Recipe Mutiny steals recipes from food blogs and recipe sites. Then we publish them. With credit (Naturally).
Friday, January 25, 2019
Follow These Tips to Reduce Food Waste
When we waste food, we waste both our own money (an average of $1,800 per year for a family of four!) and the natural resources used to create that food. Plus, we needlessly add usable food to landfills. Luckily, there are so many ways to cut down on food waste, helping out both your wallet and the environment. Try one or two changes, or go full-on Captain Planet—the choice is yours for tackling food waste!
Waste Not: How to Get the Most from Your Food, $37.83
The James Beard Foundation presents tons more tips (and recipes) from top chefs in the interest of preventing food waste.
Organize Your Fridge
Shutterstock
Just like we sift through our books and our clothes, it’s important to take stock of what’s in our fridges. This will help you avoid buying that third bottle of ranch dressing when you already have several in the fridge (one nearly expired, one years old!). Get rid of the produce and condiments that have gone bad (RIP), and place those that are nearing expiration within sight, so that you remember to use them.
Shop Smarter
Shutterstock
If you find you routinely throw out slimy greens and moldy fruit, you might be a little overambitious with your produce purchases. Buying in bulk makes sense for canned and dry goods that last a long time, but take a look at your produce cooking and eating habits and try to plan your shopping list accordingly. If your weekly routine can shift a bit, try shopping European-style by taking shorter, more frequent trips to the store to pick up what you need for the next day or two.
Portion Your Plate
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We’re adults; we know how much we can eat in one sitting! Take only what you plan to eat when serving yourself, so that you don’t end up scraping good food into the garbage can. And, this goes double if you’re a dinner guest at someone else’s home—the host won’t want to save leftovers from your plate, so anything you don’t eat will certainly become trash. Remember, you can always go back for seconds, and anything uneaten in the serving dish will make for easy future leftover meals.
Get Doggie Bags
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Always ask for to-go containers for restaurant leftovers. Of course you’ll eat that leftover pizza later, but even leftover soup could be a good in-between-meals snack in the next few days. And, maybe you can use that rice as the ready-to-go base of your next home-cooked meal. Even if you’re full now, think of how leftovers can stave off that next grocery store trip!
Put Some Prep in Your Step
These meal prep containers are also great for sustainably storing leftovers.
Buy Ugly Produce
Imperfect Produce
Programs like Imperfect Produce work to address the fact that 20 billion pounds of American farm produce is wasted every year. This type of waste occurs because most grocery stores don’t want to source and sell extra-bumpy potatoes, tiny kiwis, or oddly-shaped peppers—historically, consumers don’t buy these, and they get thrown away. By purchasing imperfect fruits and vegetables, you save them from the garbage, and if you’re lucky enough to live near a grocery store with a discount produce bin, you’ll save some money, too!
Compost
Pixabay
Egg shells, corn cobs, melon rinds, oh my! Many parts of food cannot be creatively worked into new dishes, and for these times, there’s composting! Instead of adding all these leftover food parts to the trash, and ultimately, to landfills, composting turns it all into nutrient-rich soil. Check out our Composting 101 guide for the ins and outs of home composting.
Utopia Kitchen Stainless Steel Compost Bin, $21.99 on Amazon
This compost bucket matches almost any decor and fits even in small spaces between trips to the bigger bin outdoors.
Save Scraps for Stock
Some of those food scraps are prime stock ingredients! Onion skins, garlic tips, herb stems, carrot tops—put all of these into a freezer bag, and when you’ve amassed a good amount, simmer them all in water for an hour or a few, strain, and you’ve got a wonderful stock ready for soups and slow cooker recipes. Meat bones, cheese rinds, and shrimp peels are also excellent stock ingredients—but avoid citrus rinds or ingredients that could take over the milder flavors.
Freeze!
Shutterstock
Before you put that big pot of chili in the fridge, think: is my family going to eat all of this before it goes bad? Store what you will realistically eat in the next few days in the fridge, and put the rest away in the freezer—you’ll get less fatigued by the same dish every day for a week, and you’ll have ready-to-go meals when you defrost in a few weeks! Same goes for when you’ll be going out of town; make sure to freeze fridge leftovers so that they don’t go bad while you’re away.
