Throughout our third culture childhoods between Asia and America, KChan and I got to see ketchup used in food in completely different ways.
In Asia, ketchup is often used as a sauce ingredient and cooked directly into main dishes. KLee’s mom cooks an Asian dish called tomatoes and eggs with a ginger ketchup sauce that adds a bit of sweetness (try this dish on some rice – you will fall in love).
Meanwhile, in America, we grew up using ketchup as a condiment on burgers, fries, and hot dogs. We can’t even imagine ordering fries from In N Out without using any ketchup.
Despite it’s now near universal appeal, ketchup has had a long history of being remixed.
In the 17th Century, the Chinese mixed pickled fish and spices and called it ke-chiap. In the 18th Century, the U.K. prepared ketchup using mushrooms. It really wasn’t until a century after the original types that tomato-based ketchup appeared.
A few weeks ago, KLee opened his refrigerator door and looked at all of the sauces. Our eyes came to a bottle of ketchup that was 3/4 full.
We decided to challenge ourselves to make an immi ramen dish using ketchup as our secret ingredient and this was the result.
Getting hungry but no time to cook? Try immi ramen: Ready in 7 minutes with delicious Asian flavors that you’ll crave.
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Stir Fried Spicy Mi Goreng Ramen
Ingredients
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 piece of firm tofu
- Several green onions
- 1 red chili
- 1 lime
- 1/2 lb. of chicken
- 8 shrimp
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp dark soy sauce (kecap manis) – for a keto-friendly version, heat up tamari and xylitol on a saucepan and stir together.
- 3 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 1 tsp oyster sauce
- 3 tbsp of chili paste (sambal)
- White pepper
- Handful of bean sprouts
- 3 eggs
- 1 serving of immi ramen noodles
Instructions
Prep
- Mince 3 cloves of garlic
- Cut 1 piece of tofu into thin slices
- Chop several green onions for garnish
- Chop 1 red chili for garnish
- Cut 1 lime into wedges
- Slice ½ lb of chicken into thin slices
- Peel 8 shrimp
Sauce
- In a bowl, add 2 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp dark soy sauce (kecap manis), 3 tablespoon tomato ketchup, and 1 tsp oyster sauce
- Add salt and white pepper to taste
Cooking
- Boil your immi ramen noodles
- Heat the wok and pour in the cooking oil
- Add minced garlic, 3 tbsp of chili paste (sambal)
- Add the tofu, shrimp, and chicken
- Add immi noodles
- Add sauce and stir
- After the noodles and sauce are evenly mixed, move the noodles to the side of the wok
- Add in the beansprouts
- Add more cooking oil and scramble 3 eggs.
Assembly
- Transfer wok contents to a plate
- For garnish, sprinkle the chopped green onions and red chili slices
- Squeeze a lime over the final plate
- Enjoy!
Visual Recipe
