So, two things: first, I’m really, really late getting Soothing Soup month started- I know. Second, I was really perplexed as to what to expand on for the feature entry on soups this year. But luckily, (like everyone else this time of year) I got sick- so now I have an excuse AND a recipe to lead-off with!
Coming home with a killer cold and nothing to eat last week I pulled together a a cold-killing ramen like you wouldn’t believe. The key is simple: take all the good stuff you have at hand, dump it in with some ramen, and be healed! Really. I tried it on my roommate a couple days later and, so far, the soup is 2 for 2. Here’s how its done:
[Prep: 5min / Cook: 20min]
Ingredients– ramen packet of choice
– 1 small onion
– 1 tomato
– 2 cloves of garlic
– 1-2 spicy chili peppers
– dash of black pepper
– dash of thyme
– 1 egg
- Chop the onion, tomato, garlic and chili peppers into chunks (they need not be small).
- Put the chopped vegetables in a pot of water (about 3-4 cups) and bring to a boil.
- Boil for about 5-10 minutes.
- Add the ramen noodles, ramen seasonings, pepper and thyme and cook for an additional 1-3 minutes (depending on the noodle requirements).
- Turn off the heat, crack an egg on top and stir to cook it.
- Ready to eat!
[Serves 1]
Notes
- If you don’t have a tomato, a spoonful or two of tomato sauce to the water also works quite well.
- For the chili pepper: I’m a big fan of using spicy food to fight off a cold, so of course, leave it out or cut it back if you don’t like spicy. For which to use, any should do, but I have a box of dried Thai chili’s that I used here.
- Substituting the powdered form for the onion, garlic and chili will be fine for the flavor … you might be losing some nutrients, though.
Onions, garlic, tomatoes and thyme are some of my ‘magic healing ingredients’, which is why I use them here. In general, you can also substitute / try adding:
- cabbage, green onions and ginger
- peas, carrots, corn & celery
- spinach / bok choy / kai lan and bean sprouts
- lemon juice and soy sauce
- pork / chicken / beef strips
Of course, there’s a million other things you can do with a pack of ramen, but that’s for another time …