Pot Luck!

Uovo in Camicia al Forno con Pasta & Verdure Asiatiche

Poached Egg + Ramen Noodles Baked in a Clay Pot

 

Everyone has a couple of bags of those convenient Asian noodle-snacks hidden away somewhere at home. They are very delicious, quick and easy to make and an acceptable form of convenience food I think. If you discard the msg-loaded artificial seasoning that is! The noodles themselves are great and take very little cooking time. Perfect for a light lunch on a gray day like today... when I decided to try doing my own take on a hot Ramen dish...

"Ramen" is the collective term for those healthy, steaming, noodle soups that have become so popular in recent years. Nothing is more satisfying and comforting than a nice hot broth with some fresh vegetables, meat, tofu or fish. Or as easy to make!

I decided to use a chicken broth for mine, but beef or vegetable would also have worked just as well. I am not going to suggest that you need to boil up your own broth to make a bowl of soup or two- I hate that kind of pretention when it comes to home cooking. Life really is too short! Just make sure to get a decent, low-salt product and move on... we want to be eating in 20 minutes time!

Put your clay pot on the stove, half fill it with broth and bring it to the boil. In the meantime you can cut a fine julienne of carrot, slice some sugar-snap peas diagonally and cut a few rings of spring onion.

Now... back to that broth!

Once the broth is boiling, add the noodles and allow them to soften a little. A little garlic and ginger and a piece of star anise will give a good flavor too if you have it. Otherwise I just added a little oyster sauce, 5-spice powder and a drop of sesame oil... and it already smelt delicious!

I loosened up the noodles a little with a fork and then added my finely chopped veggies around the outside edge, making sure to push them down beneath the surface. Then I made a bit of space in the center of the pot for my egg. I carefully dropped it into the hollow I had made and sprinkled it with a little lemon pepper, topped up the broth as the noodles had swollen up and diminished it a little, and popped it into the oven for 5-10 minutes, until the egg was cooked.

Those little black things you see are not ants my friends- they are toasted black sesame seeds and the look and taste fantastic on this dish! Together with a few threads of shredded chili and a final trickle of sesame oil, they are the finishing touch to a light, spicy and fiery little lunch!

The egg is the perfect addition to the spiciness of the broth- especially when the yolk mixes in and makes everything taste velvety and delicious! I hope you give it a go and hope you enjoy it as much as I did!