Instant Ramen with Vegetables Recipe

Instant Ramen (インスタントラーメン) with Vegetables is an easy and tasty noodle soup absolutely anybody can make. Instant Ramen has such a distinct flavor of its own, and it is hard to recreate it from scratch, so we don’t even try.  And it’s funny how we all have cravings for various foods, but this is the big one for many people in Japan.  We don’t eat instant Ramen everyday, but we also crave it time to time.

Instant Ramen was invented in the 1960s by a Taiwanese Japanese man named Momofuku Ando, the founder of the large Japanese food corporation Nissin Foods.  Once this convenient food was introduced, it became a big part of Japanese food culture literally instantly.  You may already know that instant Ramen is the (usually fried and) dried noodles which are cooked in hot water seasoned with a packet of powdered soup.  If you can boil water, you can make it.  I know, I know, you can do so much better than making instant Ramen if you’ve been reading Japanese Cooking 101.  But wait, there is something more to it.  We added stir-fried vegetables here so that it becomes more nutritious and appetizing, not to mention the added flavors.  This could become a decent meal to serve your family without feeling guilty.  We should try to eat something healthy even when you don’t have much time to cook on week nights, shouldn’t we?

The reason we put cooked and lightly seasoned vegetables on top of the noodle soup instead of directly adding raw veggies to the soup is to avoid diluting the taste of the soup.  It is another step to cook, but it is worth the extra effort for its flavor.  You can use any brand of instant Ramen noodle soup from local supermarkets.  We used cabbage, carrot, and green onions, but you can use any leftover vegetables found in the fridge.  Also, we used a convenient frozen seafood mix – small shrimp, squid, and scallops.  Seafood can give a great savory taste to the dish, and it is easy to use a prepared mix because there is no cutting or thawing before cooking.  However, you can of course use chicken or pork or whatever meat you like to add to the stir-fried vegetables.

Instant Ramen with Vegetables is easy on your wallet too.  Most students and young singles have eaten lots of instant Ramen when money is scarce. They may sometimes skip the vegetables because it seems like too much work. It’s easy to see that just a little prep turns something like fast food into a respectable meal with real nutrition. And still cheap. Try this next time you think of getting take away food!

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Instant Ramen with Vegetables Recipe

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time15 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: noodles, ramen, soup

Servings: 2 servings

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Ingredients

• 2 cups cabbage 1″ squares
• 1/4-1/3 medium carrot sliced thinly
• 3 green onions cut diagonally
• 1 tsp potato or corn starch
• 2 tsp water
• 1 tsp oil
• 1 cup frozen seafood mix
• 1/4 cup water 60 ml
• 1/4 tsp salt
• white pepper
• 1 tsp Sake
• 1/2 tsp Soy Sauce
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 packages instant Ramen noodles

Instructions

• Cut vegetables accordingly. Mix potato starch and 2 tsp water. Set aside.
• Heat frying pan at medium heat with oil. Add cabbage and carrot and cook for a minute. Add frozen seafood and 1/4 cup water, and cook for 2 minutes covered. Season with salt, pepper, Sake, and Soy sauce. Add green onions. Stir in potato starch slurry and let it thicken a little. Add sesame oil and stir. Set aside, cover and keep it warm.
• Make instant Ramen according to the package instructions.
• Divide noodles into 2 bowls, and top with vegetables.

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