Myojo Ramen Okinawa Style

I love ramen. Let me clarify that. I love most kinds of noodles: soup noodles, fried noodles, cold noodles, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Italian, etc. Many of my eating habits were influenced by my maternal grandmother. And she loved her noodles. I used to help her make all sorts of noodles so it's not surprising that noodle dishes are comfort foods for me. So I thought it would be nice to do some posts on noodles every now and then, sort of in memory of my Grandmother.

For the past 3 nights, I've been kind of on a ramen binge. Not making the noodles myself (yeesh, that would be up there with making my own shui jiao peels) but using prepackaged ones. I'm not one who can just eat any brand predried noodles doused in some highly saturated fat powder... Oh wait, I can and I have. I don't particularly care for the taste of brands like Top Ramen but there are some good ones that are almost as cheap and handy when I'm jonesing for ramen and too lazy to go out for it. I do prefer the prepackage ramens that have fresh noodles in them, like the Myojo brand.

I got a package of Myojo Okinawa Style Ramen from Marukai and I think this has become my favorite. As you can see in the picture, the noodles and seasonings come in separate packs. This particular package came with 3 servings, each individually packed. I decided to use up leftover krab that I purchased for California Rolls since I didn't have any kamaboko or fish balls on hand (and yes, too lazy to go out to get some). The green stuff on the right is baby bok choy. Typically, I like to have some kind of greens, preferrably baby bok choy or Napa cabbage, as well as a couple of poached eggs with my ramen.

Here is the dry soup content. Here is the soup content after adding hot water.

I also added a good dousing of some Korean hot chili powder to give it some kick.

And here's the final product. In the upper part of the bowl, there's some pickled ginger that came with the package. I think I will forgo adding this in the future since it was overbearing everything else. The red flakes on top of those eggs were pepper flakes that came with the package.

Overall, this was a very satisfying meal. The broth had very good flavor. The Okinawa style noodles are wider and firmer than ramen noodles that had a very nice bite to it, not slimy or soggy at all. I liked it a lot. What would have made it perfect was some fish cakes but hey, when you're lazy like me, krab will do in a pinch. My eggs turned out perfect. The whites were firm but tender (not runny), and the yolk perfectly cooked through and gooey. Ah, a good meal it was.

On a side note. Yes, I changed the layout of my blog. I've been experimenting for the past 3 months now, trying out new configurations, colors and styles. I finally landed on this one and think I'll leave it for a while. I don't think it makes the pages overly crowded and the posts are still easy to read (to me). Let me know what you think.

Have a wonderful weekend. Now go and eat well.