Monday, 07/09/2015, 'Cheat's Chicken Ramen'

Recipe from 'GoodFood' magazine, September 2015 issue, page 50.





















With the Autumn banging on our doors with rain and wind, soup is more than welcome in our bowls.

That special number allowed me to use chillies we grew this year. The one I employed was of the Cayenne variety.

The recipe asked to simmer for five to ten minutes to infuse the chilli and coriander: I was actually amazed by that simple yet very effective technique. The soup was fragrant and yes spicy.

If spicy food is not your thing, then skip the chilli or that soup altogether for it is a 'hot' broth.
If we did enjoy the warm tingle in the throat, this is not a recipe to do when one has guests.

However this is the perfect number to do again when the temperature outside are below zero, when it's freezing and/or snowing and you seek all the warmth that you can get.

The recipe is easy to do and doesn't take long to prepare. I used double the amount of oyster mushrooms, 200g instead of 100, because I just love them.

One ingredient I rarely cooked with is the sliced bamboo shoots. They gave to the dish that instant oriental feel along with the pak choi. But also their taste provide a balance against the heat of the chilli.

On overall we liked the dish but not loved it, but I can see myself cooking it again during the chillier nights of Winter. I would rate it as an occasional keeper. In my household it reached a decent 3.5 on our star rating.