Refrigerate Bread
Shutterstock
This is a contentious topic—some people hate storing bread in the fridge, thinking it gets dry, while others go to the other extreme and keep bread in the freezer, toasting slices as they need. As someone who has lived in various apartments with warm kitchens, I can attest that refrigerating my bread has prevented many a moldy loaf, and I’ve noticed little to no change in texture and flavor. To each their own, with this tip!
Equip Yourself
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Sometimes we have to admit to ourselves that we require a little retail therapy to push ourselves toward change. New gym clothes to workout more, fancy cleaning products to keep a tidier house, and our recommended Products to Help Reduce Food Waste. Juice more produce with a juicer, make preserves with a canning kit, and keep everything organized and ready-to-use with better storage containers!
Love the Food You’re With
Chowhound
Finally, take a look at our guide on How to Use Food Before It Goes Bad for ways to take on what you have at home. Store your food so that it lasts longer, and think outside the box for tackling those leftovers or those large amounts of produce you bought. Creativity is king for using up every last bit of produce!
Related Video: 12 Storage Mistakes That Are Spoiling Your Leftovers—and How to Fix Them
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11 Baked Rib Recipes That Put the Grill to Shame
Some eating experiences just make you feel a bit more primal—hacking into a tremendous porterhouse steak, for instance, or gnawing on a massive smoked turkey leg. But a big prehistoric slab of ribs really puts you in touch with your inner Flintstone. Eating copious amounts of meat right off the bone, inadvertently smearing sauce on your face, licking your fingers to get all the flavor? It’s messy, and delightful, and makes you feel a little wild—and very, very happy.
Our ancient ancestors would have had to cook their meat over open flames, and barbecuing ribs is still a damn fine way to cook them; there’s nothing like a perfect pink smoke ring in your meat, or the char from a live fire, but sometimes you don’t have access to a grill, or just don’t feel like tending one for hours. You’ve gotta make side dishes, after all! And maybe it’s raining, or snowing, which doesn’t stop some people, but why be a martyr? This is where your oven comes in.
Calphalon Classic Hard Anodized 16-Inch Roasting Pan with Nonstick Rack , $65.99 on Amazon
All you need is aluminum foil and a nice big pan.
Baked ribs are incredibly easy, and require precious little of you, save maybe a rub or marinade pregame, and then some occasional basting in the final stretch. They also take time, it’s true—usually several hours—but you’ll be free to do other things for the most part, while the ribs hang out and basically cook themselves.
The low, slow heat and moist environment of the oven makes the meat fall-apart tender and still gives you some color on the edges of the slab, where your chosen sauce caramelizes. Generally, you’ll be wrapping the ribs in aluminum foil for the bulk of the cooking time, which helps them get juicy and tender, then exposing the surface so you can slather on your sauce and get a little color.
For the best of both worlds, you can still finish your oven baked ribs on a grill, but that is certainly not required. Even if your recipe calls for a grill as a last step, as several of these do, feel free to skip it, or to heat up your broiler and add some extra char to the ribs that way (just check often to make sure they don’t burn, especially if your sauce has a lot of sugar in it). You could even finish them in a grill pan if you’re willing to dirty another dish. Sure, they won’t be exactly the same, but they will be delicious and you won’t have any complaints.
Happily, nearly all varieties of ribs take well to the oven-baked method—the one exception being flanken ribs, which are beef short ribs that are cut much thinner across the bone and are best quickly grilled, as in the Korean classic beef kalbi.
A long spell in a slow oven is a surefire way to make fantastic ribs of any other sort: pork, beef, lamb; baby back, spare, short. And you know what? Baked ribs are so delectable you don’t even need an excuse to make them that way.
Fire up your oven for one of these recipes and you’ll agree.
Vinegar and Spice Oven-Baked Ribs
Chowhound
These ribs do need to be marinated in cider vinegar, dark brown sugar, garlic, paprika, and black pepper for at least 12 hours, but otherwise, they are completely undemanding. They cook entirely in the oven—no finishing school for these down-home beauties—and any leftovers are even good eaten cold. Get our Vinegar and Spice Oven-Baked Ribs recipe.
