Next Post
Brown Butter Pecan + Maple Quinoa Autumn Harvest Granola.
This post may contain affiliate links, please see our privacy policy for details.
This crockpot crispy caramelized pork ramen noodle soup with curry roasted acorn squash is some real deal Ramen. The mixture of flavors and broth – oh my!! Ramen has always been one of my favorite things to eat and now it’s one that I love to make AND eat – YUM.
Growing up I pretty much lived on Ramen Noodle Soup. Especially during the cold fall and winter months. If you live in northeast Ohio, especially along the lake, like I used to, you know that those months can be brutal. Comforting soup is the best cure-all. The rain, the freezing rain, the snow, the ice, the bitter cold – with no sunshine for days.
UGH.
Ramen, and maybe a roaring wood burning fire, can restore sanity. I would come home from school, boil the water, add the noodles + seasoning and cuddle up on the couch with a big blanket (if I was lucky, the fire was going too), my hot bowl of ramen and either a re-run episode of Gilmore Girls or 7th Heaven.
Ok, that was my ideal day. I cannot say how often that truly happened because I had five other brothers living in the house as well. Getting the TV all to myself meant that I was probably still in grade three, four or five because for some reason those grades got out at 2:45pm. The rest of the grades got out at 3:15 (middle school + high school) and 3:55 (lower elementary school). For the record, Kensington (my upper elementary school) was by far my favorite school, for the sole reason that while attending, I got out earlier than all my siblings. This meant that I had at least an hour alone with my mom after school. With five other siblings + my dad all fighting for her attention, this was obviously the best thing ever to me. It was rare that it was just us girls in the house so I always loved that time after school. Unless of course I had a boatload of homework. Then I was stressed to the max and HAD to get it done right-away (issues).
It’s probably clear I was a total freak. No denying it. I mean what kid does their homework literally right after school? I wouldn’t eat or do anything till it was all done. Mental issues? Yes, yes, yes, I had them and still do, but now they are in different forms…
I have not actually had Ramen Noodle Soup, with the seasoning pack and all, in years because my mom and I sadly found out (at way too young of an age) that Ramen was basically a bunch of processed junk that we did not want to be putting into our bodies. I still remember the day my aunt Alyssa called and broke the news that our beloved Ramen probably wasn’t the best thing to be eating. Daily. And yes, even as a kid I never wanted to eat junk food unless my mom made it from scratch, meaning all her cookies, cakes, K-bars and pies where fair game. I didn’t even like chips. See, total freak.
Last year I made this Thai peanut chicken ramen that I still love and make all the time with angel hair pasta, but this fall it was time for a new Ramen. And um, I have to say that I have totally upped my Ramen making game.
The caramelized pork does the trick. It’s pretty awesome, but I still think the egg… or maybe the curry roasted acorn squash (can’t decide) are my favorites. Together they honestly make the most perfect bowl of ramen.
Bonus, the pork gets cooked all day in the crockpot too. It’s the best way to make this because not only does it make dinner easy, but the pork gets cooked low and slow and creates an incredible broth. Seriously, the broth is out of this world good. There is a little work to do before dinner, you have to roast the acorn squash and get the pork all crispy + caramelized in the skillet, but I promise the extra efforts will be so worth it. You do not HAVE to make the pork all caramelized and crispy. It’s still going to be good if you don’t, but I highly recommend taking the extra ten minutes to do so. It takes the meal to a whole new level. Plus, it totally makes this a Bahn Mi Ramen Noodle Soup.
And the squash, well it’s the perfect fall topping to add to Ramen. I wouldn’t do it any other way. So good.
And those noodles, while nothing will ever compare to real deal Ramen noodles.
Crockpot Caramelized Pork Ramen Noodle Soup w/Curry Roasted Acorn Squash.
Servings: 4 servings
Calories Per Serving: 2018 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
Soup
- 2-3 pounds pork shoulder roast or butt
- 4 cups low sodium chicken broth plus more of needed
- 1/4-1/2 cup + 2-4 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce <--Use low sodium
- 1/4 cup + 2-4 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce optional
- 2 tablespoons thai red curry paste
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon sambal oelek chili paste, or to taste
- The juice of 1 lime
- 1 tablespoon Chinese five spice
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 cups wild mushrooms left whole - or button mushrooms, sliced
- 4 packs Ramen noodles seasoning packets discarded
- 4 soft boiled or fried eggs for serving
- Chopped carrots sliced jalapenos, cilantro + green onions, for serving
Curry Roasted Acorn Squash
- 1 medium acorn squash seeded + diced
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil melted
- 1 tablespoon curry powder I use spicy curry
- 1 tablespoon white miso paste
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the pork to the bowl of a crockpot. Pour the chicken broth, 1/4-1/2 cup soy sauce (depending on your taste), 1/4 cup rice vinegar and fish sauce over the pork. Add the thai red curry paste, ginger, sambal oelek, juice of 1 lime, Chinese five spice powder, black pepper and 1 tablespoon brown sugar. Cover the crockpot and cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4-6 hours (I recommend going low and slow).
