Pork and Star Anise Ramen
Five-spice pork, aromatic broth, and egg noodles rebuilt out of a food bag.
- calories
- 780
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 130
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 8 min
- total time
- 13 min
- water
- 550 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
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Bikepacking
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Dried egg noodles | 2.5 oz | thin ones rehydrate fastest |
|---|---|---|
| Shelf-stable pork, dried | 1.5 oz | pork jerky or home-dehydrated roast pork, chopped small |
| Five-spice powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Brown sugar | 1 tsp | |
| Chicken bouillon powder | 2 tsp | the broth base |
| Soy sauce powder | 2 tsp | liquid soy in a dropper bottle also works |
| Dried ginger | 1/2 tsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Star anise | 1 pod | |
| Dried lemongrass | 1 tsp | or a strip of dried lime leaf |
| Chili flakes | 1/4 tsp | |
| Dried bok choy or cabbage flakes | 1/4 cup | |
| Neutral oil | 1 tbsp | dropper bottle |
| Dried cilantro | 1 tsp | |
| Cider vinegar | 1 tsp | optional, small bottle |
Method
- Drop the star anise, lemongrass, ginger, garlic, chili, five-spice, sugar, bouillon, and soy powder into 550 ml of cold water. Bring it to a boil with the lid on.
- Once it boils, cut the heat to a simmer for three minutes. That is the whole broth. Longer is better if you have fuel to spare.
- Fish out the star anise pod and the lemongrass. Both are woody and neither is food.
- Add the dried pork and the bok choy flakes. Simmer two minutes so the meat softens before the noodles crowd the pot.
- Add the noodles and cook until just soft, about three minutes. Stir so they do not weld to the bottom.
- Off heat, pour in the oil, add the vinegar, and scatter the cilantro over the top.
The original is a two-hour roast and a stock pot of chicken wings and pork hock reduced by half. None of that fits in a pack, but the reason it works does: five-spice, star anise, ginger, and lemongrass build a broth that tastes long-cooked in far less time. Whole aromatics are what carry the load here. Powdered five-spice alone goes flat and slightly dusty; one real star anise pod simmering in the pot is the difference.
Bouillon and soy powder stand in for the reduced stock, and dried pork replaces the roast. Order matters more than usual. The aromatics need water and time, the meat needs a head start on the noodles, and the noodles need the least of all. Add everything at once and you get soft pork in gluey noodles with no broth worth drinking. The oil goes in at the end because fat carries the spice and boiling it just scatters it.
Packing
Two bags. One holds the noodles. The other holds every dry seasoning, the pork, and the vegetable flakes together, with the star anise pod tucked in whole so you can find it later. Oil and vinegar ride in dropper bottles inside a ziplock.
Variations
- Add a foil packet of chicken if the dried pork is hard to source.
- A boiled egg carried from the trailhead on night one, halved into the bowl.
- Swap the pork for dried shiitake and use vegetable bouillon.
https://www.matprat.no/oppskrifter/kos/ramen-med-ribbe