Oven Roasted BBQ Ribs with Stout Barbecue Sauce
The Beeroness
The earthier flavor of beef ribs really benefits from a dark, sticky, stout-enriched barbecue sauce that has a little heat from Sriracha. Use a roasty, rich stout for more depth and flavor, one with coffee or chocolate notes, and drink the rest of the beer with your ribs. Get the Oven Roasted BBQ Ribs with Stout Barbecue Sauce recipe.
Extra Sticky Thai BBQ Ribs with Peanut BBQ Sauce and Sweet Thai Ginger Slaw
Half Baked Harvest
These ribs are brilliant, and concrete proof that different is good. Blasting all your standard BBQ sauces out of the water, this peanut butter based sauce brings in Thai flavors like sweet chili sauce, red curry paste, and rice vinegar. (For another Thai inspired ribs recipe, here’s a version with coconut milk in the sauce.) With this one, you get a bonus crunchy, gingery slaw recipe too—all you need to add is some sticky rice (and plenty of napkins). Get the Extra Sticky Thai BBQ Ribs with Peanut BBQ Sauce and Sweet Thai Ginger Slaw recipe.
Easy BBQ Baby Back Pork Ribs
Chowhound
These ribs swing back to the traditional end of the spectrum, but they’re just as astoundingly good. They get layers of flavor from a spice rub with chili powder, brown sugar, paprika, garlic, and mustard, and then a sticky-sweet barbecue sauce with a little tang from cider vinegar and tingle from garlic and chili powder. Don’t stress if you can’t finish them on the grill (or just don’t feel like it); a run under the broiler will be almost as good. Get our Easy BBQ Baby Back Pork Ribs recipe.
Oven Roasted Pork Ribs with Mango Jerk Sauce
Kitchenista Diaries
If you like spicy, you have to try these jerk pork ribs. The mango nectar, dark molasses, and sweet spices like cinnamon and nutmeg in the sauce temper the heat a bit, but it still packs a punch from scotch bonnet chiles and ginger. If you season your ribs with salt and spices on the same foil-lined pan you’ll cook them in, you cut down on clean-up. Get the Oven Roasted Pork Ribs with Mango Jerk Sauce recipe.
Fiery Fall-Apart Mexican Beef Ribs with Green Mexican Rice
Recipe Tin Eats
Another significantly spicy rib recipe, but with different dimensions—and made with beef short ribs instead of pork. The tomato-based BBQ sauce is smoky from chipotles and zesty with garlic, cumin, bay leaf, oregano, and orange juice. (Here’s a great pork version.) Any leftover meat would be great taken off the bone and shredded for tacos or sandwiches, or made into burritos with the accompanying green rice. Get the Fiery Fall-Apart Mexican Beef Ribs with Green Mexican Rice recipe.
Memphis Style Dry Ribs
Barefeet In The Kitchen
These Memphis-style ribs are called dry, but that refers to the rub and the lack of any additional sauce; the meat itself is perfectly juicy, and generously coated with spices and herbs. Just before being served, the ribs are dipped in vinegar for tang, and coated in extra seasoning. (For another sauce-free recipe, check out these coffee-chili-rubbed ribs.) Get the Memphis Style Dry Ribs recipe.
Melt-In-Your Mouth Bourbon-Honey Glazed Ribs
Nerds With Knives
Whiskey and bourbon show up in barbecue sauce pretty often; this one has equal parts booze and honey, plus tons of other components, like hoisin, Dijon, soy sauce, and molasses, to name just a few, for a deliciously thick and deeply nuanced glaze on the luscious meat. Get the Melt-In-Your Mouth Bourbon-Honey Glazed Ribs recipe.