- About 40 minutes before you are ready to eat, roast the squash. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a small bowl mix together the melted coconut oil, curry powder, miso, brown sugar and a good pinch of pepper. Add the cubed squash to a greased baking sheet and pour the curry mixture over the squash. Toss well. Bake for 30-40 minutes, tossing a couple of times during cooking. You want the squash to be lightly browned and crisp.
- Meanwhile, remove the pork from the crockpot and add the mushrooms. Cover the crockpot and crank the heat up to high. Lightly shred the pork with two forks or your hands.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sesame oil. Once hot, add enough pork to cover just the surface of your skillet, do not over crowd the skillet. Sprinkle a little brown sugar over the pork, add 2 tablespoons soy sauce and 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, toss. Allow the pork to caramelize, about 2 minutes. Stir and allow the pork to continue to caramelize, about 3-5 minutes total. Remove the pork from the skillet, repeat with the remaining pork. Keep the pork warm.
- Add the Ramen noodles to the crockpot and allow them to cook 5 minutes. Once the noodles are cooked, stir in only half of the pork. Ladle the soup into bowls. Top with extra caramelized pork, curry roasted acorn squash and an egg. Season the egg with salt and pepper, Add the carrots, jalapeños, green onions and cilantro if desired. Happy slurping!
Love this bowl. It’s everything you could ever want in soup.
This post was originally published on September 29, 2014
Literally how could anyone rate this recipe less than 5 stars? Every time I make this recipe, I feel like a 5 star chef. Anyone who has ever been invited over to eat it with me has nothing but glowing reviews. Make this meal, you won’t regret it.
This is so sweet! I am so glad you and all your guests have loved this recipe, Stevie! Thank you so much! xTieghan
This looks delicious. My family can’t do mushrooms though, do you have any ideas on a sub for them?
Hey Sharon! You can just omit the mushrooms. No bog deal! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
I’ve been making this recipe for years and I just wanted to tell you it’s my all time favorite dish!! I felt this fact warranted my first ever post in a comment section. Thank you so much for sharing!!
Thank you so much Justine! I am so glad you loved this recipe!
Too bad there are so many ingredients that are not available in my area.
I am so sorry about that Ann! Maybe I could help you find replacements? Let me know!
We made this yesterday and it was delicious!!! Totally worth the time – and the hands-on effort is really at a minimum. I will say that when we make this next time, we will cook the ramen separately from the broth. The issue with cooking them together is that the noodles soak up all of the broth, so when you have your serving at dinner it’s completely fine, but once it has sat in the fridge overnight, there’s no broth and all of your effort to make this delicious soup is all but gone, leaving you with a sticky goop of noodles.
Thank you so much Amanda! I am so glad you liked this recipe!
Yuuuum!! Made this for dinner a few nights ago and it yielded more than 4 servings (an absolute bonus for our last-minute-lunch part of the freezer). I found that I had to add an additional 2+ cups of water to get enough broth (the broth with the 4 cups of chicken stock and slow-cooked pork was a little salty for me), but with that addition it was perrrrfect. Thank you so much for sharing this, I’ll definitely be making it again! That crispy pork is NO! JOKE!
I am so glad you loved this Leilani! Thank you!
Wondering if you could use pork loin for this? I recently made a Asian style pulled pork that shredded really well and have some leftover loins left so this would be perfect to make it with! Do you think that cut of meat would work for this recipe?
HI! I am sure that will be just fine. The eat might be a little dryer since it is a leaner cut. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much!! xTieghan
I made this last night… so good! I did it according to the recipe, but left out the fish sauce…. a little more time consuming than the recipe says… says prep time 25 minutes.. for everything, minus the cooking, I’d say more like 1.5 hours, especially since it was my first time making it. The ingredients were a little difficult to find if you don’t know where to look for them in the store…. (who knew miso paste is refrigerated in the health food section). All in all, this is an amazing recipe and I will definitely be making it again.
Hi! I am so glad you loved this recipe!! Thank you so much!
This recipe was everything I could have hoped for! I didn’t substitute anything and cooked it exactly as the directions said and my husband and I both agree that it is AMAZING! Perfect for a chilly fall night!!
Hi Lauren! I am so glad you loved this recipe and it turned out amazing for you!
I am notorious for modifying recipes. Even my cookbooks are covered in notes and stickies with extra instructions, inclusions, etc. This ramen recipe though… the only note on my much-loved print-out is “Make exactly as directed. Change nothing – this is what heaven tastes like!”
Wow that is so amazing! I am so glad you love this recipe, Lauren!
This is a life saver! I have to go low sodium and instant ramen has been the thing I’m missing the most. This looks like it’s even better. I cannot wait to try it.
I hope you love this recipe, Heather! Thank you!
can’t wait to try but I don’t have a slow cooker. Any ideas on improvizing?
Hey Cathy! You can cook this in an oven safe pot at 300 degrees for 3-4 hours. That will be great! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much! xTieghan
This was PHENOMENAL!!! One of the best meals I’ve ever cooked at home. So much depth of flavor, I couldn’t stop eating!
My store has bone in pork shoulder on sale. Would you cut off the bone or cook longer?
I would just cook the pork longer and remove the bone after cooking. I think that will be great! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much! xTieghan
This is absolutely AWESOME!! Oh my God, It’s a lot of work, but so worth it. Thank you for sharing it!
I am so glad you enjoyed this! Thank you!