Ingredients 4 carrots, cut into 1/2 inch chunks 1 onion, large dice 1 cup sliced shitake mushrooms 1 tablespoons minced fresh ginger 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 tsp salt Leftover Chicken Bones 8 cups water Ramen Noodles Chili Oil 1/2 cup olive oil 1 tsp red pepper flakes Veggie and Add-In Options: baby bok choy (pictured), shitake mushrooms (pictured), bamboo shoots, scallions, corn, bean sprouts, boiled egg, chicken Instructions
- In a large slow cooker, combine the carrot chunks, onion chunks, shitakes, ginger, garlic, salt, chicken bones, and water. (If you do not have chicken bones on hand you can replace the chicken bones and water with straight canned chicken stock). Cook on high for 8 hours.
- To make the chili oil, combine the olive oil and red pepper flakes in a small saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, strain, and let cool. Set aside until ready to serve.
- When ready to eat, strain the crockpot contents into a large saucepan so you have a nice broth. Bring the broth to a boil and add in your ramen noodles* Cook until noodles are done (somewhere between 2 and 4 minutes depending on the kind of noodles you buy).
- Remove the noodles from the broth and put them in a bowl to serve. Top with desired add-ins. When ready to eat, spoon the broth into the bowl and drizzle with chili oil. *Some stores sell packaged ramen noodles in their Asian section. They look very similar to a package of spaghetti noodles. These are preferred over the instant top ramen as those are flash fried. But, if you can’t find better noodles, the instant top ramen will work. Just discard the enclosed MSG spice packet. What makes ramen noodles so special? Ramen is an alkaline noodle. It is the opposite of acidity which means it has a higher pH. Chemistry! Something about how the high pH interacts with the gluten of the wheat makes the noodles hold up better in liquids than your standard Western style noodle. It makes ramen perfect for soups. It was developed in China, but has become an absolute staple in Japan. Δ Δ