California Avocado Ramen

With the weather warming up here in Utah and the trees starting to bloom, I have been in a springy mood, though I’m still wanting the comfort food that seems to go along with winter. I’ve been craving tonkotsu ramen, a ramen with a thick, rich, creamy pork broth made from boiling pork bones, fat and collagen for many hours – comfort food at its best. But with the weather outside being bright and inviting, I also don’t want to waste it standing over a hot stove for hours while I make pork broth.

During a trip to the grocery store I was inspired by all of the fresh produce that was starting to appear and was looking at a display of California Avocados when the thought occurred to me that I could use avocados to make a broth for ramen that would be rich and creamy, just like that bowl of tonkotsu ramen I had been craving, but would take a fraction of the time to make, and would be better for my waistline. I quickly rounded up some ingredients and headed home to cook.



The result was spring in a bowl, and the perfect dish to help me transition from winter into spring. This ramen is rich and comforting, but uses lots of fresh ingredients to celebrate the new bounty of the season.I started by soft-boiling some eggs, then set a pot of chicken stock and thinly sliced garlic cloves to simmer on the stove as well as a pot of water to cook the noodles. When the broth had been simmering for a few minutes, I turned off the heat and pureed it in my blender with an avocado. The broth turned into a rich, velvety light green mixture. Score! I divided the cooked noodles among some bowls, then ladled the avocado broth into each bowl. I finished off the bowls by topping each with a soft-boiled egg sliced in half, along with slices of avocado, fresh watercress leaves and thinly sliced scallions.

Spring Green California Avocado Ramen

Recipe created by Rachael Hutchings of La Fuji Mama for the California Avocado Commission.

Serves: 4

Prep time: 8 minutes

Cook time: 12 minutes

Total time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

4 large eggs
6 cups chicken broth (I like Kitchen Basics Chicken Broth)
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 ripe Fresh California Avocado, seeded, peeled and cut in half
12 oz. dried chuka soba noodles (or chow mein noodles), cooked according to package directions, then rinsed under cool water and drained thoroughly
1 ripe Fresh California Avocado, seeded, peeled and cut into thin slices
1 cup watercress leaves
8 scallions, thinly sliced

Directions

1. Fill a 4-quart saucepan with water and bring the water to a boil on high heat. Gently lower the eggs into the boiling water with a slotted spoon. Lower the heat to medium-high and let the eggs cook for 6 minutes, then transfer them to an ice bath and let them cool completely.
2. Put the broth and garlic in another saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low to maintain a simmer and continue cooking for 3 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat.
3. Put half of the avocado in the jar of a blender. Pour half of the broth over the avocado and blend until creamy.
4. Pour the broth into a clean saucepan and repeat with the other avocado half and the rest of the broth.
5. Carefully peel the eggs.
6. Separate the cooked noodles into four bowls. Ladle equal amounts of the avocado broth over the noodles in each bowl.
7. Slice an egg in half and place the halves on top of the noodles in one of the bowls. Repeat with the remaining eggs.
8. Finish by topping each bowl with avocado slices, watercress leaves and sliced scallions. Serve immediately!

Recipe Notes: If you like things a bit spicier, drizzle your ramen with a bit of chili oil or add a spoonful of chili garlic sauce. If you want to add meat, some pan-fried bacon or leftover rotisserie chicken would be delicious additions.