Wood Ear Mushroom Ramen
Dried wood ears and shiitakes rehydrate in the pot while the noodles cook. Miso instead of a spice packet.
- calories
- 610
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 111
- protein
- 28 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 10 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
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Liquid fuel
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Winter / snow
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Dried wood ear mushrooms | 1/4 cup | broken into small pieces so they rehydrate fast |
|---|---|---|
| Dried shiitake mushrooms | 1/4 cup | sliced thin at home |
| Ramen noodles | 1 block | discard the seasoning packet |
| Chicken bouillon | 2 tsp | powder or a crushed cube |
| Miso paste | 1 tbsp | light miso, in a small screw-top tub |
| Freeze-dried or pouched cooked chicken | 2 oz | |
| Dried scallions | 1 tbsp | |
| Ground Szechuan peppercorn | a tiny pinch | |
| Sesame oil | 1 tsp | dropper bottle |
| Chili crisp | 1 tbsp | packet or small jar |
| Black sesame seeds | 1 tsp | |
| Salt | to taste |
Method
- Boil 600 ml of water. Drop in both kinds of dried mushroom, the bouillon, the dried scallions, and the chicken if it is freeze-dried.
- Simmer five minutes. The wood ears need that time to go from chips to something with snap.
- Add the noodles and cook them right in the broth, about three minutes. Stir so they do not clump on the bottom.
- Pull the pot off the heat. Wait thirty seconds, then stir in the miso. Boiling it flat kills the flavor.
- Add pouched chicken now if that is what you carried. Finish with sesame oil, chili crisp, Szechuan pepper, and sesame seeds. Salt only after tasting; the bouillon and miso already carry a lot.
The original is a two-hour project built on a roasted chicken carcass. That broth does not travel, so this version rebuilds it out of bouillon and miso: bouillon for the salt and body, miso stirred in off the heat for the fermented depth that a spice packet never has. Add the miso to boiling water and it goes flat and one-note, which is why it goes in last.
Dried mushrooms are the real reason this works on trail. They weigh almost nothing, they rehydrate in the same pot as the noodles, and the wood ears keep a rubbery snap that nothing else in a backpacking dinner has. Give them a five-minute head start before the noodles or they stay stiff.
Packing
Mushrooms, noodles, bouillon, scallions, sesame seeds, and pepper go in one bag. Miso, sesame oil, and chili crisp are wet and ride in their own containers, upright, in a side pocket.
Variations
- Swap the bouillon and chicken for vegetable bouillon and a handful of dried tofu skin.
- A packet of instant miso soup replaces both the bouillon and the paste if you want one less container.
- Freeze-dried egg or a hard-boiled egg on day one gets you close to the soft egg on top.
https://foragerchef.com/wood-ear-mushrooms-ramen