Coconut Curry Ramen

In my adult life, one of the childhood staples I still absolutely love & cherish is ramen.  I honestly think ramen was one of the first things I ever cooked for myself, probably in middle school, and I vaguely remember feeling so accomplished that I officially cooked something for myself.  It was always an easy after school treat.  Even in high school I remember coming home after school with a friend and us cooking up a thing of ramen as a fun after school snack.  & one of my best friends, Sarah, was a popular ramen maker back in the day because she turned us all on to cracking an egg into our ramen while it cooks.  Oh ya - she was our genius (still is).

But now ramen is something Jordan and I love to have together.  We love to go out to ramen spots in Phoenix (Umami is my jam!), and we still love buying a pack of ramen to enjoy for a cheap and easy night in.  Of course we dress it up with some herbs and a soft boiled egg.  Anyways, I still don't know what the heck is in those seasoning packets, but oh my lord they do the job in making a delicious bowl of soup.  & I just love the process of getting the right amount of noodles with the right bit of the broth.....it just tastes sooo good together.

It is no secret that the ramen we all know and love, specifically the 99 cent packs you buy at the grocery store, lack nutritional value.  No veggies & no real nutrients are like a stab in the heart and facts that make me feel a bit guilty about eating it.  I mean Jordan even called it flavored ramen.  But this nutritional deficit is my motivation to whip up a heartier and more veggie heavy ramen.  I am loading up my ramen with some sauteed carrots, onion, and pepper, that are each so slow cooked the melt in your mouth like butter.  & I am using lots of spices to keep the salty and spicy ramen flavor we all know and love.  CURRY & COCONUT MILK are the keys to flavor here, and let me tell you the two work together to make literally the best ramen I have ever tasted.  A good amount of salt to keep the dish savory, but the coconut milk makes it a little decadent.  It was a dish that felt comforting and pretty perfect after a long day of work when you're ready to hunker down at home to be a coach potato.  A ramen that takes all of life’s problem away.

Ingredients
4 tbsp butter
1 yellow onion, fine chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
2 red bell peppers, cut into small bit size pieces
2 carrots, peeled, cut in half lengthwise and then sliced into 1/4 in thick pieces
8 ounce crimini mushrooms
4 c. chicken broth
1 can coconut milk
1 tbsp curry powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Pinch of salt and pepper
2 single serve packets ramen (Original flavor)
Fresh cilantro, roughly chopped (for serving)

In a dutch oven, melt the butter over medium high heat.  Once all butter is melted, add in the onion, cover, and cook for 7-8 minutes.  Stir twice during the cooking time.  After the onion has cooked, add in the garlic, carrots, and peppers, and stir to incorporate.  Cover and cook for 7-8 minutes, stirring once during the cooking process.  Turn the heat down to medium, add in the mushroom, stir, cover, and cook another 3 minutes.

When all the veggies have cooked, add in the curry powder, cayenne, and a 1/4 tsp of both salt and pepper.  Stir to incorporate, and let cook with the veggies for 1 minute.

Turn the heat back up to high and add in the broth.  Bring to a boil, and then add in the coconut milk.  Bring back up to a boil.  Reduce the heat down to medium, cover, and let cook for 10 minutes.   Gotta let all the flavors get to know each other.

Once cooked, add in the dried ramen and one flavor packet from the ramen pouches (adding both in is just far too salty). Let the ramen cook thoroughly until the noodles are softened.  Either serve immediately or turn the heat and cover until ready to serve.

When your ready to eat, use tongs or a large fork to grab and swirl some noodles, and place the noodles directly in your bowl.  Spoon some broth and veggies right over the top of your soup.  Sprinkle with a pinch of fresh cilantro and you're ready to go.

Loaded ramen circa 2017. The recipe that started it all!