Lamb Ribs with Greek Marinade
Theo Cooks
Lamb ribs don’t get nearly as much attention as pork and beef ribs, but they’re a fantastic change of pace. There’s actually an abiding lamb BBQ tradition in Western Kentucky, dating back to when it was the largest producer of lamb in the US. But this recipe goes Greek with bright lemon juice, earthy oregano, pungent rosemary, and plenty of garlic. Lamb ribs are fattier than pork or beef, but that helps them get nice and crispy when properly cooked. Note that the temperatures in this recipe are given in Celsius; for help converting, see this guide. Get the Lamb Ribs with Greek Marinade recipe.
Spicy Gochujang Pork Ribs
Hapa Nom Nom
If you’re not familiar with gochujang, be prepared to become addicted. This umami-rich Korean chile paste is sweet, spicy, and full of incomparable flavor. It’s augmented here with a little ketchup, soy sauce, cider vinegar, and honey in a barbecue sauce that lacquers the ribs. Chopped peanuts and scallions are a great crunchy, fresh garnish. (For a spicy rib recipe using another beloved Asian condiment, try these BBQ Sriracha ribs.) Get the Spicy Gochujang Pork Ribs recipe.
Oven Baked Five Spice Ribs
Omnivore’s Cookbook
While we can all get behind ribs so tender that the meat parts from the bone with little more than a gentle prod, these are a bit firmer and chewier by design (they also cook a lot faster than most oven baked ribs). They’re fragrant with a Chinese five spice blend and a little sticky from soy sauce, and just a bit more resistant to the tooth. If you crave these flavors but prefer more succulent meat, you can always bake these in foil for a longer period, as in any of the preceding preparations. Get the Oven Baked Five Spice Ribs recipe.
The Super Bowl is a prime rib-eating opportunity, and to kick off Super Bowl LIII, Chowhound has joined forces with CBS Sports, CNET, and TV Guide to dole out a meaty prize package including an LG OLED 65-inch TV (courtesy of Daily Steals), a Chefman Air Fryer, and $125 in gift cards towards CBS All Access. Enter for your chance to win before 3:30 p.m PT on February 3, 2019!
Related Video: Another Easy Method—Make Pressure Cooker Cola-Braised Short Ribs
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How to Use Avocado in Everything from Drinks to Dessert
Guacamole is a beautiful thing, and avocado toast is lovely too, but there are many more adventurous uses for the alligator pear than you might think.
If you’re vegan and/or a Millennial, you’re probably familiar with the avocado’s secret-weapon power to lend dairy-free richness and plush texture to all sorts of foods, both sweet and savory, but if you haven’t yet explored these intriguing…avo-nues, you’re in for a revelation.
You can use avocados as a mayo substitute, an emulsifier in salad dressing, and a creamy ingredient in almost everything else: smoothies, truffles, vegan fudge, pudding, mousse, mashed potatoes, pasta sauce, and all manner of baked goods (try fudgy avocado brownies with a buttercream-style avocado chocolate frosting). They can enrich deviled eggs, or be deviled themselves. They can even serve as edible bowls, and be blended into boozy cocktails.
While we’re far from the first generation of American home cooks to use the beloved superfood with creative applications, it’s fairly safe to say that most of the new crop of recipes are more tempting than the verdant horrors of the 1950s, like this salmon-avocado mold monstrosity:
Vintage Recipe Cards
See also: “California style” chipped beef—but know that it wasn’t all dire. As proof, check out this simple yet prophetic, circa-1949 avocado toast from a vintage cookbook/avocado propaganda pamphlet:
Paper Sponge
See? Everything old is new again! So if you’ve been content to stick to guacamole, diced avocado in your chili, and sliced in your salad up til now, why not try branching out a bit?
The reason avocados are so good at adding richness and body to so many dishes, of course, is that they’re high in fat, which is unusual in the fruit world, and makes them similar to olives—but it’s heart-healthy monounsaturated fat, which some studies suggest might reduce inflammation and cholesterol, and possibly even help prevent cancer. No need to bother with low-fat avocados, then (although in the interest of avoiding avocado hand, you may want to keep an eye out for the pitless variety).
Avocados are also high in potassium, yet notably low in carbs and sugar, so scarfing down a ton of guac isn’t really too bad for you, at least until you factor in the tortilla chips you probably used to scoop it up. It makes total sense that avocados are widely considered to be a superfood—in addition to being so nutritious (and versatile, and delicious), they might even help you get dates!
