It's that time of year again... a time for protein-rich, low-carb and nutrient-high grub. I know a number of people that try and hit that triple threat and end up in dry chicken breast and salad land. NOT today Zurg. (Veggie-hacks at the bottom of the post*).
As I try always to make the case in the Mocking Bird Kitchen, this recipe is super easy to put together and is blinkin' delish. Two key tips to success ::
- A good stock. Either make it yourself (boil a chicken carcass with some veg for a few hours), or buy a pot of fresh stock from a butcher. DO NOT USE STOCK CUBES. Otherwise that's all your ramen will taste of (basically, a bit false).
- Fragrance - which in this recipe comes from garlic, ginger, lemongrass, coriander stalks & lime.
First, finely slice the garlic and ginger and fry gently on a low heat in some coconut oil or olive oil for 7-8 minutes.
Grab your cucumber and peel away the outer skin. Then, peel lengths off until you reach the seedy centre. Place in a bowl, and squeeze the juice of a lime over. Set to one side to lightly pickle. Discard the cucumber centre or add a few slices to glasses of water for a refreshing drink!
Now to prep the rest of the veg. Grab your spring onion and pull back the outer-most skin. This doesn't tend to taste of much and often has some dirt on. 
Chop up the rest of the veg like so. With the coriander, finely slice the stalks and leave the leaves aside for garnishing at the end.
Once the ginger and garlic have softened, add a pint of chicken stock and the chicken thighs, having sliced them into thin strips beforehand, and two sticks of lemongrass. Cook on a medium heat for about 20 minutes. Also add one heaped teaspoon each of cayenne pepper, five spice, salt & pepper. You may wish to add more towards the end if you feel it needs it.
Add the rest of your veg and cook for around 10 minutes, or until the brocolli is cooked (takes the longest to cook, taste it after 8 mins to check).
Cook the noodles as per the instructions then cool under a cold tap in a sieve. You can do this as early in the process as you like.
Put on a small saucepan of boiling water. Once bubbling, turn the heat down and carefully lower the eggs in. Cook for 7 minutes.
Meanwhile, ladle the ramen over the noodles....
...and begin adding your garnishes in whatever arrangement you prefer. The spring onions I gently dry fried for a few minutes as it adds a lovely charred flavour.
Once your egg time is up, drop it into cold water for a few seconds to cool the shell slightly. Crack around the egg a little by dropping from a few centimetres high.
There's a bit of a knack to peeling egg shell. There's a very thin layer of white around the edge (some call it membrane, eughyyrkk) which if you can get under, you can pull away large sections.
Once shell-free, run the length of the knife quickly across the middle of the egg and let the two halves fall back on their sides, hopefully keeping as much runny yolk inside the white as possible. The reality of this process is that it'll all start pouring out, so be prepared with your knife to quickly shovel it up and into the ramen.
Tada.
Ingredients (except I bailed on the beansprouts because the peashoots covered off that role better (serves 2) ::
4 Skinless Chicken thighs
1 pint of fresh Chicken stock
Your preferred Noodles, I like egg (1 nest per person)
2 Limes
1 Chilli
Half a Cucumber
1 mug of Soy beans
5-6 Spring onions
Coriander
1 thumb-sized piece of Ginger
4 cloves of Garlic
Pea shoots
1 Courgette
1 Broccoli
1 Egg
Soy sauce
Cayenne pepper
Chinese five spice
Lemon grass
*For the veggies out there, I think there is plenty going on in this not to need to replace the chicken. Though, if you did want an ingredient to serve that sort of role, tofu would work nicely. As for the stock, if you use a sparing amount of bouillon/veg stock and perhaps up the amount of veg + spices. My main consciousness is ensuring it all tastes as natural as possible and cubed/powdered stock can often draw from this.
