Ramen Bowl

Read in Afirkaans

Food bowls are trendy, easy to make look good on Instagram, and surprisingly healthy and tasty. The fun thing about creating a bowl of food is that anything goes. Savoury or sweet, traditional flavours or just the things you like together, food bowls are the thing you should try at your next braai.

For ramen bowls, the focus is on the broth. A tasty umami broth can be made with a good bone stock and things like soy sauce, fish sauce, garlic, ginger and miso. Ramen is a popular Japanese dish of noodles that has its origins in China. It is traditionally made using handmade noodles, stock that has simmered for hours, and regional variations of ingredients. This dish is so popular that it started the instant noodle craze that has taken the world by storm. Getting back to good healthy food but without the very labour-intensive cooking techniques gives us a great alternative in this very delicious bowl of food.

Ramen Bowl Stock

1 cup vegetable or chicken stock
2 tablespoons dashi stock powder (optional – if you can find it, dashi stock powder makes a richer stock)
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, finely grated
1 teaspoon chilli sauce
Microgreens to serve (optional)

For the stock, add all the ingredients to a saucepan and cook until well combined.

Marinade

3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons black Chinese vinegar or apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon hot chilli sauce
Juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon sugar or honey

Mix all the ingredients for the marinade and cover the pork rashers. Marinate overnight or for at least an hour. Grill the rashers on a high heat until crispy, then cut into pieces.

Ingredients for the bowl

500g pork rashers for 4 bowls
Rice or any other noodles, cooked in boiling salted water for 3 – 4 minutes
5-minute boiled eggs, peeled and halved
Spring onions, chopped
Mushrooms (we used shimeji mushrooms, but any type will do)
Bok choy, halved
Carrots, grated

Prepare all the vegetables and make up the bowls using the noodles as the centre base and filling in around the sides. Top with the pork rashers and microgreens and pour over the stock.