Dryad Saddle Ramen
Dried wild mushrooms and a noodle block, built into a broth with some actual aroma.
- calories
- 700
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 156
- protein
- 18 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 10 min
- total time
- 12 min
- water
- 600 ml boiled
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Campfire coals
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Car camping
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Dried dryad saddle (pheasant back) mushrooms | 1/2 oz | sliced thin before drying; older shelves are fine here |
|---|---|---|
| Instant ramen noodles | 1 block | discard the seasoning packet |
| Dried spring vegetables | 1/3 cup | ramps, fiddleheads, nettles, or whatever you dried |
| Vegetable bouillon | 1 cube or 1 tsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Dried thyme | 1/4 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1/4 tsp, cracked | |
| Bay leaf | 1 small | |
| Soy sauce | 1 tbsp | dropper bottle, or a soy sauce powder packet |
| Sesame oil | 1 tbsp | |
| Dried cilantro or mint | 1 tsp | |
| Dried jalapeno slices | a few | optional |
Method
- Bring 600 ml of water to a boil. Drop in the mushrooms, bouillon, garlic, thyme, pepper, and the bay leaf.
- Simmer ten minutes with the lid on. This is the whole point of the recipe, so do not rush it. Older mushrooms need the time to give up their aroma.
- Fish out the bay leaf. Add the dried vegetables and the noodle block. Two to three minutes, no lid.
- Kill the heat. Stir in the soy sauce and sesame oil.
- Scatter the cilantro or mint and the jalapeno over the top and eat straight from the pot.
The original is a three-hour stockpot job with a poultry carcass. What actually carries the flavor is the mushroom, so that is what got carried up the hill. Tough, mature dryad saddles are useless to chew but dry well and rehydrate into broth in about ten minutes, which is the one part of this you should not shortcut. The oil goes in at the end because sesame turns flat and bitter when it boils.
The bay leaf and thyme stand in for the bouquet garni, and the bouillon replaces the meat stock without a cooler. Dryad saddle has a faint cucumber smell that the dried cilantro or mint plays against, so keep both in the bag even though they weigh nothing and look like an afterthought.
Packing
Mushrooms, dried vegetables, bouillon, and the spices go in one bag. Noodle block separate so it does not crush into the powder. Oil and soy sauce in dropper bottles, bagged together in case one leaks.
Variations
- A pouch of freeze-dried tofu or a foil packet of chicken makes it a heavier dinner. The chicken drops the vegan and vegetarian tags.
- Miso paste in a squeeze tube instead of the bouillon, stirred in off the heat.
- No wild mushrooms on hand: dried shiitake works, but the broth goes darker and loses the cucumber note.
https://foragerchef.com/dryad-saddle-ramen