summary

A warm, delicious bowl of ramen on a chilly afternoon will always hit the spot—this easy to make at home spicy chicken ramen recipe promises to transport your taste buds to culinary nirvana. Impress your guests by serving this umami goodness in a bowl made especially for ramen.

ingredients

Spicy Chicken Breast:
2 chicken breasts (roughly 8 ounces each), skin on
1 tablespoon togarashi (savory) or Korean chili (spicy) flakes
1 teaspoon kosher salt
10 turns of freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
Shoyu-Shiitake Broth:
2 cups dried shiitake mushrooms
2-inch piece of kombu
½-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup water
8 cups low-sodium rich chicken broth
3 tablespoons shoyu (can substitute soy sauce)
Soft Boiled Eggs and Serving:
2 large eggs
2 packages of ramen noodles (4-ounce fresh or 3-ounce dried, each)
Sliced scallions to garnish
2 tablespoons sesame oil

directions

Make the Spicy Chicken Breast

Season the chicken breasts with your choice of togarashi or Korean chili flakes, salt and pepper. Let the seasoned chicken sit for 15 minutes before cooking—this will make the chicken even more flavorful.
Heat a medium-size cast iron skillet over medium heat.
Add olive oil to the skillet then place seasoned chicken breast skin side down into the skillet.
Cook the chicken breast, about 5 minutes per side, or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F. Let the chicken breasts cook undisturbed on each side to develop a crispy, golden-brown crust.
Remove the chicken from the skillet and let it rest for 5 minutes before slicing.

Make the Shoyu-Shiitake Mushroom Broth

Rinse the dried shiitake mushrooms.
Place them in a large saucepan with kombu, ginger, garlic, onion, water and low-sodium chicken broth. Simmer on low heat for 30 minutes.
Strain the broth through a fine mesh sieve, extracting as much broth from the shiitake mushrooms as possible.
Place the mushrooms from the sieve on a plate to cool.
Once the shiitake mushrooms come to room temperature, discard the stems and thinly slice the mushrooms tops. Reserve sliced mushrooms until ready to garnish.
Add shoyu to the strained broth and taste. Adjust as needed to your palate.

Cook Soft-Boiled Eggs

In a medium saucepan, bring 1 quart water to a boil.
Once boiling, add the eggs and cook for 6.5 minutes.
Remove from the boiling water and place directly into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. Let the eggs chill until cool to the touch.
Peel the eggs and set aside until ready to serve.

Cook Ramen Noodles

Boil the ramen noodles according to the package directions in 2 quarts of water and drain.

Assemble the Ramen

To serve, add 1 cup cooked ramen noodles to each of the warmed bowls.
Top with sliced shiitake mushrooms, scallions, sliced chicken breast and soft-boiled egg.
Pour 1.5 cups of hot broth into each assembled ramen bowl and drizzle with sesame oil to finish.

notes

To warm the ramen bowls, bring the broth to a boil and pour into each ramen serving bowl to warm up the bowl. Then pour the broth back into the pot and bring back to a boil once more.

To give this chicken ramen recipe an extra spicy kick, add ½ teaspoon dried chili flakes to each bowl of ramen.