Description
A quick and flavorful Asian beef ramen noodles recipe featuring caramelized ground beef, a savory sauce blend, and crunchy bean sprouts, perfect for a speedy weeknight meal.
Ingredients
Scale
Noodles and Beef
- 2 packets ramen or other instant noodles, discard seasoning
- 1 tsp oil
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 onion, sliced
- 200 g beef mince (ground beef)
- 1 1/4 cups water, plus more as needed
- Big handful bean sprouts
Sauce
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 tsp hoisin sauce
- 1 tbsp mirin
Garnishes (optional)
- Finely sliced green onion / shallots
- Sesame seeds
Instructions
- Mix Sauce: Combine the dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, and mirin in a small bowl and set aside.
- Sauté Onion and Garlic: Heat the oil and sesame oil in a medium skillet over high heat. Add the sliced onion and minced garlic and cook for 1 1/2 minutes until they start to turn golden.
- Cook Beef: Add the ground beef to the skillet, breaking it up as you cook. Continue cooking until the beef changes from pink to light brown.
- Caramelize Beef: Pour the pre-mixed sauce over the beef and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently until the beef is well caramelized.
- Add Water and Noodles: Push the beef mixture to one side of the skillet to create space. Pour in 1 1/4 cups of water and place the noodles into the water.
- Cook Ramen: Allow noodles to cook in the water for 45 seconds, then turn them. After 30 seconds, untangle the noodles using a spatula or chopsticks and toss them through the beef and sauce mixture.
- Add Bean Sprouts and Toss: Stir in the bean sprouts and toss everything together for 1 minute or until the sauce reduces and coats the noodles and the noodles are cooked through.
- Serve: Serve immediately while hot, garnished with sliced green onions and sesame seeds if desired.
Notes
- Use any brand or type of instant ramen noodles, avoiding extra-large packets unless broken to fit.
- Substitute fresh or dried rice or wheat noodles; cook according to package instructions and toss with beef and a splash of water.
- Use toasted sesame oil for more flavor, but untoasted works fine as well.
- Ground beef can be substituted with any ground meat such as chicken, turkey, pork, lamb, or veal.
- If dark soy sauce is unavailable, regular soy sauce can be used, though the color will be lighter.
- Vegetarian oyster sauce is available as an alternative to traditional oyster sauce.
- Mirin can be replaced with Chinese cooking wine or dry sherry; for a non-alcoholic option, use a mix of water and low sodium chicken stock and omit mirin.
- The total cooking time for noodles should match the package instructions; add more water if needed for longer cooking.
- When scaling up the recipe, use a larger skillet and break up noodle cakes if necessary.
- To reduce sodium by 175 mg per serving, use low sodium soy sauce.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 480 kcal
- Sugar: 6 g
- Sodium: 900 mg
- Fat: 22 g
- Saturated Fat: 7 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 13 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 50 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 26 g
- Cholesterol: 65 mg
