Ingredients (per serving)

Pickled Carrots (makes enough for several servings)
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup honey
pinch salt
1/2 cup carrots, loosely packed; julienned or cut into cutely shaped slices

Miso Dressing
1/2 tbsp white miso
1/2 tbsp sesame oil (or chili oil)
1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 tbsp honey
1 tsp tamari (or soy sauce)
1/2 tsp ginger, finely minced
1 small clove garlic, finely minced

1 egg
small handful snow peas, rinsed
1-2 tbsp green onions, rinsed and sliced or julienned
1 block ramen or noodles of choice (I love rice ramen by Lotus Foods)
mizuna microgreens, rinsed

Method

1. Start by preparing pickled carrots (if using) as these need 4-5 hours to pickle and chill. Add water, rice vinegar, honey, and salt to a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil over medium to medium-high heat until sugar from the honey is dissolved, stirring occasionally. Allow to cool before pouring over carrots – make sure carrots are completely submerged in the pickling liquid. Allow to sit at room temperature for 3-4 hours, then place in the fridge for about 1 hour to chill before using.
2. Prepare snow peas by bringing a small pot of water to a boil. While water is coming to a boil, remove the tough string from the snow peas – grab the string that hangs off one end of the pea pod and pull it towards the other end to remove. Prepare an ice water bath in a small mixing bowl. Add snow peas to boiling water and boil for 3 minutes. Immediately transfer the snow peas to the ice water bath to cool. You may strain away the snow pea water or leave the water in the pot to use for cooking the noodles or egg. Remove from ice water once cooled and store in the fridge until ready to use. You may use this ice water for your egg afterwards as well.
3. Prepare your egg to preference (ex. fried, boiled, pickled, poached, or onsen). For an onsen egg, allow water to come to a boil in a small pot – I like to use the water from the snow peas, bringing it back to a boil after snow peas are removed. Remove from the heat and add the egg into the pot of hot water, making sure it is completely submerged. If your egg is fridge temperature allow to sit for 15 minutes, if egg is room temperature allow to sit for 10 minutes. Place into an ice bath to chill until ready to use.
4. Prepare miso dressing by adding all ingredients (miso, sesame oil, rice vinegar, honey, tamari, ginger, and garlic) together and stirring or whisking to combine.
5. Cook noodles according to cooking instructions, until desired texture. Immediately rinse under cold water to stop cooking and to cool the noodles.
6. Place noodles into serving bowl and top with dressing. Showcase all of your toppings (egg, mizuna microgreens, green onions, snow peas, and pickled carrots [if using]) over the noodles, and serve.
7. Mazemen literally means mixed noodles, so before eating, mix everything up!

Notes:

1. I have tried substituting coconut sugar and apple cider vinegar for the pickled carrots brine. This is delicious as well, but does not suit this recipe, as it carries too caramelized a flavour.
2. If increasing the amount of noodles per serving, be sure to increase the amount of dressing as well so that the dish is flavourful.
3. Mizuna microgreens are the highlight flavour of this dish – I actually created it around the flavour of the microgreens. They are the sprout of the Japanese mustard plant, which was used frequently in its full-grown form at the ramen restaurant I worked at, so I knew that they had to be used in a light ramen dish. They were generously gifted to me by the guys at Rebel Harvest, and are Erik’s favourite, so I hope I did them justice!