Wagamama's Chicken Ramen

London is without a doubt one of my dream destinations, and the city is overflowing with ethnic food options from every continent. Even though I have never had the chance to eat there, Wagamama restaurant is so fascinating to me, and I have been wanting to make their famous chicken ramen for ages. Wagamama is a Japanese fusion restaurant that serves heaping bowls of noodles, rice, ramen, gyoza, katsu, and tons of other Japanese dishes in minutes flat. You walk in, sit down, the waiters take your order electronically at the table, and the food is brought to you super fast. I received the restaurant's cookbook a few Christmases ago, and the recipes are fast, relatively cheap, and SO GOOD. 

Their chicken ramen apparently is the stuff of regular Wagamama patrons' dreams, and I set out to make it for lunch today. I'm on a tight budget, so making their chicken stock 1 recipe, which includes a whole chicken and tons of vegetables, was kind of out of my price range. So I improvised their chicken stock 3 recipe and used store-bought organic chicken stock, fresh ginger, leek, and carrot and boiled it all until the flavors infused. The ramen noodles were also tricky for me, and I ended up having to buy Ramen brand's chicken ramen soup packs and discard the seasoning packets (although I really, really like the seasoning packet). Everything else, the green vegetables and broiled chicken, came together fairly quickly, and I was chowin' down on chicken ramen in no time. 

The soup needed a bit more salt than I expected, but once I added a few pinches of sea salt to the bowl, all of the flavors jumped out and I did not take a break from the bowl until the last drops of soup were gone. I also added cilantro because I adore it and it brightened the soup a bit. So go on and check out the Wagamama cookbook if you're broke like me and can't afford a ticket to London town anytime soon. Happy eating!

Wagamama's Chicken Ramen (makes 2 large bowls of soup)

adapted from the Wagamama Cookbook

For chicken stock:

5 cups store-bought or homemade chicken stock 

1 thumb-sized piece fresh ginger, roughly chopped

1 carrot, roughly chopped

1 leek, washed and roughly chopped (remove large green top, slice in half vertically, and rinse out the grit thoroughly before chopping)

Assemble soup:

2 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts

salt and white pepper

1 package Ramen noodles, seasoning packet removed

1 baby bok choy, roughly chopped (separate leaves, rinse well, and remove the tough white part at the bottom before chopping)

2 scallions, thinly sliced

small handful fresh cilantro (optional), roughly chopped

12 pieces bamboo shoots, found in the international foods aisle 

Combine the chicken stock in a pot with the ginger, carrot, and leek. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes until the flavors come together. Strain the stock through a fine-mesh sieve, discard vegetables. Return the stock to the heat and keep over low heat until ready to serve. 

Preheat the broiler. Rub chicken breasts with a little oil, season with salt and white pepper. Broil until fully cooked, flipping if necessary. Let sit for about 5 minutes before slicing so the juices don't escape. While chicken is cooking, bring 2 cups of water to a boil, add the ramen noodles, and cook for 2-3 minutes until tender. Drain the noodles and rinse with cold water. Divide the noodles between two large bowls. Top the noodles with the bok choy, ladle the stock overtop, then top with the sliced chicken, scallions, cilantro, and bamboo shoots. Serve very hot with chop sticks and a large spoon.