I got on a ramen kick last year and have been messing with this recipe ever since. The fun thing about ramen is that it can be modified several different ways. You can change up the toppings to dazzle your guests each time you make it. Make this vegetarian or even vegan by switching to vegetable broth–and leaving out the bacon (duh). My recipe for the broth isn’t exact–but stop being such a nervous wreck, it’ll be great. Here’s my recipe to get you started.

Start by sautéing the ginger and garlic in a light oil. I then add about six cups of water. Next add some big scoops of the miso soup base, several teaspoons of beef stock base, a few generous squeezes of lemon grass paste, a splash of soy sauce, some brown sugar. Add one package of shitake mushroom blend (fresh). Bring to a simmer. Meanwhile bring another pot of just water to boil for your noodles. Use generous amounts of the beef broth soup base and miso soup base–you can always water that sucker down if you get it too strong. But remember–you want this to be rich and delicious.

I like to cheat with the lemon grass and use the paste that you find in the produce section of the grocery store. The Miso soup base will mostly likely have to be purchased at an Asian grocery store, but it will last you forever. A note on Asian grocery stores: bring cash. That Chinese lady ain’t gonna take your card…I don’t care if it says “VISA” on the cash register, and you can SEE the credit card machine….she’s not doing it. You can, however, count on an entire aisle devoted to cool dishes at great prices. I like having big ramen bowls and fun spoons for a nice presentation.

Make the noodles in a separate pot of water and then add them to the individual ramen bowls using tongs. That way they don’t get lost in the soup and you can control the presentation a little better. Put the baby bok choy in at the same time as the noodles (the noodles should only take 3-4 minutes). The ideal noodle should be wheat based. When you’re in the Asian grocery store grab a few different kinds to experiment with. Don’t use rice noodles–they’re too wimpy and will leave everyone hungry.

Add the seaweed pieces to the bottom of the bowl, top with broth, mushrooms, bok choy, cooked bacon, fresh asparagus (the hot water will make it crisp tender), an egg (it can be boiled or fried), and garnish with green onions. Drizzle with sesame oil and chili oil. I serve the chili oil on the side so each person can make it as hot as they would like. Serve with sake or Japanese beer and then enjoy the rose petals that will shorty be raining down on you.

We burn through chili oil–so I made my own! A fist full of crushed red peppers, peanut oil, and a few splashes of sesame oil. shake shake shake.

Other garnish ideas:

– shaved carrots

– corn

– shrimp or scallops

– chicken

– tofu

– broccoli (like the asparagus, add it to your bowl fresh and let the hot water cook it) or I’ve seen recipes calling for it roasted which would be great too

– snow peas

– thinly sliced radishes (you could let them sit in your pickle jar for a few days prior for extra credit)

– lightly pickled red onions (like the radishes, you can pickle your own no muss no fuss…assuming you remember to do it a few days ahead)