101 Goals | Making Ramen from Scratch

Earlier this year I created a list of 101 things I wanted to do. I didn’t set a deadline on the list, although maybe I should have, but I just wanted to make a tangible list of things that I want to do at some point in my life. 101 things doesn’t seem like a lot, and I might even add to it in the feature, but for now I can at least get started on the first 101!

Last October when Matt and I were planning to go to Australia we ended up going to some places that were not planned. We never made it to Australia 🙁 But we had a blast camping up the coast of California, Napa, and then flying to Honolulu for a few days! We sometimes consider ourselves adventurous and when we are visiting new places we tend to enjoy trying foods that we normally would not find back at home. With the help of our trusty iphones, UrbanSpoon was able to help us find a little place called Ramen Nakamura in Honolulu right off of Waikiki beach. It was within walking distance from our hotel which was Hale Koa (stay here if you are military!). There we found some of the best ramen we have ever had (obviously since we only ate ramen in college from the package)! We had to wait for about 20 minutes to sit down, but we heard it was worth it. Out came piping hot ramen soup, gyoza’s, and fried rice!! So after this experience I was determined to make homemade ramen that we could enjoy at home.

I found a few recipes online and tried to do my grocery shopping on Amazon since Enid had little to offer by way of miso and hon dashi. Before I bought anything Matt and I made a stop at an oriental grocery store in Oklahoma City that had far more than we expected or needed!! I was in Miso heaven with so many choices! Since a little goes a long way I just stuck with the basics knowing that I could always come back for more. Matt also bought me a booked called Noodle Comfort which has suggestions on other types of ramen and noodle dishes!

For my first try at making ramen I boiled pork shoulder and used the water for the pork broth along with adding soy sauce and salt. I also made basic miso broth with miso paste, water, and hon dashi. GO light on these! I over did it and will know better next time. All the fresh ingredients like bok choy, green onions, carrots, garlic, ginger, and sprouts were cooked down so they were still slightly crisp. I used udon noodles since I love the texture, however, I think we will try a basic ramen noodle next time. They were a little too big. Everything went into the bowl with slices of pork and then topped off with the broth of choice. I was surprised to find that I enjoyed the pork broth more than the miso.

Verdict: The pork needed more flavor, the green onions should have been chopped, and the miso broth was too strong! The pork broth was easy to make and didn’t go to waste and adding in bok choy really brought out the asian flavor and smells! So there is always room for perfection, but the ramen was good enough for me that I won’t have to go back to Hawaii anytime soon, although I wouldn’t pass up the opportunity!