Brenda Godinez on Unsplash
There’s more to the fruit than its fabulous flesh, too. Avocado oil is a great cooking medium since it’s nutritious and has a high smoke point. And avocado leaves, although they can be a bit hard to find, lend a unique flavor to many Mexican dishes.
It is the lush, pale green flesh, however, that’s most beloved, and therein lies the frequent frustration of being an avocado devotee: how difficult it can sometimes be to procure a perfectly ripe one when you want it. It often seems like all you find at the store are rock-hard fruits or mushy, overripe specimens. If they’re not too far gone, you can still use super-soft avocados—especially good in recipes where they’ll be blended or pureed; just scrape away the really brown bits and mash or puree the rest to use in dishes where other flavors and ingredients will be paramount. Obviously, you should always taste your overripe avocados first to be sure they haven’t become actively unpleasant—but even then, you can always use them in food-based home beauty treatments.
OXO Good Grips 3-in-1 Avocado Slicer, $9.99 on Amazon
No matter how you slice it, avocado is love!
As for unripe avocados, there are various tricks you can try to speed them up on their journey to the sweet spot of firm-yet-creamy insides, from newfangled avocado socks to the old paper bag trick. Once they do reach peak perfection, stash them in the fridge for a few days if need be, then get down to utilizing the dreamy green stuff in all kinds of wonderful ways. If you don’t use the entire avocado at once, you can wrap the leftover portion tightly in plastic, maybe sprinkled with some lemon or lime juice, or even store it with some sliced onion (not the best choice, perhaps, if you plan to use it in a smoothie or dessert). Even if it oxidizes a little in the fridge, a tiny bit of brown won’t hurt.
So come on and get cooking! (Or not cooking, since plenty of avocado recipes also possess the beauty of being quick and easy and are mostly a matter of pushing buttons on the blender. Seriously, what’s not to love?)
Chowhound
If you’re in the mood for something a little stronger than a smoothie, you can still get your liquid avocado fix in cocktail form. It’s basically an avocado margarita, but with the interesting addition of thyme. Get our Copa Verde recipe.
Chowhound
While guacamole may be the go-to avocado appetizer, they’re great in lots of other dips too, like raw spinach and avocado dip, vegan asparagus-dill-avocado dip, and this tangy, creamy yogurt spread, which is great with raw vegetables for a healthy snack. You can even thin it out and use it as a salad dressing if you have any leftovers. Get our Avocado Yogurt Dip recipe.
Heather Christo
Chilled soup doesn’t have to be borscht or gazpacho; blended avocados make for a beautiful bowl, which is obviously perfect at the height of summer, but can bring a little brightness into a winter day as well. If you’re not into corn (or refuse to use frozen), try this avocado zucchini soup with mint, or avocado bisque with grilled shrimp for something a bit more substantial. Luckily, you can get good avocados all year long, so try playing around with lots of different flavors and toppings throughout the seasons. Get the recipe.
Grilled Flank Steak with Avocado Chimichurri Sauce
Diethood
Avocado lends a little extra oomph to the classic Argentinian garlic-parsley sauce, which is just as great over juicy portobello steaks as it is over grilled beef flank. Get the recipe.
Creamy Avocado and Spinach Pasta
Jo Cooks
For a healthier alternative to alfredo that’s also a little like particularly rich pesto, try this creamy avocado-sauced pasta, which brings in basil and walnuts too. Since you’re being so virtuous, feel free to grate on lots of extra cheese. Get the recipe.
Well Plated
If you’re a bit bored with salmon burgers, try these tuna avocado cakes for a change. Should you be cutting carbs, or just up for trying something else new, consider serving them on these low carb avocado burger buns—perhaps with our Chipotle Avocado Dressing on top for good measure, because why not? Get the recipe.
Crispy Baked Avocado Fries & Chipotle Dipping Sauce
Gimme Delicious
Speaking of chipotle and avocados…Breaded and baked slices of the fruit make an interesting crispy-creamy side dish, even better when there’s a zesty sauce to dip them in. We use a panko coating in our Avocado Tacos too, but those are deep fried; you could always use this baking method instead for a healthier option. Get the recipe.
