Spicy Maple Miso Chicken Ramen

this post is sponsored by coombs family farms. thank you for supporting the partnerships that allow brewing happiness to grow and exist. xoxo.

On my most recent visit to LA, I dined at MTN Venice. It’s a new restaurant opened by the people who started Gjusta. If you’ve never heard of either of these places – don’t worry, they’re just hip restaurants in the LA area. However, they’re beside the point. I bring up MTN simply because it was the first time in a long time I’ve had ramen. (That’s the important part.)

I tried their yuzu chicken ramen, and thought the textures and flavors were surprising and layered and interesting. It reignited my interest in building a better bowl of ramen at home. Especially as the air turns cold and we head into winter, we all need something hearty and delicious to keep us company.

That is why I pitched this Spicy Maple Miso Chicken Ramen idea to Coombs Family Farms. I wanted to make something surprising (yet cozy) with their Pure Maple Syrup. And since I like my ramen packed with flavor, I jam packed this bowl with all the good stuff – garlic, ginger, miso, liquid aminos, maple, and chili. It’s a freaking mouth party.

The chicken breast is cooked over high heat in a cast iron skillet (or pan), to create a nice crispy outside. This is one of the fun textures you’ll find inside. Along with shiitake mushrooms, runny eggs, slurpy noodles, and crunchy garnish like scallions and sesame seeds. (I did tell you it was a mouth party.)

Overall it’s about a 30 minute cooking process, and you get 2-4 hearty bowls of ramen. So when you need a fast meal this winter, you know where to look. xo.

More delicious soup recipes: Creamy Cashew Cardamom Butternut Squash Soup + Super Greens Soup with Fennel + Meatless Black Eyed Pea Soup

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Spicy Maple Miso Chicken Ramen

This Spicy Maple Miso Chicken Ramen is a mouth party! Packed with ginger, garlic, chili, maple, miso, and more this will be your new go-to ramen recipe.

Course Soup, Stuff in a Bowl

Cuisine Asian

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 2 -4

Author Brewing Happiness

Ingredients

• 2 uncooked organic chicken breasts
• 1 tbsp butter
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil (sub olive oil)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 tbsp ginger, grated
• 1/3 cup white onion, diced
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 tbsp white miso paste
• 1/4 cup Coombs Family Farms Pure Maple Syrup
• 1/4 cup liquid aminos or soy sauce
• 1 tbsp red chili paste
• 8 shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 2 packets ramen noodles (I used brown rice & millet ramen noodles)

Top with:

• lime juice
• 1/4 cup scallions, diced
• 2-4 7-minute eggs
• sesame seeds

Instructions

1. Begin by heating a cast iron skillet (you can use a pan as well) over medium heat. Once hot, add butter and let it melt. Season each side of your chicken breasts well with salt and pepper. Add the chicken to the skillet. Don't touch it, and let it cook on one side for 4-5 minutes. Flip over and let cook for another 4-5 minutes. Check the inside of the chicken to gauge doneness. If it needs to cook longer, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for another 5-7 minutes, depending on the thickness of your chicken breast. Once chicken is cooked, set it aside until ready to assemble. 

2. In a medium-sized pot heat toasted sesame oil, garlic, ginger, and onion over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. You want the garlic to be aromatic and the onion to be slightly translucent. 

3. Add in chicken broth, liquid aminos, miso paste, Coombs Family Farms Pure Maple Syrup, and red chili paste. Stir, and increase heat to high. Bring pot to a boil. 

4. Once boiling, stir and add in shiitake mushrooms. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and let simmer for 10 minutes. 

5. While your broth is simmering, make your 7-minute eggs. 

6. After your broth has simmered for 10 minutes, add in noodles, stir and cook for another 4-5 minutes. 

7. Once noodles are soft,  you are ready to serve! Divide your broth between 2-4 bowls. Top each bowl with sliced chicken breast, a 7-minute egg, scallions, a squeeze of lime juice, and sesame seeds. 

8. EAT UP.

I eat very fast. Probably too fast. My mom ate fast because she had brothers that would inhale the food before she had a chance if she didn’t act fast. She unknowingly passed that on to me.

I eat fast and I think it’s healthy for me. I know that sounds counterintuitive to all the studies. I know you probably disagree with me. Let me explain.

Nearly four years ago now when I was in my darkest of disordered eating days, spending every waking moment calorie counting, I would try to eat as slowly as I could because all the studies told me it would speed up my metabolism. I equated that to getting skinny. And unfortunately that was all I wanted out of life at the time. So bite by bite, I chewed my meager meals until they were gone. I spent many a meal with friends cautiously counting my bites and forcing myself to put down my fork, completely disengaged from what my friend was saying. All I thought about were the speed of my bites.

Eventually the slow, cautious eating patterns of my unwell mind lead to something darker. It crept out at night, or in my car, or anytime I was alone – binge eating. I would speedily scarf down a bag of grapes or veggie chips or whatever. I ate as fast as I could, fueled by anxiety and shame. Completely the opposite of my “daytime persona.” This was an Olympic sprinter’s pace.

In my recovery from disordered eating, I was again told to focus on my meals – except this time I should treasure each bite, savor each flavor instead of punish myself. I tried this for a while. Some days it helped me feel more in tune with myself, and some days it caused me great anxiety.

Eventually I found Intuitive Eating, and it healed so much in me and brought me back to stasis with food. I now think about what I eat (in an unhealthy way) something like 1-5% of the day, whereas before it was something like 97% of the day. I have so much time for other thoughts! It’s thrilling.

However, I have found myself falling back into my childhood patterns of eating faster. My boyfriend recently teased me about how quickly I eat. All I can say is that I eat at the pace that allows me to NOT think about how fast I’m eating. And that to me is healthy.

Yes, my body would probably like it if I ate slower and chewed my food more. Maybe I’d even be thinner if I did. BUT WHO CARES?!? I can tell you absolutely that I DO NOT CARE. Do you know how freeing that is? I can have conversations with friends over dinner and not think about how much or how fast I’m eating. I eat when I’m hungry and stop when I’m full.

4 years ago the thought of eating ramen would have sent me into a panic. The thought of eating chicken would have caused immense guilt. Today I get to slurp down a big bowl of Spicy Maple Miso Chicken Ramen and delight in the flavors and not think about myself at all.

That to me is health.

I tell you this long saga to say – you don’t have to follow the “rules” to be healthy. You don’t have to be perfect to be healthy. A fast metabolism doesn’t mean you are healthy. MENTAL HEALTH IS HEALTH TOO. What works for me may not work for you, and visa versa. But take the time to be kind to yourself. Let yourself break some rules if it improves your mental health.

Your optimal eating speed is the speed at which you aren’t thinking about speed. You optimal fullness is the fullness you innately feel and know, not the mental battle your brain and body want to fight. All of the cues to living your personal best healthy life are inside of you. Trust that. xo.