I’m a huge fan of asian food of almost any variety, and for years (thanks to my mother) I’ve been a huge fan of Vietnamese pho. However, it wasn’t until recently that I discovered ramen. (I’m not talking about the kind you find in your grocery store aisles, either. Although, I wouldn’t complain. Add some soft-boiled eggs into the mix and I am in heaven.)

So as you can imagine, converting to low carb, paleo, keto, or otherwise not eating noodles, can really put a damper on our collective noodle-loving ways. Last month, when I (narrowly!) won an online “Chopped”-style cooking contest run by Matt & Megha over at KetoConnect, I was stoked that my prize was a Pampered Chef Veggie Spiralizer . (Those Keto Kookies sure did look good, but I knew that the spiralizer was going to be the gift that kept on giving.)

I’ve only tried a few dishes so far, all involving zucchini. (Zoodles for days, ya’ll.) And I haven’t been disappointed yet.

My favorite dish so far has been one using zucchini noodles in place of traditional ramen noodles. I converted a recipe from Fork, Knife, and Swoon, and it is 100% delicious. I made a few (read: a lot of) substitutions, and one of note is leaving out the mirin. Mirin is a bit high in carbs so I just added a smaller amount of rice wine vinegar and sweetened it up with a couple of drops of liquid stevia. I have a feeling that you could just leave the mirin out entirely, though. All in all it was pretty easy to make, and if you don’t have the time to roast your own chicken, you can just slice up some rotisserie chicken you find at the grocery store (or any already-cooked chicken you have on hand.) You’ll never know the difference!

My one disappointment with this recipe is that I really couldn’t figure out a way to lower the net carbs without sacrificing the flavor. It clocks in at 9g of carb per serving. Which, if you’re doing keto, can be a big chunk out of your day. Even leaving out the green onions (gasp!) only saves about .5 g of carb per serving. If anyone has any ideas, I’m all ears, but I have a feeling there’s not much else that can be changed. I considered making homemade broth, but most homemade broth recipes I found also contained about 2g of carb per cup. I can easily make this into four portions instead of two, so for me, this is not an issue. But for most other people, they’ll want the whole bowl. Not to worry, though. It’s totally worth it.

Super Simple Low Carb Ramen

Serves: 2-4

Nutrition for two servings: 280 cal, fat 18 g, protein 13g, carb 10g, fiber 1g, NET carbs 9g

Nutrition for four servings: 140 cal, fat 9 g, protein 6.5g, carb 5g, fiber .5g, NET carbs 4.5g

INGREDIENTS

2 chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on (about 6 ounces of meat)*

1 tbsp butter

2 tsp sesame oil

2 tsp fresh ginger, minced

2 tsp fresh garlic, minced

4 cups chicken broth/stock (I used 4 cups of water + 2 extra large cubes of Knorr chicken bouillon )*

)* 2 tbsp coconut aminos

1 tsp rice wine vinegar

1-2 drops of liquid stevia extract

2 large eggs

4 tbsp chopped scallions

1 medium-to-large zucchini squash, washed and spiralized into spaghetti size “noodles”

salt & pepper

optional: 2 tbsp fresh cilantro

*if you’re of the a ovo/pescatarian variety, you can “veggie”fy this by swapping the broth/chicken with veggie broth + oven roasted shrimp. Or leave out the meat entirely!

1. PRE-HEAT! Turn your oven to 375 degrees.

2. CHICKEN! Prepare your chicken thighs. Season liberally with salt and pepper on both sides. Place chicken skin-down in a cast iron skillet (or other oven-safe skillet) over medium-high heat for about 5-7 minutes. Chicken should be golden brown and release easily from the pan when ready to turn. Flip and cook another 4-5 minutes before transferring to the oven for 15-20 minutes, until cooked thoroughly. If you don’t have an oven-safe skillet, transfer to an oven safe dish for this portion of the recipe. Once cooked, you can cut the meat from the bone, and slice into thin slices. (You can also use rotisserie chicken, or other already cooked chicken, if you are short on time!)

3. BROTH! After you put your chicken in, heat the sesame oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the ginger and garlic and saute until softened, about 1-3 minutes. Now add the coconut aminos, vinegar and stevia and stir, cooking for just about one minute. Add the chicken broth/stock, cover and bring to a boil. (While you wait for it to boil, this may be a good time to put the water on for step 4. EGGS!) After boiling, remove the lid to let simmer uncovered for at least 15 minutes.

4. EGGS! While you’re waiting for the stock to finish, fill another pot with enough water to cover both eggs and bring it to a boil. Use a slotted spoon to lower both eggs, just out of the fridge, very gently into the water. Let it simmer for exactly 7 minutes and then remove the eggs, immediately immersing in a bath of ice water to stop the cooking. Crack the eggs gently all over and peel, starting with the larger end, where the air pocket is, and then slice in half lengthwise and set aside.

5. ZOODLES! While the eggs and broth are simmering, this is a good time to zoodle your zucchini using the spiralizer of your choice on the spaghetti blade. I use the pampered chef spiralizer, but you can use any of the many spiralizers available, from the handheld to the countertop. Obviously the handheld take a little more grunt-work. Also this is a good time to chop your cilantro and your scallions.

6. RAMEN! Once everything is ready, put the zucchini noodles into the simmering broth and let cook for just about a minute. Spoon your soup into two large bowls, adding about 3 oz of the chicken into each bowl, your soft-boiled eggs, and half of each of the cilantro and scallions.

Hey now, let’s eat!