Malaysian Ramen
Oddly enough, this very un-Indian recipe came from a cookbook titled, Indian(-ish) by Priya Krishna that I was extremely excited about this summer. I’m still excited about Indian-ish but since many of the recipes strongly recommend a few less common (to American cooks) Indian ingredients, I’ve been reluctant to recommend. But I had all the ingredients for this Malaysian Ramen in my house and I suspect that you may, as well. So let’s start here and work our way up to the rest.
Malaysian Ramen made me laugh because I tend to always have ramen noodles in the house (my daughter loves them, or is it just the salt that she loves?) and there’s nothing more basic. The recipe called for a scant 1/2 teaspoon of the provided seasoning so I wasn’t scared off. The resulting slightly crunchy noodle stir fry was comfort food at it’s best. I can see myself whipping this up again on nights that everyone is doing their own thing and I’m curled up on the couch watching TV. A runny egg on top would be a great addition. Enjoy!
Malaysian Ramen
Ingredients
- Two 3-oz packages chicken-flavored ramen
- 3 Tbls vegetable oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp fresh ginger minced
- 1/2 medium red onion finely diced
- 1 large carrot finely diced
- 2 Tbls low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 tsp distilled white vinegar
- 1 tsp Sriracha plus more as garnish, if desired
- 3 c roughly chopped fresh spinach
- fresh lime juice
- 1 Tbls roasted peanuts crushed
Instructions
- Break each block of noodles in half. Reserve one packet of seasoning (discard the other or save for something else) and set the noodles and seasoning aside.
- In a large pan over medium heat, warm the oil. Once the oil begins to shimmer, add the garlic, ginger, onion and carrot. Cook until the veggies start to soften and the garlic and ginger start to brown, 4 to 5 minutes, then stir in the soy sauce, vinegar, Sriracha and about 1/2 tsp of the ramen seasoning.
- Add the spinach, noodles and 1/2 cup of water, then toss the noodle cakes and veggies in the sauce. When the noodles start to soften (about 4 to 5 minutes), use a large spoon to break them apart and continue tossing them vigorously in the sauce.
- Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until the water has been absorbed and the noodles are leathery and dry, 5 to 7 minutes.
- Add a very generous squeeze of lime juice. Then sprinkle with peanuts and top with a drizzle of Sriracha if desired.