Pork Belly Ramen

Ramen! 🍜

Who likes instant noodles, cup of noodles, any type of noodle? The aroma of the chicken, beef, or veggie broth that fills the room and into your senses can bring back childhood memories. ☺️ I know many who grew up on these budget-friendly staple items in their home. I know I did, especially those busy nights when our family restaurant would close late or we just needed a quick go to snack. As I got older, I had to learn to make my own broth and keep it as clean as I could (this goes for pho broth as well), since the chemicals/msg in those products affected my gut health and system. I have loved learning the different styles of broth making. 

At a Japanese restaurant, a ramen bowl typically runs about twelve dollars or so. Feeding my little tribe nowadays gets a little pricy so I decided to try this asian soul food dish at home. We sure saved quite a bit! It ended up being about $2.50 a bowl and we had two adults bowls left over. Woohoo! 😄🙌🏼Leftovers for the next day. Broth is always better the next day. 😋

This is typically made with fresh ramen, but the Asian supermarket didn’t have any so I went with instant ramen. Your kids won’t know the difference. =) You can also find the pork belly at the Asian market. We got 2.5 pounds for about eight dollars. And of course I had to use the Instant Pot since we had some “hangry” ones (I might be one of them..haha). 🤣 Before the instant pot came out, this pork belly ramen recipe on the stove would take about 6-8 hours for a rich, tasty broth. This homemade broth will pump up your instant ramen game. 😁 With 30 minutes, you will be able to make it from scratch using pantry staples and veggies you already have on hand.

A lot of Asian recipes, have a few basic ingredients such as garlic, green onion, and ginger (I call this your 3G’s). OH! Can’t forget the soy sauce and sesame oil. So if you have these at ingredients at home, you can make a lot of Asian dishes and not just ramen. Yay! 🎉 Ok, so here is what you need for some delicious, mouth-water pork belly ramen, or as my middle cub likes to call it “Best Chicken Ramen ever ever”. ENJOY! 🍜😋

PORK BELLY RAMEN 

Yield: Makes for 4 adults and 3 children (or 5-6 servings)
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Need: Instant Pot (or pressure cooker), medium pot, small fry pan, tongs 

• 2-2.5 lbs of pork belly (cut in 1/2 in)
• 5-6 packets of instant ramen, just for the noodles, not the soup packet. (If you can find fresh ramen, taste way better) 
• 1 package of fresh spinach 
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp of ginger, 1/2” slices (can be minced if you like to eat ginger) 
• 5 cups of beef broth 
• 2 cups of water 
• 2 Tbsp of salt 
• 3/4 cup of soy sauce + 1/4 cup of brown sugar 
• dash of sesame oil 
• 3 Tbsp olive oil 
• 1/2 cup of chopped green onion (optional for toppings) 
• 5-6 eggs (optional) 

other optional toppings: 

• dried seaweed
• chopped corn
• bean sprouts
• bok choy 
• Sriracha
• fish cake
• Kimchee
• Furikake
• tofu 

INSTRUCTIONS: 

1. Pat the pork belly dry and cut into 1/2 inch slices. Sprinkle salt on them. 
   
2. Add the olive oil to the IP (Instant Pot), turn it on saute, place pork belly in and saute for one minute.
   
3. Then, add in your minced onion and saute for two minutes.
   
4. Next, add in your minced or sliced ginger and garlic. Saute for another minute.
   
5. Press Cancel on your IP.
   
6. Pour in your beef broth and water in the IP.
   
7. Close your IP lid and press Manual on high for 20 minutes.
   
8. While your broth is in the works, boil your eggs for 7 minutes (to make them soft-boiled). After 7 minutes, run the eggs under cold water so they stop cooking. Take off the shells and wait to cut them open right before plating your ramen.
   
9. During this waiting time, you can also start taking out your other optional toppings for the ramen. 
   
10. In your medium pot, boil the instant ramen noodles for 4 minutes and rinse in a strainer under cold water.
    
11. Get your soup bowls ready by placing a handful of fresh spinach at the bottom (the hot broth will cook them), then add your desired amount of noodles over the spinach.
    
12. When your IP beeps, do a quick release. Your house now will be filled with yummy broth aroma. 🙂
    
13. From there, scoop out the pork belly without the broth and place in a bowl (it’s ok if you scoop out some onion and ginger with it).
    
14. Heat up the small fry pan with the soy sauce and brown sugar on low heat for 30 seconds (so the sugar doesn’t burn). Place the pork belly in and stir it around for 2 min on low heat. This is what makes the pork belly taste super yummy!
    
15. Turn off the stove and start putting the broth into the bowls.
    
16. Place the toppings on your ramen and pork belly with a dash of sesame oil. Now you can cut the soft boiled eggs and place them carefully on top. Viola!
    
17. Get your chopsticks and soup spoon ready! ENJOY AND INDULGE! 🥄🍜
    
18. Have a delightful meal 🍜🤗😋. 

Let us know how your pork belly ramen recipe turned out in the comments! We would love to hear from you! 🍜