taking down the heat several notches and turning up the umami.
I must say I’m very impressed with the quality of the noodle. It comes in a regular cheap instant dry ramen pack, but once the noodles are cooked, they’ve got toothsome texture and built-in flavor from having been pre-“chicken roasted”.
I boiled the noodles for a few minutes, fished them out of the water with tongs, and set them aside in the serving bowl. I kept the water boiling and added splashes of vinegar so I could poach two eggs.
In a skillet, I sauteed the noodles with smoked oysters (including the oil from the can), slices of crimini mushrooms, arugula, sesame seeds–and, of course, the sauce packet. The sauce oozed out like a syrup and was undeniably very spicy on its own, but mixing it with the other ingredients balanced out the heat. After a quick toss of everything in the skillet, I poured the contents into the serving bowl and topped with the poached eggs. Absolutely delicious. I could’ve eaten two bowls.
ATB 