You Can Actually Make Spaghetti Ramen (and How to Do It)
Substituting ingredients in culturally specific dishes is no easy task. Some people are culinary pioneers, willing to add something new and risk an entire meal in the hope of achieving amazing results. Others are recipe goers who would rather rename your dish than accept an exchange, especially when it comes to a dish as famous as ramen . If you can’t find real ramen noodles, purists will tell you, make other dinner plans. Well, I’m saying purists can kick rocks: when the need arises, you can completely replace spaghetti with your ramen noodles, with a healthy dash of baking soda.
Now, not too long ago, I would also give you trouble if you added Italian basil or plain Thai basil to your pad kra pao or put bell peppers in your neva pad prik . These are not the correct options! These are not ingredients used in Thailand! I would argue that using spaghetti in your ramen means the dish should be called spaghetti soup. Maybe spaghetti ramen. I was a purist, and with good reason; Many of the people who strongly believe in using the “right” ingredients are chefs and passionate chefs from the countries and cultures from which these world-famous dishes originated. These “ingredient freaks” may actually be worried about their culture being diluted and misinterpreted, and this fear is understandable. But if you think about why and how most dishes cross borders and cultures in the first place, you realize that changing ingredients is actually probably one of the most common cultural culinary experiences. In some cases, eating a modified meal may be the only way to feel closer to home.
There are areas where fresh produce is readily available, international supermarkets are easy to find, “rare” ingredients are imported, and there are plenty of restaurants you can choose from if you’re looking for authentic food from another country. But for many people this is not the case. Some communities with limited choice or located in food deserts with limited access to a wide range of food. Heck, maybe every time you want to eat a $20 bowl of ramen, it doesn’t fit into your budget. You can’t get the exact ingredients you need, so what then? Sit in one’s hands? If my mom didn’t have time to drive the 45-minute drive to the nearest Asian grocery store, that’s when she grabbed bell peppers or Italian basil or sliced lemons when we ran out of limes. Don’t we care that one ingredient is slightly different? Nope. Was it delicious? Absolutely. Was it still Thai food? Of course there was. (If you want to argue with my mom, be my guest.) If you have most of the ingredients you need, some substitutes work surprisingly well. In fact, for ramen, it can be almost transformative.
Why spaghetti in ramen works
While it’s not the only ingredient or the most important ( dashi is where it comes from), noodles are the main filler and possibly the most fun part of the ramen. If you can’t find fresh ramen noodles anywhere, or if you forgot to grab some on your last trip to the store, you can effectively use regular dry boxed spaghetti, capellini, or angel hair pasta. Both ramen noodles and Italian pasta are made from wheat flour and water, but ramen noodles include one important ingredient: kansui . It is this alkaline ingredient that gives ramen its characteristic texture and golden hue. My guess is that if you couldn’t get your hands on fresh ramen noodles, then you probably didn’t find kansui either, but there are two ways to achieve its effect with baking soda.
How to use baking soda to turn spaghetti into ramen
A quicker and easier way is to add baking soda directly to the boiling pasta water. This recipe from Okomomi Kitchen gives you an easy recipe and method that I love. Simply add baking soda to a pot of boiling water to create an alkaline solution that mimics the effect of kansui, the traditional ramen noodles. Add spaghetti (or capellini for ramen-sized noodles) and cook as directed. You will notice that your noodles are firmer and more yellow than without the baking soda.
For the more ambitious ramen lovers, you can make your own ramen noodles using baking soda instead of kansui. Kansui is usually added directly to the noodle dough, as in this recipe from Fine Cooking. If you don’t have this powerfully alkaline ingredient, you can make it a substitute by baking baking soda in a low temperature oven first. This New York Times article provides a fascinating and highly scientific explanation of why it works, but if you don’t have time for everything, just know that when you bake baking soda this way, it becomes a stronger alkaline salt than it was before. – sodium carbonate, which is much closer to kansui in taste and potency than regular baking soda. To give it a try, use the baking method at the end of the Fine Cooking recipe above.
The most important thing to remember is that ramen is a team sport. That is, this is a whole dish, and not just noodles. If you’ve got the makings of quality dashi, a little bowl , and all your favorite toppings ready to eat, the lack of fresh, hand-cut ramen noodles shouldn’t stop you from having an important meal. Will it be as good as a downtown ramen restaurant that source all ingredients from Japan, or as good as you remember growing up in Osaka? Maybe not. But if a little substitution can bring you closer to those tastes or memories, then it’s worth it.