Share your Ramen Recipe

NongShim Shin Black ramen with a bit of extra sesame oil, tahini (makes it creamy- more like tonkatsu ramen), F/D peas, F/D corn, F/D scrambled egg, dried shiitake mushrooms.

This F/D kimchi is expensive, but a cool addition.

Ramen is one of my favorite backpacking dinners.

+1 to the NongShim, either one is great, although I’m pretty sure they’re not vegan. The original is spicier but the Black is a bit more rich/umami. I supplement it  @philip-ak with some extra freeze dried veggies, sesame oil and maybe some Sriracha. For a real treat I do it “egg drop” style and drizzle a raw, whisked egg into it in the last minute or two of cooking. If I’m after a thicker, more “restaurant-style” broth, I prefer a tiny pinch of corn starch.

don’t forget the shitake mushrooms.  Ground dried shrimp is also a big flavor enhancer.

Shrimp flavored ramen (original flavor is OK too), add dried carrots and mushrooms, lots of pepper, a pouch of salmon, and don’t drain any of the excess cooking liquid but instead add powdered mashed potatoes – enough to absorb the excess liquid and turn the mixture into a thick chowder-like consistency. So good.

Good timing! Leaving for an overnight in an hour and I have my food out…

Tonight happens to be NongShim spicy, a soft boiled egg, nori flakes, and toasted sesame. Just discovered we’re out of green onions (damn!) but will also be adding some enoki mushrooms and strips of pork leftover from a roast two nights ago. A big, hot, wonderful medley.

Even going to pair it with a proper ceramic bowl and chopsticks.

Hardly a UL bowl…but I’m hardly weak so it’s OK. ; )

Style matters.

1. Ramen

2. Meat packet

3. Eat

We found these at Costco – I think it’s $12 for 10 packets:

It’s 5 packets each of chicken and pork and they’re both the best instant ramen I’ve ever had at home.  It would be easy to supplement them with another protein.

Heading to another continent, I make ramen marinara. I premix tomato powder, italian herbs, dried garlic, dried mushrooms and bell peppers, and add parmesan when serving (could skip cheese for vegan, but I noticed almost no one here is attending to your vegan request!). You could maybe add dried and soaked chickpeas for protein; I get enough protein from other foods that I don’t bother for every meal.

I appreciate everyone who has contributed.   I’m heading to the grocery store today to get something out together for this weekend

*something put

Ramen Buffalo Chicken:

1 package Ramen noodles

1/2 chicken season packet

1 tablespoon butter powder

2 tablespoons dried bell peppers

1 tablespoon cheddar cheese powder

2.5 tablespoons dehydrated buffalo chicken.

Khao Soi

Ramen

dollop of Thai Red Curry Paste

sugar

coconut milk powder

freeze dried meat of choice

The coconut milk powder I have can be a bit fickle so it works best to mix it with a bit of water to make a paste then add in the curry paste, sugar and water to make a stock. Bring it up to temperature and throw in the ramen and meat of choice (or none).

Lots of add-in possibilities, freeze dried veggies, mushrooms. Bean sprouts are great if you can find a way to carry them as well as some pickle vegetables/kimchee for a bit of tang. I once made it with freeze dried jumbo shrimp and that was spectacular. I got it from Redwick’s Freeze Dried, but they don’t appear to be in business any longer :(

Haven’t tried it on the trail, but at home adding some Korean bean and/or pepper paste really helps.  I’ve tried a couple of versions, a dark bean paste (doenjang), a spicy pepper paste (gochujang), and a mixed version (samjang, mixture of the two previous).  One of these days I’ll try a much lighter Japanese version (miso).

I suppose the bean and/or pepper paste can be dried and crushed into a powder, but I haven’t tried this yet.

Ramen, pre-cooked bacon diced up, any cheese if you got it, and if you use too much water add instant mashed potatoes.

My daugther does this (and I think that it is discusting).  She boils the ramen then dumps the water, adds the favor pack and stirs in cheddar cheese until it melts.

