Lamb Ramen Bowl

By Claudine Noppe

We all have tongues to taste with. But what are we tasting? There are five basic tastes that we experience. Sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami. Everyone knows what sickly sweet condensed milk or mouth puckering lemons taste like. The saltiness of biltong and the bitterness of a strong coffee is a familiar sensation to all. Umami is a strange one though. It is commonly referred to as true “savoriness”. Foods that have a strong umami taste are parmesan cheese, miso paste, mushrooms and red meat. 

I wanted to create a dish that encapsulates that ‘umami’ taste while also still incorporating all the other tastes. A well balanced bowl of food filled with flavour to satisfy all your savoury cravings. When thinking about a bowl of food that has a variety of tastes and textures, Ramen comes to my mind first. This Japanese dish consists of a base of wheat or egg noodles cooked in a broth that is flavoured with miso (see – umaminess). The noodles and broth are then topped with a variety of toppings such as boiled egg, sliced meat, vegetables and sauces.

For the noodles I used the good old South African classic – Maggi 2 minute noodles. The beef flavour is my personal favourite! The seasoning packets are jam packed with umami and salty flavours. To further shove umaminess down your thoat, I added some miso paste and soy sauce to the broth. I topped my ramen with sweet soy braised chump chops, a soft boiled egg, steamed broccoli and mangetout, spring onions, crispy onions and sesame seeds. Other toppings that will work is some chopped nori, sliced carrots, bok choi and sriracha sauce.

Click here for the downloadable pdf.

Ingredients:

Serves 4

·         3 packets beef 2 minute noodles

·         2 spring onions, roughly chopped + extra for serving

·         1 thumb sized piece of ginger, sliced

·         2,5 – 5 ml of chili flakes

·         15 ml miso paste (This can be a difficult ingredient to find, so it is optional.)

·         15 ml soy sauce

·         6 small chump chops

·         60 ml sweet soy sauce (If you cannot find this replace with 60 ml soy sauce and 30 ml brown sugar)

·         1 packet mangetout, thinly sliced and steamed

·         ½ head broccoli, broken into florets and steamed

·         Crispy sprinkle salad onions

·         Sesame seeds

·         4 eggs, boiled

Method:

1. In a pot, mix together 6 cups of water, the three beef seasoning packs (the noodles will be cooked later), spring onion, ginger and chili flakes. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.

2. While the broth is going, brown the lamb chops in a searing hot pan! Remember to salt both sides of the chops while browning. When the chops are nicely caramelized, add the sweet soy sauce (or the soy and brown sugar) and 60 ml of water. Reduce the heat and put a lid on. Braise for 20 – 30 minutes or until the sauce gets really dark and sticky.

3. During the time that the chops are braising, get all your toppings ready.

4. When the chops are ready, set them aside to cool a little bit and then add the miso and soy sauce to the broth. Adjust the seasonings to your tastes. Add the noodles. Put the lid on and leave for 3-4 minutes to cook through properly.

5. Remove the lamb chop meat from the bones and cut into cubes while the noodles are cooking.

6. When the noodles are el dente, dish them into a bowl, top with broth and then add all the toppings you prepared earlier.