Pantry purge: Miso ramen with shrimp and corn

Mmm, I just love miso-based noodle soups, especially the kind that use the potent Korean version of miso. This ramen is based on a version I had at Momofuku Noodle Bar. The Momofuku restaurants are all very meat-centric so usually I only eat their ginger scallion noodles - which are super yummy, so I don't mind.

But over the summer, I went for lunch, during which they have a rotating menu, and had a delicious shrimp and corn miso ramen, and have been attempting to replicate it ever since. This is my homage.



I love using jjajangmyun noodles. It has this soft, chewy, round (I cannot think of a better word) texture that is just oh-so-good in noodle soups. They come in these packages at the Korean market already in bundles. One bundle is kind of a lot, so I use just half a bundle for one serving. I quickly cook these in some boiling water. Mom's tip: wrap the leftover bundles up and put into freezer for future use (which is of course what led to my problem).


For the soup base, I start out like this spinach miso soup, using Korean stock as my base (about 1 1/2 - 2 cups), then adding miso (about a heaping tablespoon, perhaps a bit much) and some gochujang (a teaspoon or so; this is optional but I wanted to make it spicy). Did you know you can buy gochujang in little tubes, like toothpaste? It's kind of awesome.


Once it comes to a boil, I add - pausing about 30 seconds in between each addition - shrimp (still partly frozen but that's ok), corn (also still partly frozen), scallions, and at the very end, a handful of spinach, just because I had it around (usually I stop at scallions).


Pour over my cooked jjajangmyun noodles...


So warm and hearty on a negative 30 degree night. There is something about the combination of corn and miso that is so good. Oh, I forgot to add it here, but a little drop of sesame oil at the very end is a heavenly accent.

Pantry purge: some noodles, frozen corn and shrimp, Korean stock

Baby steps.