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Noodles Asian noodles Lunch / Dinner One Bowl Meals

Sweet soy sauce beef ramen

Published: 07.07.2021 » Last updated: 01.04.2023

Packets of instant ramen, 200 grams of thinly sliced sirloin, spinach, eggs and slices of kamaboko make a quick and tasty lunch for two.

Sweet soy sauce beef ramen

Instant ramen again? You probably won’t believe how many shelves in the pantry are stacked with instant ramen. We’ve bought so much since early 2020 and we really need to use them before they go past their expiry dates. How to upgrade them to make nutritious and appetizing meals can be quite a challenge, and we’re just trying to rise to the occasion.

This sweet soy sauce beef ramen makes use of everything in the instant noodle packets — the noodles, seasonings and even the garnish. The broth is given a richer flavor by simmering the powdered seasoning with Japanese soy sauce, sake, mirin and a little sugar.

Boiling instant ramen in water

So, the noodles were dumped in boiling water, left to cook for a few minutes (four minutes is the default), drained, dumped in a bowl of icy water and left until they are cold before being drained once again. This process ensures that the noodles don’t clump and stay springy when served.

Cooking sweet soy sauce ramen broth

With the noodles done, the powdered seasoning from the packs of instant ramen was dispersed in water and boiled with soy sauce, sake, mirin and sugar.

Blanching spinach in boiling broth

Spinach was pressed into the boiling broth and left there just long enough to wilt. The spinach was scooped out to give room to the beef.

Dipping thinly sliced beef in simmering broth

Thinly sliced beef does not take long to cook. In fact, cooking for too long makes it tough and leathery. So, just the beef was dropped into the boiling broth and once it had lost most of its pinkness, it was scooped out immediately.

Assembling Sweet soy sauce beef ramen in bowl

To complete the dish, the beef, spinach and noodles were divided into two portions and arranged with slices of komoboko in two bowls. Using chopsticks, a well was created in the center of the bowls and raw egg yolks were dropped in.

Sweet soy sauce beef ramen in bowl

Simmering broth was poured directly over the contents of the bowl and the sweet soy sauce beef ramen was served.

When simmering broth is poured directly over the egg yolks, they partially cook. But if the yolks are still too raw for you, you can just omit them.

Sweet soy sauce beef ramen

Connie Veneracion
Salty sweet broth, greens, beef, noodles, kamaboko and raw egg. Think sukiyaki but simpler because this instant ramen hack has fewer ingredients. Mushrooms (shimeji and enoki, especially) are good additions.
Sweet soy sauce beef ramen with raw egg yolk and fish cakes
Print Pin Recipe
Prep Time 5 mins
Cook Time 10 mins
Total Time 15 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese fusion
Servings 2 people

Ingredients
  

  • 2 packs instant ramen - (any flavor)
  • 2 tablespoons Japanese soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons sake
  • 2 tablespoons mirin
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • spinach - enough for two bowls
  • 200 grams sirloin - thinly sliced
  • 6 to 8 slices kamaboko - (frozen fish cake available in Japanese groceries) thawed

Instructions
 

  • Cook the noodles in boiling water, drain, dump in a bowl of iced water (to prevent them from turning soggy) and drain again.
  • Divide the noodles between two bowls.
  • In a pot, boil two and ahalf cups of water and stir in the powdered seasoning from the packets of instant ramen.
  • Pour in the soy sauce, sake and mirin. Stir in the sugar. Boil gently, uncovered, for two to three minutes.
  • Taste the broth. If too bland, add more salt or soy sauce and sugar to get a good balance.
  • Drop the spinach into the boiling broth and leave to wilt (about a minute).
  • Scoop out, divide into two portions and arrange beside the noodles in the bowls.
  • Drop the beef into the broth, cook until the meat changes color then scoop out.
  • Divide the meat into two portions and arrange in the bowls with the noodles and spinach.
  • Arrange the kamaboko slices in the bowls.
  • Crack an egg on top of the noodles.
  • Pour very hot broth into the bowls.
  • Top with whatever garnish came in the packets of instant noodles (ours had fried shallots and garlic oil).
  • Serve your sweet shoyu beef ramen immediately.
Print Pin Recipe
Keyword Instant Ramen Hacks

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Newsletter department

  • #18 Cooking for Lent
    03.23.2023
    A few readers have emailed asking me to post recipes for Lent, and I tell them there is NO need for NEW recipes. Instead, they should try digging into the seafood, mushrooms and tofu recipe archives.

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Connie Veneracion, Chiang Mai, 2020

Hi, I’m Connie!

Welcome to Umami Days, a blog that advocates innovative home cooking for pleasurable everyday dining. No trendy diets, no food fads and definitely no ludicrous recipe names like crustless quiche, noodleless pho or chocolate lasagna.

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