Survival Sunday 223: Black Ramen Stirfry

I don't know if you guys remember my "Black Ramen Adventure", but I had leftover bricks from that package, so Z and I decided to make some more ramen. Sort of. Neither one of us wanted soup. It's getting pretty toasty here, what with summer just tackling us in the endocrine systems, but fatties like me still have to eat, even if we're already baking.

Here are the ingredients for this weird noodle stirfry we kludged together to fill our faces:

• 2 bricks of ramen (black ramen bricks are maybe a little smaller than regular ramen, adjust to your liking)
• water for boiling the ramen
• protein (I used a bagged grocery store chicken that was pre-cut)
• veggies (optional; anything you think would taste good stir-fried)
• sauces & spices
• 1 egg
• 2 Tablespoons cooking oil (don't use either sesame oil or olive oil for this, since the high heat will absolutely violate them and make them bitter and nasty. I used canola)

Simple enough, right? Well... I forgot to take a picture of the ramen boiling in the frying pan, so... oops. It was pretty cool.

Step 1: Select a frying pan/skillet/wok that will fit all the ingredients you'd like. Err on the side of "too big" rather than too small. Then add about 1"-1.5" of water (at least enough that the ramen bricks are 75%-90% covered. Boil water, then add noodles, cook until just soft enough.

Step 2: Drain your ramen. The water will be a horrifying sludgy purple if you're using black ramen. This is normal. You're not going to die (unless you're allergic to rice, then I have to ask what the heck you think you're doing following a recipe that you know will hurt you. Take care of yourself. I love you.)

Between steps 1 and 2, you can start preparing your stir-fry ingredients. 

This is the chicken. It was pre-seasoned with a ton of garlic, so we didn't add any garlic at all.

I like to put Z in charge of the sauces and/or marinades, since Z has a very good taste for these things.
This is a Katsu Sauce given to us by the Noodz Doodz, so thanks, guys!
It's kind of like a barbecue sauce, but... better.

We also added pepper and curry powder (I think).
To be honest, this recipe didn't need toooooo much seasoning, since the chicken was pre-seasoned.

Step 3: Add sauces to your meat and let sit until noodles are cooked and drained. Crack and beat an egg in a separate bowl until the color is uniform.

Step 4: Add oil to pan, put noodles back in pan, add protein (but not egg), turn heat up to med-high or high, depending on how hot you're comfortable working.

Step 5: KEEP EVERYTHING MOVING AT ALL TIMES. And add random sauces until you think it smells good. Here is also where you add any peanut butter (for a more Thai flavor) or pineapple fruit and/or juice (for a more Hawaiian flavor).

Seriously, though, don't let it sit still at all. It will cling to that pan and be a nightmare to clean.

Step 6: Pour that egg in and keep stirring until it looks 100% finished. Since the egg is the only raw ingredient we've got here, that's the one I used to judge "doneness". If you don't do eggs, no worries.

Step 7: Slap that stir-fry into some bowls and top with furikake, sesame seeds, or whatever else your heart desires. If we'd used a Korean sauce, I'd have added cheese. If we'd done a full Hawaiian, I'd have added some toasted coconut chips on top of Z's (I can't really handle coconut, boo). If we'd gone full Thai, I'd have added chopped chili and crushed peanut. You get the picture.

Here's a bowl with furikake.
It really added a lot, to be honest.

Here's a bowl before we remembered furikake...
Still good, but missing something.

I hope that recipe works as well for you guys as it did for Z and me, because when we ate this, it was amazing. You may notice that, aside from the oil, I don't really have measurements for the additions. That's because stir-fries are all about customization. If you mix something up and you think it needs something sour, find something sour (like a vinegar). If it needs something sweet, add fruit juice or sugar or honey, etc. If it needs something bitter, look for something that you know will make it bitter. For umami, soy sauce works. Go nuts! If you like the flavor, you've done it right. If you don't like something, adjust adjust adjust.

Go Enjoy Something!
FC