038 - Peanut Butter Ramen! #RamenHack

Good evening ladies and gentleman! It is now Friday, 7:19 PM in the evening as I type this. A pretty weird time to be at home and do some blogging some of you might say right? NOPE. 

Any time is a perfect blogging time for me!

Time to check out this new recipe I came up recently.  

I know you love peanut butter. I mean, WHO DOESN’T right? (Too bad for those with peanut allergy though lol). I absolutely love PB. I can eat it out of a jar with a spoon non-stop (I’ll probably stop after I remember it can cause terrible acne to my face, ugh)

Who knew PB also goes well with Instant Ramen? Let me show you how!

This is, PEANUT BUTTER RAMEN

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For 1 servings, you will need:

1 Packet of Instant Ramen. I’m using Indomie’s Chicken Onion flavor.

1,5 tbsp of Smooth Peanut Butter

2 Garlic, grated

1 tsp Dried Chili Flakes

1 tsp of Sugar

Pinch of Salt

1 tbsp vinegar. I’m using rice vinegar

(optional) 2 tsp sesame seed oil

(optional) 1 tbsp Gochujang (Korean Pepper Paste, you can read more about it here)

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Ready? Here We Go!

Step 1 – Boil your noodles as instructed, bla bla bla, you know the drill. Here’s the catch: Mix the seasonings with the water, and cook the noodle halfway through. We will boil the noodle once again right after the PB paste is done. Set it aside, and Read on!

I can imagine Hell looked a bit like this eh?

Remember how Justin Timberlake used to have this for a hair?

In goes the seasoning

Don't forget the chili too

..and the oil!

Step 2 – Get a non-stick pan, pour about 1 tbsp of cooking oil on medium heat. First, in goes the garlic. Give it a good stir. And then add the chili flakes. Give it yet, another stir. You shall smell that lovely heat by now.

Oil (obviously, duh)

Vampire's eternal enemy (Garlic)

Don't you just love to stir it?

Chili Flakes

Slowly turning into a paste

Step 3 – Add your Peanut Butter! The PB will melt, thanks to the heat. Give it a nice stir, and add the vinegar and sesame seed oil (optional). Continue stirring, and then add the sugar. You will see that the mixture will turn into a paste, and if you fancy, it is now the time to throw in the Gochujang. Give it a nice stir, and by now it shall look like Belacan (Shrimp Paste). Finish with a sprinkle of salt, and set aside.

PEEE BEEE!!!

Stir, then add the vinegar and sesame seed oil (optional)

Sugar, we're going down

Bubbling!

GOCHUJANG!!

Salt to finish!

Step 4 – Reheat the noodle and the broth. Grab a bowl, and put your PB paste in. After the broth gets boiling once again, add it into the paste a little at a time while stirring it. This will prevent lumps, and will make the broth smooth as silk. After you pour every broth, it is time to put the noodles in, and whaddya know? WE’RE DONE!

Step 5 – Serve.

Thank me later folks, this thing is amazing.

Peace

xx

026 - The Double Crispy Trouble!

Instant ramen is a game changer. No doubt about that. Ever since its inception, the fabulous thing had been converted into lots of creative meal. The imagination those who create a meal off of it has no limit. 

So after I made Milk Ramen few weeks back, I’m going to incorporate yet another Instant Ramen into my recipe. So for this week, brace yourself for this fucker. Lo and behold, the Double Crispy Trouble.

Why double? This dish consisted of Ramen that is pan fried till crisp PLUS a crispy chicken thigh seasoned with the seasoning pack itself!

Here’s what you need:

1 Pack of Instant Ramen of your choice. Onion chicken for me today

Enough oil for frying

For the chicken:

70 grams of Chicken Thigh, cut into bite size pieces.

1 garlic peeled and grated.

2 tbsp of Soy Sauce

2 tsp of Rice Wine Vinegar

1 tsp of Dried Chili Flakes.

1 seasoning packet from the ramen. Remember, save it, don’t waste it. (PURELY OPTIONAL! Read below!)

8 tbsp of Cornstarch (for Indonesians, we call it Maizena)

1 egg white

Ready? Here We Go!

Step 1 – Marinate your chicken. Mix the chicken thigh with the garlic, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, chili flakes, AND if you’re feeling adventurous, the ramen seasoning. If you decided to add the ramen seasoning, it’d be best to leave the soy sauce out of the marinade! The seasoning will overwhelm everything, and it will make your chicken way too salty. Oh, and leave it to marinate for at least 10 minute.

Chicken

Soy Sauce

Rice Wine Vinegar

Chili Flakes

Garlic

WARNING: CONTAIN MUCH MSG ORGASM. SUCH INTENSE. MUCH WOW.

 This is what i feel about the seasoning packet:

OOOHHH LA LAAA

Mixy-Mixy- MIX IT UP

Step 2 – Boil your ramen as usual, strain it after it’s done to your liking, and leave it to dry for a bit. Dry ramen will yield a crispy ramen. And you know what crispy means right? YUM YUM. Oh, and no picture for this step, you know how it's done right?

