Recipe Rursday: Gormet Ramen

Some of you, in your humble roots, used to eat Ramen like it was going out of style. This, however, is no ordinary Ramen. When the soup comes together perfectly, I promise that the shrimp will be sweeter and juicer than most shrimp you've consumed. Step one: throw out that hydrogenated flavor packet that comes with the noodles - it may kill you.

The one ingredient you may need to track down is Mirin. While we always have soy sauce in the house for stir-fry, this was a new one for us. Mirin is a sweet rice-based cooking wine that is fairly easy to find now (we found a bottle at Stop & Shop).Alton Brown's Ramen Shrimp Pouch (for 4 pouches):
2 packages of Ramen noodles
1/2 c. dried mushrooms, chopped (in a pinch use fresh, or skip)
20 large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 c. finely chopped onion (we usually skip the onion)
1/2 c. sliced scallions
1/2 t. red pepper flakes (or more)
1/2 t. salt
----
1 qt. vegetable broth
1/2 c. mirin
1/4 c. soy sauce (we use low-sodium)
4 t. sesame oil (we use less, adds a nice flavor to stir-fry as well)

Preheat oven to 400F. Split the Ramen noodles horizontally (each pack will give you 2 bricks) and place each brick in the center of a big rectangle of aluminum foil. Be generous with your foil squares to avoid leaky pouches. Layer on the mushrooms, shrimp, onions, scallions, red pepper flakes, and salt. Place pouches on a cookie sheet.

In a small bowl, combine the broth, mirin, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Pour the liquid into the pouches (distribute evenly), keeping an eye out for leaks. If one of your pouches has been punctured, set it on another square of tin foil creating a double pouch. Carefully fold the foil into a tent-shape (meet the shorter sides together and fold over the top edge, then folding up the longer sides to seal the pouch closed).

Place the cookie sheet of pouches in the oven and bake for 15 min. If you use jumbo shrimp, go the whole 15 min. For smaller shrimp, only 9-10 min. Pour into a bowl and serve immediately. Then call me and tell me how much you love Gormet Ramen.