Image: Heami Lee.
You may see ramen as a carb fest, but if you invert the portions – more meat, less noodle – you’ll feast on 30 grams of muscle-building protein and 10 grams of filling fibre.
The Protein: 30g
While a bowl of ramen can have any number of toppings, this recipe leans on pork belly, which offers six grams of protein per 70-gram serving, and an egg – a large one typically has about six grams of protein.
Wait, what’s 30/10?
30/10 brings you filling, muscle-building meals with 30 grams of protein and 10 grams of fibre.
Buy it
If you don’t want the fatty skin, you can have the butcher remove it for you. But then you’ll miss out on that skin crisping up to crunchy perfection when you roast it…
Oven-Roasted Pork Belly Miso Ramen
This recipe makes four big bowls of ramen, meaning you can reheat leftovers for lunch or dinner all week. One super-important note on reheating: remove the eggs before
microwaving or they’ll explode. Just add them back to the hot broth and they’ll warm up.
What You’ll Need
SERVES 4
• 450g pork belly, skin on or skinless
• 2 tsp sugar
• 6 cups no-salt-added chicken stock
• 1 thumb-sized piece ginger, peeled and grated
• 1 small garlic clove, peeled and grated
• 3 Tbsp white miso
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• Hot sauce (sriracha, chilli oil), to taste
• 2 150g packs ramen (Shin or Neoguri brands preferred), flavour packets discarded, cooked to package instructions, drained
• 4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and halved
Toppings: corn kernels, sliced spring onions, bean sprouts, chopped bok choy, nori squares, more hot sauce
*Consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish or eggs may increase your risk of foodborne illness.
METHOD
1. In a large, wide bowl, mix 4 tsp kosher salt with the sugar and a few grinds of black pepper. Pat the pork dry with paper towels. If you opted for skin on, using the tip of a knife, score the skin every 2cm at a diagonal. Repeat in
the opposite direction to create a diamond pattern. Add
the belly to the bowl, turn to coat, cover and refrigerate
for 1 hour.
2. Preheat your oven to 230°C. Remove the pork from the rub, brushing off any excess, and place it in a large oven-safe skillet, skin side up. Roast the pork on the middle rack in the oven until the skin is well browned, about 30 minutes. Reduce the heat to 135°C and roast until tender, about 1 hour. Transfer to a cutting board to rest.
3. In a medium pot, bring the stock to a boil over high. Add the ginger, garlic, miso, soy sauce, sesame oil and hot sauce. Adjust the heat to medium low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the miso dissolves, 5-10 minutes. Season to taste.
4. Cut the pork into thin slices. Among 4 bowls, divide the ramen, broth, egg halves, pork and your desired toppings.
Nutrition per serving: (with ¼ cup all toppings, except nori square): 2900 kilojoules, 34g protein, 74g carbs (8g fibre), 46g fat.
If you have 10 minutes . . .
. . . swap soft-boiled eggs for hard-boiled.
The jammy yolks will infuse the broth with extra richness. Fill a medium pot with 2cm of water and boil over high. Using a slotted spoon, lower in 4 chilled eggs. Put a lid on the pot and boil for exactly 6 minutes. Using the spoon, transfer the eggs to a bowl and run them under cold water till cool enough to peel.
If you have 15 minutes . . .
. . . tenderise the vegetables.
Blanching the bok choy and bean sprouts will mellow their flavours—in a good way. Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Place a large bowl of ice water beside it. Add the bok choy and bean sprouts to the boiling water and cook till just softened, 30-60 seconds. Drain, transfer to the ice bath, then remove.
If you have the night . . .
. . . caramelise!
You can make the roasted pork taste even awesomer. After it cools to room temp, seal the pork in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. The next day, remove the pork from the wrap, cut into thin slices and sizzle in a hot pan till browned on both sides, about 5 minutes total, just before adding it to the hot broth.