Venezuelan Avocado Chicken Salad
Panning the Globe
Avocado is obviously great as a more traditional salad ingredient (try shaving it with a veggie peeler for extra-elegant presentation), but it also makes a mean dressing, or can be used more simply, as in this chicken salad where it’s mashed and mixed in rather than mayo. Try the same thing with eggs or tuna, or chickpeas, or tofu… Get the recipe.
Coconut Milk and Avocado Ice Cream
Foolproof Living
Avocado does dessert, and quite well, too. It’s a great way to add creaminess to dairy-free ice cream, and works with a range of flavors from Mexican chocolate to pistachio, but this rendition adds a little heavy cream to really amp up the smooth, rich texture, along with coconut milk, rum, and a smidgen of lime juice. Serving in coconut shells is a nice touch, but this would be just as good straight out of the ice cream machine. Get the recipe.
Vegan No-Bake Chocolate Avocado Tart
Super Nummy
Avocado is one great way to get ultra smooth, super rich vegan tarts, like this no-bake deep chocolate version in a crunchy coconut-date shell (which is gluten-free as well). There’s a definite appeal to simply blending and chilling the ingredients (like in this no-bake avocado lime cheesecake…), but avocado can replace the butter in more conventional desserts too, like this Sheba from Queens cake, another one for chocolate lovers. Get the recipe.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Avocado Pudding
Minimalist Baker
If you’d rather not fuss with a crust, avocado makes for silky, decadent vegan pudding that’s incredibly healthy, but doesn’t taste like it. Get the recipe.
Honey Lime Avocado Baked Donuts
J-man and MillerBug
If you’re a true avocado fiend and even crave them in the morning, while you could simply add some to scrambled eggs, bake a whole egg in one avocado half, or go for the classic avo-enriched smoothie, if you also love baked goods for breakfast, try these sweet and zippy lime-honey donuts made with mashed avocado. Toast will be but a distant memory. Get the recipe.
Struggling to decide what dessert to serve on St. Patrick’s Day again? I hear ya. Avocado is here with yet another avo-update on a classic. As you might imagine, adding ripe avocado to the mix lends a natural creaminess and all of a sudden pound cake is a superfood. I think we’ve hacked the mainframe here, people! Get the recipe.
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What Is the Difference Between Pho and Ramen?
Asia is absolutely brimming with fabulous noodle soup dishes, each with its own great flavors and story to tell. In Taipei, Taiwan you’ll find beef udon noodle soup on nearly every block. In Bangkok, curry noodle soup and tom yum reign supreme, and China, with all its many regional cuisines, has countless more to discover.
As luck would have it, you can find authentic versions of many of them here in the U.S. if you look, but two in particular, Japan’s ramen and Vietnam’s pho, have enjoyed especially kinetic levels of fanfare. Because both pho phandom and ramen mania have soared way beyond critical mass, we thought it wise to share a brief explainer on these two soulful soups, what makes them special, and exactly how they earned their way into the pantheon of international cult food phenomena.
Happy Sales Pink and White Blossom Noodle Bowls and Chopsticks, $39.99 on Amazon
Serve pho or ramen in these charming bowl sets!
Phở
Pronounced “fuh,” pho is a beef and rice noodle soup with mostly clear but flavorful broth, topped with thinly sliced beef, bean sprouts, and fresh herbs, like cilantro. Though the specifics are murky, it is thought to have originated around the turn of the twentieth century in Northern Vietnam just outside Hanoi, and likely evolved from similar dishes. A theory has been floated that the name “pho” was adapted from the French soup called “pot-au-feu.” Vietnam was, of course, under French colonial rule from 1887 until its independence in 1954.
However it began, pho fast became one of the country’s most beloved and widely-eaten street foods, with slight variations depending on the region. After the Vietnam War, and diaspora of Vietnamese refugees, pho was brought lock, stock, and barrel to the global masses, where the verdict from consumers was a resounding yes. Nowadays, you can find it on nearly any Vietnamese menu from coast to coast, including updates, adaptations, deconstructions, and more. In 2016 pho was one of Google’s most searched new food terms, and continues that upward trajectory into 2019.
