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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
Okay, this comment is long overdue. I found a picture of this ramen and thought it was at a restaurant. Then I found your page, next I told my best cooking friend that this is what I wanted as my birthday present (it was my 50th this past January). I even offered to buy the ingredients. Though she made a couple substitutions when every one sat down to eat, the room of 20 people was SILENT. This was the best. Something between Pho and Ramen and it is JUST UNBELIEVABLY DELICIOUS. My friend hosts soup nights as well, so she has now made this 3 times. Can’t wait for fall when we will get to have it again. Thank you.
I made this tonight and it was SO RICH! I had half a bowl and I don’t think I will have any more … Like at all. It was delicious, don’t get me wrong, it was just too much! Not volume wise, it just had so much dense-ness going on! Yummy, but good lord … Never again.
Hey there! Might be a goofy question, but i’m trying out my crockpot for the first time with this recipe, so not to familiar with using… Do you need to cook the pork before the Crockpot cooking time or does it go in the crockpot whole and raw? Thanks!
HI! The pork goes into the crockpot raw, just make sure to cook it as long as I said in the directions. Hope you love this and please let me know if you have any other questions, happy to help!
Hi! Thanks so much for the recipe i’ll try it as soon as possible!
I just had a couple of questions because english isn’t my first language and i wanted to make sure i won’t mess up anything!
First i was wondering if it was possible to coock the broth without a crockpot but using a normal pot, if so, would you suggest different cooking times or something else?
Also i didn’t completely understand the cooking part of the pork, i have to put it in the pot for the broth still raw and entire, only after removing it from the pot i’ll roast it as you explained, right?
Thanks so much again for your work!!
Hey Fox,
You can cook this in a pot and in the oven at 300 degrees for around 5-6 hours. Everything should just go all in one pot. Please let me know if you have any other questions. Hope you love the soup! 🙂
Thanks so much!
I plan to be doing this during this week, hope everything goes alright 🙂
I’ll let you know how it comes out, but im sure it will be super delicious thanks to you!
I just made this recipe tonight and it is freaking amazing! Wonderful job!
Thank you! So happy you love it! THANKS!
Not being fond of mushrooms personally, what can I substitute instead?
Hi, I lvoe the recipe, it does look amazing, I do have a question though. It’s very rare to find acorn squash in my country. I’m aware it’s probably the key ingerediates but what can i do 🙁 do you have any recommendations what to replace it with?
Hi! It’s so not a big deal, you can use your favorite veggie. Sweet potatoes, broccoli and carrots would all be great. Hope you love this!
My boyfriend is obsessed with ramen, eats it and makes it all the time so I was totally fearful to make him ramen. His is really amazing and is very opinionated about it. I finally mustered the courage to make it for him and he was blown away, said it was “Killer”, and has requested again and that I make it for dinner tomorrow night!!! This is by far the best dish I have ever made and will be making this for years to come.
If you’re reading these reviews because you’re wondering if you should make this meal, the answer is MAKE IT! You will not regret it! WILL NOT! This may be the best meal that my husband and I have ever made. I would maybe use low-sodium soy sauce (this is coming from a salt fiend) when caramelizing the pork. It was a tad bit of a salty dish in the end not that I really cared. There was flavor on top of flavor!
The pork alone was absolutely amazing! I am talking outstanding! I cannot stop thinking about it today.
Can i replace pork with beef or chicken? or any type of meat?
I don’t eat pork
Yes, I think that would be fine! 🙂
I am about an hour away from eating this amazing looking recipe with my wife. Thank you for sharing. I noticed that the mushrooms which are included on the ingredients list don’t make an appearance in the instructions. I’m just going to put them in at the same time as the noodles.
I made this this weekend and it was amazing! Super easy and caramelizing the pork really makes a difference. I didn’t do the squash just in the interest of time and less mess, and it still was delish!
Thanks!
I made this a while ago and–my goodness–it has to be one of the best dinners we’ve had in recent memory. The eggs! The ramen! The carmelized pork! I will definitely make this again, and soon.
It’s been cooking about 3 hrs and smells a bit skunky. It was only 1tbs of sesame. Let me know if this will effect the broth and if there’s anything I can do to make sure it turns out.
Thanks!!! 🙂
Hey Anna,
I would not worry about it. The sesame oil will only add flavor. Hope you love this!
I accidentally added some sesame oil to the crock…. Will this mess the flavour up?