Black Garlic Flavor Ramen!

A curious thing was found in our Chinese market a few months ago.  There was a new ramen flavor out and it was absolutely delicious!  The culprit?  Nissin Demae Black Garlic Oil Instant Ramen.

I LOVE ramen.  It's incredibly delicious and versatile.  It may be instant ramen or cup noodles, but you can take it and change the way you eat it to be healthier and without the stigma of omg-cancer-causing-noodles.  In Japan, traditional ramen is a wholesome meal with noodles, a hearty soup/stock, and toppings, like meat and veggies.  I had ramen in Japan before when I visited over a decade ago.  We had found a random shop tucked between these other stores.  (I can't remember if it was in Tokyo or Kyoto at the time. I think it was when we were in Tokyo's Shibuya district.)  It had one counter with maybe 6 seats.  The bowl is large and filled to the brim with soup, noodles, and toppings.  I had trouble finishing the soup on my own.  It was absolutely delicious and a great meal though!

Back stateside, traditional ramen is lacking.  We often only have the options of instant or packaged noodles which don't come close the real stuff.  However, I still enjoy a good bowl of ramen every now and then.

As far as instant goes, I love the Nissin brand.  Their plain sesame oil flavor is great because it's, in essence, just a plain broth.  I like to add fresh cut scallions and egg into it while I boil it on the stove.  One of my favorite veggies to add to any Asian soup or stew is napa cabbage.  You chop it down the stalk and let it simmer in the soup and it will soak up the oils and flavor to make for a soft, flavorful addition.  You can also cook some bok choy in a pan on the side and then add it into your noodles.

The black garlic oil flavor was a rare find!  I was browsing the aisles and I spotted this one tucked away.  It was simply because I love garlic flavors that I took a chance on this one.  It did not disappoint!  When boiling the ramen in a small pot, I add in the soup base packet.  After I scooped out my portion into my bowl, I added the oil packet directly into my bowl.  This way, I could get the most of the flavor without losing any to the (inevitable) extra soup in my pot.

All around delicious.  If you have an Asian market near you, see if you can find it!