Shutterstock
American pho is served almost ubiquitously with a lime wedge, sliced jalapeños, and Sriracha (an American made chili sauce), while Vietnamese versions may not be served with anything at all, but may also be accompanied by chili pastes, powders, or hoisin sauce.
Like most soups, but perhaps even more so with pho, a straight line can be drawn from good pho to a good and carefully made broth. Starting with a few usual suspects, like beef bones, onions, garlic, and salt, the broth ultimately receives its signature flavor via star anise, clove, cinnamon (pho’s holy trinity), and sometimes lemongrass. A good pho broth is simmered for a minimum of eight hours, ideally more, making it a great dish to order out or take in, unless of course, you’ve got that sort of time and patience to spare—then, by all means, go ahead and pho yourself.
Ramen
While pho might be trendier on the global food scene, ramen’s foothold is slightly more pronounced, and certainly much older. You’d be hard pressed not to find at least a couple of “ramen joints” in just about any American city, with many now celebrating anniversaries of a few decades or more.
Unlike pho, ramen is (traditionally) made using a rich pork or chicken-based broth and firm, springy wheat or egg noodles versus pho’s dainty rice noodle. Though traditional ramen is topped with slightly thicker roast sliced pork, a medium-boiled egg, nori, scallions, and bamboo shoots, countless toppings including seafood, tofu, beef, and chicken are now widely available, both in Japan and elsewhere.
Shutterstock
Three distinct base variations have separated themselves from a field of many; the most popular here being Tonkotsu Ramen, with its uncomplicated pork broth and sliced pork, Miso Ramen, marked by the presence of umami-rich miso, corn, and pork belly, and then their saltier cousin, Shoyu Ramen, made from a soy sauce and pork broth and sometimes fish broth.
Ramen, which is thought to have evolved from a Chinese noodle dish brought to the island nation by immigrants in 1859, was greatly modified in Japan to resemble its current look and taste. The popular working-class soup was served in street stalls and food markets, but took on a life of its own following a poor rice harvest in 1945 that opened the door for noodle dishes of all sorts.
Tasty, filling, and relatively cheap, ramen has become a bonafide worldwide sensation, both in its home country and abroad. Don’t believe me? Consult the Shi-Yokohama Ramen Museum which receives thousands of ramen-obsessed every year, and note that every single major region of Japan proudly sports its own unique version. Along with sushi, ramen is easily Japan’s most important and celebrated culinary tradition, and though foodies may scoff, a simple dried version—instant ramen (surely you had a stack in college)—was brought to market by Nissin Foods in 1958 and became a sensation all its own, earning its status as the 20th century’s greatest invention, as voted on by the Japanese people themselves.
Instant Top Ramen (Nissin Foods)
Much like pho, the success of any ramen is tied directly to its broth, and there is no true shortcut for doing it right. Though different versions of ramen are finished differently, most begin with a master broth of boiled and cleaned pork or chicken bones, garlic, ginger, scallion, and fish flakes or miso. From there, the broth is simmered for as few as six, but as many as twelve hours, or more. On average, ramen broth is slightly thicker and less translucent then pho, mostly from the presence of miso paste, and collagen-rich pork fat. Both are jam-packed with deep flavor, and the broth of each is often what separates a great success from an average attempt, and drives a fervent adoration among diners everywhere.
Eating both ramen and pho can be a delightfully messy and noisy affair. Generally accomplished with chopsticks for the solid foods, and spoon for the broth, expect a healthy amount of splatter and slurp, which is generally regarded as a sign of respect for the cook. A good version of either soup has the power to take the sting out of any cold winter’s night, and with a few of those both upon and ahead of us, might we suggest you get to slurping, ASAP?
Related Video: How to Prep Rice Noodles
All featured products are curated independently by our editors. When you buy something through our retail links, we may receive a commission. For more great hand-picked products, check out the Chowhound Shop.
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