Ramen Carbonara

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Here it is! The creamy, savory, near perfect ramen-pasta hybrid.

Ramen carbonara

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This is the best thing to happen to ramen. It might actually be the best thing to happen in my kitchen. Okay maybe not the best thing. In all seriousness, this incredible marriage of Italian and Asian flavors is better than you could ever imagine. While it's not as quick as your usual instant ramen, it'll only take you about 15-20 min. A perfect quick dinner after a long day of work or a late night "gourmet" snack. Now let's get to it.

I first saw David Chang do his version of carbonara using instant ramen noodles in one of the very first episodes of Mind of a Chef. Recently, my favorite food guys on YouTube, SORTED, did an episode making all kinds of creative ramen dishes including a ramenara. So naturally, as a lover of all things ramen-bacon-parmesan, I had to give this a shot myself.

Now for all you purists out there, my ramen carbonara is not a true carbonara in that the sauce does not contain eggs or egg yolks. Instead, I use bacon fat, olive oil, butter, and milk to create a creamy coating for the noodles. If you know anything about me, you know I'll take an egg on top of just about anything. During my sophomore year of college, I discovered "poor man's spaghetti" which is comprised of anything you have in your fridge thrown into a pan of tomato sauce and finished off with a fried egg. My life has never been the same since. To make my version of ramenara more me, I topped it with a runny poached egg. There are few things in life that make me as happy as popping the yolk and seeing the yellow goodness run through the creamy noodles.

Using ramen noodles instead of regular linguine or pasta? Innovative, but nothing mind blowing right? Just you wait until you taste it. It is BURSTING with flavor. 

Ingredients - Serves 2
2 packs of ramen (noodles only)
4 strips of bacon, diced
2 small shallots or half an onion, chopped
1 tsp thyme
3/4 cup of milk
3 tbsp unsalted butter
2-3 tbsp olive oil

fresh chopped chives or green onions for garnish
2 eggs, poached for topping

To prepare the sauce:

  1. Heat a saucepan over med-high heat and add chopped bacon. Sautee until just before it gets crispy.
  2. Add shallots or onion to the bacon and stir to combine. Let the shallots cook for 2-3 minutes in the bacon fat.
  3. Add olive oil, butter, and thyme to the pan.
  4. Once the butter is melted, pour in the milk. Add a generous grind of pepper, turn the heat down to low, and let simmer for a few minutes while you boil the ramen noodles.

To prepare noodles:

  1. Add your ramen noodles to boiling water and cook for about 3 minutes or until done. Drain and set aside.

To prepare egg:

  1. Poaching eggs can seem intimidating if you've never done it before. I learned from Jamie Oliver and after a few exploded and overcooked ones, I finally got it. Check out this video where he teaches you three easy ways to do it! 

Once your eggs are done, dump the drained ramen noodles into the saucepan with the sauce. I like to use tongs to mix everything and ensure every last noodle is coated, with the bacon distributed throughout. Plate using the tongs and create a small dip in the middle to nestle the poached egg or else it'll slide right off the top. Garnish with chives or green onions (or just anything green and fresh you have on hand). Feel free to write me a handwritten thank-you note for this recipe : ) ENJOY!