One Pot Korean Noodles

If you get a craving for noodles, you can make this dish faster than running out for takeout. And it is all made in one pot.

 Saute 1 pond of ground beef in a few tablespoons of sesame oil.

 Stir in some sliced cabbage.

 Add 6 cups of water or stock.  You can use chicken or beef or one of the new Asian flavored stocks.

 And now you can get inventive and add whatever you like.  I added minced ginger, ramp bulbs and red pepper.

 Add 1 pound of the noodles of your choice.  I used spaghetti but any kind of Asian noodles would be even better.

 Next I added ramp greens but you could just use green onions and regular garlic.  The great thing about ramps is that they taste like a combination of the two.  Bring this to a boil, cover and turn the heat down to a simmer.  Cook for 10 minutes.

 Add 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, 2 tsp. of fish sauce, 3 tablespoons of mirin and 1/3 cup of gochujang which is a Korean fermented chili paste.  You can find this at any Asian store and it will blow the lid off of many recipes.  This is a new ingredient to me and I am wondering what took me so long to find it.  I will be showing recipes for this and talking much more about it as I learn to use it.

 I served these with shredded kimchi on top.  Gochujang and I are about to become very good friends.

 On Tuesday the kids got giant chocolate chip cookies.  Kids were walking in off the streets asking for them and happily, I had made enough that they got some of them too.

Not a very good pic but yesterday I sent them Oreo cheesecakes.  Most of the kids had never tasted cheesecake but they all became instant cheesecake fans.