PUMPKIN-MISO RAMEN WITH KALE, CRUSHED PEANUTS AND CHILE OIL
oh, hello!!
I got a bit buried since I last wrote here (you too?). It was all a little too much after months on end of juggling all the things (sound familiar)? So I took some time off, and now I’m slowly dipping my toe back in, catching up (laughable. Some things will have to just lie where they lie). First, I’m so grateful you’re here! I’m also grateful to have my family in tact, a number of renovation projects behind us, and a feeling that for once I didn’t miss a single details of my kids’ lives these last many months (for better or worse! TMI, my sweet boy, TMI!).
This summer we traveled to Hungary and Croatia, dunked in the sea, visited family, nourished our garden, played, hiked, and nearly burned all our masks—them promptly bought 1,000 more of them and re-enrolled the kids in school at the very last second. Because, well, rhythm.
So here we are: back to a rhythm-ish.
The first few weeks home from Europe I cooked Hungarian food madly, like a woman in love. Two weeks later I told my family I hated family dinner and took the entire week off (refreshing! They all survived). We’ve since landed somewhere in the middle. I’m cooking three to four meals a week from my book Instant Family Meals— falling in love with the ease and satisfaction of Instant Pot dinners all over again. I’ve dipping back into our fall favorites like Pumpkin Waffles (for weekend mornings), Pozole Verde (dreamy leftovers for days), Turkey Meatball Soup (a please-all!), Spinach Pie (a grown-up favorite), and no-fuss risotto (like this one) with next-day arancini on repeat.
We’re thriving then stumbling then thriving again.
I am coming to accept a few things about family dinner: First, that it may change dramatically year by year, or even week by week, depending on life circumstances and the ages of your kids, if you have them. And second: I am simply not a creature of habit, which means that family dinner will almost never be habitual here. Not the time I serve it. Not the way I serve it. And never what’s on the plate.
(To my credit: no one has starved yet).
As a creature of non-habit, I can embrace almost anything—often slowly, but well in the end. I have learned to love a bustling life in NYC and home-schooling in a tiny village and a life abroad, complete with a daily espresso at 1PM, followed by siesta—all in equal measure. And, reluctantly, I’m re-learning how to love (er, accept) the ho-hum regularity of nine-to-five life with kids back in school and the grown-ups back at the desk (I know, I know—the EXACT THING so many of you may have been craving for the entire last 2 years!! I’m happy you have it back, if that is what works for you. Isn’t it a marvel how different we all are? This fact truly thrills me).
If it’s the later this year will be—rhythm and order, a deal that works well for the three people I love most—then family dinner might have to occasionally fly in the face of it. It might need a shake up, some element of surprise. In mid-October, six weeks into it, ho-hum simply will not do. Not with Halloween and another year of uncertain holidays hot on our heels. Not with masks still covering the faces we love. Not for this mama, anyway.
What I’m saying is: maybe your family dinner needs some cheering up. Maybe we’re all doing our best, still, but we need a little thrill.
Yes, a thrill. Crunchy roasted peanuts, for example. And chili sauce.
When we lived in the city, when we needed some cheering, and a fast-filling dinner, there was Ramen. Our favorite noodle shop in Astoria on the too-long walk home from the subway. Or that tucked away spot on the second floor in the east 50s that I can never remember by name. Or Totto Ramen or Raku. Slurpy noodles, unctuous broth. Something green and lively. A little texture.
Ramen has it all.
I guess you could say ramen has always been there for me in times of transition, and I’m so grateful it’s here for me now. And, for you.
RECIPE BELOW
PUMPKIN- MISO RAMEN (with KALE, CRUSHED PEANUTS and CHILE OIL)
2 PACKETS DRIED RAMEN NOODLES
¾ CUP PUMPKIN PUREE
1/4 CUP WHITE MISO PASTE
8 CUPS RICH CHICKEN OR PORK BROTH
2 PACKED CUPS SMALL KALE LEAVES, WASHED
½ CUP ROASTED SALTED PEANUTS
CHILE SAUCE, SUCH AS MOM’S MALA
FLAKY SALT, SUCH AS MALDON
1 lime, quartered
BRING A POT OF WATER TO A BOIL, ADD THE RAMEN NOODLES AND TURN OFF THE HEAT. STIR OCCASIONALLY, UNTIL NOODLES ARE COOKED THROUGH AND SOFT, BUT NOT MUSHY (I LIKE TO TURN OFF THE HEAT SO THEY SLOW COOK QUICK I MAKE MY MISO-BROTH, SO EVERYTHING IS HOT AND READY AT ONCE).
IN A SEPARATE SMALL SAUCEPAN, HEAT THE BROTH UNTIL WARM BUT NOT BOILING. WHISK IN THE MISO AND PUMPKIN PUREE, ADDING MORE MISO TO TASTE UNTIL THE BROTH IS DEEPLY FLAVORFUL, BUT NOT OVERLY SALTY (THIS WILL BE A DIFFERENT AMOUNT FOR EVERYONE—TASTE AND CONTINUE TO ADD MISO TO YOUR LIKING—REMEMBERING THAT YOU WILL ADD MORE FLAVOR WITH YOUR TOPPINGS).
TO MAKE YOUR RAMEN, USE TONGS TO DIVIDE THE NOODLES EVENLY BETWEEN FOUR DEEP BOWLS. ADD A HANDFUL OF KALE TO EACH AND THEN LADLE THE BROTH OVER THE TOP. GARNISH WITH PEANUTS AND SERVE WARM, WITH CHILE SAUCE. Squeeze some lime over the top, just before eating.
PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES
TOTAL TIME: 20 MINUTES
SERVES 4
images belong to Sarah Copeland, and should not be pinned or posted without attribution. **
Photos // HARRISON LUBIN
Food + Prop Styling // SARAH COPELAND
Ceramics // LAIL + LOST QUARRY + CRATE AND BARREL