Random Chaos

I got around to toying with the ingredients that I had the other day:  the fresh ramen and red miso.  First off, reactions to the fresh miso.

I wasn't expecting what I got when I took my first sip of freshly prepared red miso soup.  The flavor was far milder than I'd been led to believe, with a hint of subtle sweetness that made me wonder just what I could do with a combination of red and white miso.

Now, for the fun part.


( Chicken and Red Miso Ramen )

 

Put the water off to one side and add the wakame to it in a small pot; don’t start it to boiling just yet.

 

Dice the chicken up into small cubes and sauté with about half of the onions in a small but heavy skillet. While the chicken is cooking, turn the fire on under the seaweed on high, bringing it to a fast boil, and cover. While the seaweed is cooking add about half of the white onion and the rest of the green onions, then cover. Let that cook for about ten minutes, while the chicken cooks. Stir it around a bit, don’t let it brown too much on any one side.

 

When chicken shows the first signs of doneness, take another pot of water and start the noodles to cooking, stopping about a minute before you usually would; strain and rinse, put to one side. At the same time, remove the stock from the heat.

 

Using a fork, add the miso paste to the stock base, stirring until it dissolves.  I’ve found that it usually takes a bit of a whisking before it’s all dissolved. Add the rest of the white onions and the chicken to the mixture, stir; then add the ramen, and replace the pot on the heat, letting it heat to just under the simmer point. As soon as you see bubbles, REMOVE from the heat.

 

This is one of the heartier versions of the soup that I’ve made so far. It’s proven very nice while the crazy weather pops in and out of the area