Ramen,The Perfect Summer Soup

If it's too hot to cook then think ramen.This Japanese import and new American standard is a great way to have a light ,hot meal without too much effort.What is extremely likable is that home chefs can customize it to their tastes.Have it as a broth or a really quick pasta dish.Toss in what's good and what"s fresh and it's a 1-2-3 dinner for one person or for a family. A brief history of ramen is that it was originally Chinese called lamina and a cousin of lo mien.The noodles are soba or wheat.It was starting to become popular as early as the 1900'sin Japan where it was mispronounced ramen. The soup hit the States in the Eighties ,courtesy of Momofuko Ando , the Taiwanese founder of Nissin Foods.It was an instant success, first being slurped down by dorm students and busy professionals.Original Japanese ramen is very thick and rich with all sorts of meats, vegetables and fish.Different regions such as Tokyo have their own spin using a soy and chicken broth and topped with pork cops,egg nori, chicken or even seaweed.Yokahama is known for it's ramen chock full of pork and onions.Hakata ramen has the zing of mustard greens.There are even ramen stalls throughout the big cities there as there are here in the States.Such cities such as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles boast some of the best soba noodle restaurants int the world.There are also homemade ramen recipes but save these for the winter. This is the height of summer.Buy the easy pre made kind.It's only three minutes on the stove and then it's done. One of the best parts of ramen is that you can customize it how you want.You can definitely give it a Tokyo spin by cooking pork chops with it.Of course it will take longer to cook up however the soup will have the chop's juices mixing in with the flavoring.A quicker and easier take is sliced ham chiffonaded.Add some scallions too for more flavor.One of my favorites is a recipe that was just recently published in the New York Times Dining section.Just add a whole egg to ramen and cook up.The result is not unlike the Italian, primarily Roman based, stratichella soup.The egg cooks up into stringy bits that wrap around the noodles.It's a nice way of getting protein without a heavy meal.Home chefs can also add any of their garden harvest.Corn practically goes hand and hand with ramen and adds crunch as well as sweetness.Think about quartered tomatoes along with cubed bell peppers.Spinach is also good as are sliced onions.Another good thing about these amped up ramens is that they're great reheated .You can also add more ingredients on the second cooking to change it up a bit. Ramen soup is a summer staple.Have it plain or toss in some meat veggies or eggs for a heartier dish.It's the best choice for a hearty but light meal on a hot summer's day.