camp meals

Vegetable Ramen, Trail Version

Ginger-garlic broth from a pot, noodles in it, dried greens on top.

calories
600
weight
5.5 oz
cal / oz
109
protein
16 g
serves
1, scales
prep
3 min
cook
12 min
total time
15 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
  • Liquid fuel
  • Alcohol / Esbit
  • Backpacking
  • Basecamp
  • Car camping
  • Winter / snow
  • Vegetarian
  • Vegan
  • Dairy free
  • Nut free
  • One pot
  • Pre-mix at home
  • Shelf stable
  • Basic

Ingredients

Ramen noodles 80 g discard the packet, the broth is built here
Vegetable bouillon cube 1
Garlic 1 tsp granulated fresh cloves work at a car camp
Dried ginger 1/2 tsp or a coin of fresh, sliced thin
Sweet soy sauce (ketjap manis) 1 1/2 tbsp in a leakproof dropper bottle
Canola oil 1 tbsp
Dried kale 1/4 cup
Dried green beans 1/4 cup
Dried cabbage 2 tbsp
Dried red onion 1 tbsp
Chili flakes a pinch

Method

  1. Put the oil in the pot over low heat. Add the garlic and ginger and stir for thirty seconds, until they smell like something. Do not let them darken.
  2. Add 600 ml of water, the bouillon cube, and the soy sauce. Bring it up and hold a low boil for five minutes with the lid off.
  3. Drop in the kale, beans, cabbage, and onion. Simmer four minutes so they take up water.
  4. Add the noodle block. Cook two to three minutes, stirring once so it does not weld to the bottom.
  5. Kill the heat, add chili flakes, and let it sit a minute before eating.

The original simmers a stock for twenty minutes, strains out the aromatics, and finishes with fresh vegetables and a soft egg. None of that survives a pack. Dried kale, beans, cabbage, and onion rehydrate in the broth instead of being fried separately, and the aromatics stay in the pot because straining in the field means a second container and a wasted ounce of liquid.

The sweet soy is the part worth carrying. Bouillon alone gives you salt and not much else; ketjap manis adds sugar and body, which is what makes this read as ramen rather than as instant soup. Cook the noodles last and short. They keep absorbing after the stove is off, and a pot left standing turns into a solid block.

Packing

Vegetables, garlic, ginger, and crumbled bouillon go in one bag. Noodles in another so they do not shatter. Soy sauce and oil ride in dropper bottles inside a ziplock.

Variations

  • A foil packet of tofu or a scoop of soy curls adds protein.
  • Miso paste stirred in off the heat instead of the bouillon cube.
  • At a car camp, boil two eggs alongside and halve them over the top. That drops the vegan and dairy-free tags.

https://www.matprat.no/oppskrifter/sunn/vegetarisk-ramen