Mushroom and Bamboo Ramen
Dried wood ear mushrooms and canned bamboo shoots over instant noodles. Texture, not just salt.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 5 oz
- cal / oz
- 124
- protein
- 14 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 8 min
- total time
- 10 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
- Lunch
- Canister stove
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Liquid fuel
- Backpacking
- Bikepacking
- Basecamp
- Car camping
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Dried wood ear mushrooms | 1/3 cup | broken into thumbnail pieces at home |
|---|---|---|
| Dried shiitake slices | 2 tbsp | these carry the broth flavor |
| Freeze-dried or dehydrated bamboo shoots | 1/4 cup | canned shoots drained and dried at home work too |
| Instant ramen noodles | 1 block | seasoning packet optional, the mushrooms do most of the work |
| Soy sauce powder | 2 tsp | |
| Dried garlic and ginger | 1 tsp each | |
| Sesame oil | 1 tbsp | dropper bottle |
| Chili flakes | to taste | |
| Dried scallion | 1 tbsp |
Method
- Boil 600 ml of water. Drop in the wood ear, shiitake, bamboo, garlic, and ginger.
- Simmer five minutes. The wood ear needs the full time or it stays like plastic.
- Add the noodle block and the soy sauce powder. Two more minutes, stirring so the block breaks apart.
- Cut the heat. Pour in the sesame oil and scatter the scallion and chili over the top.
- Let it sit one minute with the lid on, then eat straight from the pot.
The original is a home kitchen soup with fresh aromatics and a long simmer. On trail the whole thing collapses into one pot, because dried mushrooms are already the ideal backpacking ingredient: near-weightless, indefinitely shelf-stable, and they rebuild their own broth as they rehydrate. Wood ear brings almost no flavor but all the chew, which is what keeps this from being noodles in salt water. Shiitake handles the savory side.
The five-minute head start matters. Wood ear is stubborn and will not soften in the two minutes a noodle block takes. Bamboo shoots are the other reason to bother — they stay crisp when everything else has gone soft, and that contrast is the point of the dish. Sesame oil goes in off the heat so it still smells like something.
Packing
Mushrooms, bamboo, and the powders go in one bag. Noodle block separate so it does not turn to crumbs against the dried mushroom edges. Sesame oil in a leakproof dropper, inside a second bag.
Variations
- A spoonful of miso paste instead of soy sauce powder makes a rounder broth.
- Add freeze-dried corn or a handful of dried seaweed for bulk.
- Toss in a foil packet of tofu or a scoop of TVP if you want the protein up near 25 g.
https://savoriurbane.com/supa-cu-noodles-ramen