KISS Ramen Recipe:

*  Ichiban Ramen

*  Plus ~1 oz Turkey Pepperoni

*  Plus 1 Tablespoon of ghee

ramen + FD chicken + packet of PB + condiment packages of soy sauce & sriracha = delicious Thai-ish noodles. FD broccoli is great here too.

Of course Wisner would use a cool ceramic bowl.

I’ve been much less gourmet than other posters, just using the 29-cent Top Ramens from Walmart, about one per person.  And adding dehydrated diced carrots and peas (Mother Earth Products off of Amazon), dried onions, and a pack of flavored chicken in foil packet.

Put the dehydrated stuff in early, before you start to boil the water.

Take-out restaurant packets of sweet-chili / sriracha sauce added to taste.

BenH already presented my dab of curry + coconut milk powder version, although usually I use that with a dehydrated beans and/or rice-based dish.

Fast Pack Pad Thai                                                                                                                             Making the fastpack Pad Thai is relatively easy. I simply break up the Ramen Noodles and pour them into a Ziploc bag (and don’t forget to dispose of the flavoring pack…it is not needed in this recipe). Then I measure out 3 oz of peanuts and add to the noodles. (You can break the peanuts up a little too if so desired, but I choose not to cause it’s easier.) Next I add about 1/2 the package of the Knorr Vegetable Mix to the bag with the noodles and the nuts. If you happened to track down some of the True Lime, then now would be the time to add it too. Next is the easy part. Just boil some water and then add it to the bag. Next, place the meal in a cozy and wait about 5 minutes and then add 1 oz olive oil (flavored if you have it)

Ramen Noodles: ~2.9 oz & 380 calories
Knorr Vegetable Mix: ~0.7 oz & 60 calories
Peanuts: 3 oz & 480 calories
Spiced Olive Oil: 1 oz and 240 calories

I can’t take credit for this recipe as I got it from Stick’s Blog. You can play with the amounts for smaller appetites.

Honestly? The best additions to ramen (for me) are a hard boiled egg slipped in, sesame oil, dried diced onion, maybe some some grated dried carrots.

Some recipes though:

https://trailcooking.com/2020/01/06/jerky-vegetable-noodle-bowl/

https://trailcooking.com/fbc/shrimp-sesame-noodles/

https://trailcooking.com/fbc/spicy-asian-style-noodles/

https://trailcooking.com/fbc/bacon-cheese-pasta/

For those of us who have this resource:. We go to the East Bay (SF) and shop in a good Asian market.  The one we shop has an entire floor-to-ceiling aisle of ramen packages-75 feet of different national style and flavors.

The selection is both fascinating and overwhelming.  Our favorite right now is Juzzee curry flavor from Singapore or Malaysia…

What fun!

Oh man. I just saw that curry noodles are a thing a couple days ago. I’ve been enjoying Japanese curry roux lately at home and I bet it would have tremendous potential as a backpacking ingredient. This one is my current favorite. 

I just checked and one block is 100 calories and 19 grams.

For those that have not enjoyed Japanese curry… I think it lands somewhere between my mother’s stew or pot roast and Indian curry. It has a delightful gravy-like quality.

I’ve used the Japanese curry mixes often over the years. I ran the warehouse for an Asian importer in the mid 2000’s, and was allowed to take whatever I wanted.

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016583-perfect-instant-ramen?fbclid=IwAR2TJCvR_tPpdMuTnakTcNxj6nyiE2slsz54-P4mO9sSKeGVaJtANR361qQ

I used real cheese instead of American cheese, it worked fine.

1 pack ramen noodles with flavor packet
1 large egg
½ teaspoon butter
2 slices American cheese
¼ teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
½ scallion, green part only, thinly sliced on the bias, optional

Preparation
Bring 2 1/2 cups of water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the noodles and cook for 2 minutes. Add the flavor packet, stir, and continue to cook for another 30 seconds.
Remove the pan from the heat and carefully add the egg. Do not stir; pull the noodles over the egg and let sit for one minute to poach.
Carefully transfer everything to a serving bowl, add the butter, cheese and sesame seeds and mix. Garnish with the scallions if desired.