Are still here in the rear, ayo, we don't need you
You in the killing-off-good-young-nigga mood
When we get hungry we eat the same fucking food
The ramen noodle

We the people A Tribe Called Quest

Ramen is such a great way of serving food that it seems a shame to be limited by sometime lack of good Japanese ingredients. Now, I don’t love fusion food as a thing, but when it makes sense, concept-wise, to mix different types of flavour, then why no. So in this ramen recipe the flavours are a mix of the miso and soy of east asian cooking, with a more middle eastern spice combo for the autumnal roast veg, with all the veg being available fresh pretty much everywhere - just carrots, celeriac and cauliflower.

The roasted veg mix here will do for far more than the ramen, you can save it up and mix with lentils or quinoa for a fantastic cold salad. Or just warm up and dip in the coriander, cumin, fennel mix (described below too) for a great snack. Use the pickled egg described here for some extra smokey kick.

Serves 2

* 1 celeriac
* 1 cauliflower
* Paprika
* 500 g carrots
* 1 tablespoon of coriander seeds
* 2 teaspoons of fennel seeds
* 2 teaspoons of cumin seeds
* Garlic oil
* Onion oil
* Ginger
* Chilli peppers
* Soy sauce
* Chicken stock (1 L)
* Miso paste
* 1 spring onion (green part)
* A pickeld egg
* Enough ramen noodles for 2 people (see packet for directions)

Roast veg

• Preheat the oven to 220 C
• Chop the celeriac into 1cm cubes
• Coat the celeriac in garlic oil and paprika and roast for 15 - 20 minutes, until crispy
• Break up the cauliflower into ~ 1 cm pieces, coat in garlic oil and paprika, roast for 7 - 12 minutes, until starting to turn black at the edges
• Cut the carrots into batons coat in regular oil, a dash of soy sauce and a tablespoon of honey, roast for 10 - 15 minutes, until crispy
• During this time mix the coriander, cumin and fennel seeds in a heat proof dish and put in the oven for about 10 minutes. Remove and grind with a mortar and pestle … the smell is incredible

Broth

• Heat 2 tablespoons of onion oil in a saucepan and fry the ginger for about 4/5 minutes
• Add the chopped and de-seeded chilli (as much as you like)
• Add the miso paste ( 3 tablespoons)
• Mix this around in the sauce pan for about 1 minute and add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
• Add the chicken broth and leave to boil while preparing the rest
• Cook the ramen noodles

Serving

• Put the noodles in a bowl
• Cover with broth
• Put the roasted veg and half a pickled egg on top
• Garnish with the coriander, cumin, fennel mix and chopped spring onion