Step 3 – While we wait for the ramen to dry, heat your oil in the pan with high heat, just enough to shallow fry the chicken. Shallow frying is typically used to prepare portion-sized cuts of meat and fish, and patties such as fritters (that’s what Wikipedia says, I simply call this as ‘goreng dangkal’ LOL)

Step 4 – Drain the marinade off the chicken; mix the egg whites and prepare the cornstarch. The flow goes; chicken-cornstarch-egg whites-corn starch. You will see that the chicken will be coated in a thick batter. And trust me on this one; this will become crisp once finished!

Prep line

Corn starch first

Egg whites

Back to the starch

 Step 5 – Dunk the chicken to the hot oil. Cook it for 1.5 - 2 minutes on each side, or until that golden brown crust has popped up gracefully! Be very careful not to burn the crust. Once you hit the jackpot, strain and leave the excess oil drop on top of the paper towel.

After the flip. LOOK AT THAT

Step 6 – Heat yet another batch of oil. Feel free to reuse the previous oil, but for great appearance, use fresh new batch. Don’t be a cheapo will ya? Oh, use medium heat for this. Once you see smoke, put the ramen and shape it into concentric circles. You know, for presentation ;) Cook this for about 4-5 minutes on each side, until it turns golden brown. Drain it on paper towel after it’s done. Oh, and don’t you dare to speedhack the process with higher heat, you will definitely burn the noodle! (I did this, stupid)

First side. Looking lumpy.

Press it!

Golden Brown Crunch!

Step 7 – Serve!

See how easy it is for you to elevate the level of a simple instant ramen? Heads will turn folks, heads will turn. For that extra savory, mix mayonnaise with mustard and a touch of acidity in forms of either lemon juice or white vinegar. Drizzle that all over the dish. D-E-L-I-S-H!

Give this a go and let me know how it turns out!

Peace

xx

009 - Ramen Burger!!

Burger with bun made out of Ramen sounded like a crazy ass idea from stoned-and-totally-tight-on-budget college student ain’t it? Nope.

Ramen Burger is the brainchild of Keizo Shimamoto, an avid foodie. 

This food took over the world by storm, much like Cronuts.

The idea is very simple: it’s a hamburger, but with a ramen for a bun instead of bread. And it is dead easy to make!

You will need:

-1 pack Instant Ramen. Pick any brand you want. I stick to the leader of the pack: INDOMIE.

- 200 gr Ground Beef

- 1 Egg

- Cheese of your choice. Cheddar is my pick

- Green Onion

- Soy Sauce. Go with Kikkoman

- Coarse Sea Salt

- Freshly ground Pepper

- Various garnish. I’m going with Tomato and Iceberg Lettuce

Keizo uses Miso based sauce for its burger. Me? I like to keep it simple with Mayo-Sriracha  OR Peanut Butter-Vinegar-Sriracha (YES, PEANUT BUTTER WORKED WONDER!)

Ready? Here We Go!

Step 1 – Boil your ramen according to manufacturer’s guidance. Dont forget to put the seasoning in the water too!

Step 2 – Strain your ramen when it has reach your desired doneness, put it on a bowl and set aside. Right after that, crack your egg, and mix it with the noodle. When you’re mixing it, try to remember things that made your heart ache. Got that? NOW MIX THAT MOTHERFUCKER LIKE THERE’S NO TOMORROW.

Step 3 – Grab a small bowl, or anything that has concentric circles on it. I’m using my ceramic baking cup. Line it with plastic wrap, and divide the ramen-egg mixture into 2. Cover it up, and let it sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to harden up. Yea, HARD. Heehehehehe *perverted face*

Step 4 – Prep your beef. Chop the green part of your green onion finely and mix it with the beef. Add a splash of soy sauce. Now it’s time to get down and dirty with your hands and mix it all up. Don’t mix it too much, or the meat will be drier than the Sahara when it’s finished. Let it sit in the fridge, covered, for 10 minutes to firm up.

Step 5 – Prepare your sauce. This time I’m making a 2 sauce combo. The Mayo-Sriracha will go on the top bun, and the Peanut Butter-Vinegar-Sriracha will go on the bottom bun. The sauce combo will explode in your mouth like Freddie Mercury singing ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ while sitting on Darth Vader’s shoulder.

Step 6 – Oil your pan, and cook your Bun. Use medium heat. This will took around 3-4 minutes on each side. Once the bun is golden and crispy, transfer it to a plate.

Step 7 – Cook your patty. Use medium-high heat on your non-stick pan, and cook for around 2-3 minutes on each side. Once you flip it, put your cheese and let it melt into ooey gooey ooziness. And don't forget to season both side with salt and pepper!

Step 8 – ASSEMBLE. Bun-Mayo Sauce-Tomato-Lettuce-Meat-PB sauce-Bun.

WOULD SPEND A MINUTE AND APPRECIATE THAT BEAUTY.

Okay, I’m out. I’m gonna get my hands dirty.

Till next time.

Peace

xx