Lola's Okonomiyaki (Kansai-style)

July 13, 2023 Lola Milholland

I was delighted when I experimented by using our Organic Yakisoba Sauce in place of classic Otafuku or Bulldog Okonomiyaki Sauce. It works like a dream! In fact, I insist: try it out! It’s so special!

In the Kansai region, where okonomiyaki was invented and where I lived (Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe are all within Kansai), the ingredients are all mixed together and cooked as one mass. Many regions have their own adaptations—the other most famous style comes from Hiroshima—but the Kansai version is the easiest to make. I like to eat this with rice and miso soup.

Natalie's Ramen and Meatballs

July 12, 2023 Lola Milholland

“I love a slurpy ramen soup but I also really love the chewy texture of ramen with a delicious sauce. I’ve been making a version of the meatball recipe for years as an appetizer and I was in the mood for some yummy ramen noodles and thought a play on the comfort of spaghetti and meatballs with an Asian-style flair would be fun. It was! And quite delicious!”

Tricia's Batchoy, Filipino Noodle Soup in Beef Broth

August 8, 2022 Lola Milholland

“This is a Filipino noodle dish that originated from the Chinese community that settled in the town of La Paz. Traditionally, it is made with pork and pork offal cooked in a beef and pork stock. It uses egg noodles and is topped with chicharron, fried garlic, scallions and a raw egg that cooks in the hot broth. It is a nourishing dish that is full of umami coming from a rich bone broth and shrimp paste. This is a variation of that dish I use at home made for how we live now and I find it is amazing with Umi Organic’s ramen because of the noodle’s amazing bite.

Curry Noodle Soup with Winter Squash

November 2, 2021 Lola Milholland

Kourtney Paranteau shares the newest entry to her cold weather repertoire: a curry noodle stew with butternut squash. The squash is added at the end as an equal to the noodles, and sits in the delicious tomato and coconut broth, adding another layer of texture and flavor. The broth is thick and stew-like but this vegetarian dish won’t drag your evening down with it.

Naomi's Ramen Salad with Kimchi and Anchovies

June 21, 2021 Lola Milholland

I’ll be honest: This recipe Naomi shared with us is for a committed home cook. Why? Because the first step is to make shio dare, a flavor base used more often as the foundation for a bowl of hot ramen soup. If you don’t mind a small project, jump over to the shio dare recipe, make a batch, and then make this, which might be my favorite cold noodle salad that exists! (Once the shio dare is made, this is a literal breeze.) Naomi Molstrom goes all the way in her commitment to crunch. The chewiness of Umi noodles is so outstanding in this dish, and the contrast with all the crunchy vegetables makes this a textural delight.

Birria Ramen (aka Birriamen)

March 24, 2021 Lola Milholland

There’s only one way to improve upon the pure culinary genius of birria ramen: use Umi Organic noodles. And you don’t have to use take-out birria consomé (broth) or spend hours making it—by using a pressure cooker and boneless stew meat, this pared-down version of the exquisite Mexican stew makes it a more weeknight-friendly endeavor without sacrificing any of the complexity.

Naomi's Shio Chicken Ramen

February 25, 2021 Lola Milholland

Oops, Naomi tool a bite of tofu before snapping this picture!

Ready for a weekend project? Our friend Naomi Molstrom shares her recipe for delicious classic Japanese shio chicken ramen!

Naomi's Chicken Paitan Ramen

February 24, 2021 Lola Milholland

Naomi is the maser of inspiring from-scratch cooking. Chicken ramen is among Naomi’s favorites, and so we asked her to share some recipes. What follows is her chicken paitan broth and instructions on how to build a bowl. The word paitan means “white soup,” a reference to the cloudiness of the broth. As Naomi tells us, making broth is time consuming, but once everything is ready to use, making ramen is super quick. This is a recipe for someone looking for a kitchen project that yields a spectacular result.

Pork Wonton Noodle Soup

February 24, 2021 Lola Milholland

“When I’m already assembling homemade dumplings, the extra labor of hand-making noodles isn’t worth the bragging rights, and Umi Organic’s ramen noodles remain the best store-bought ramen noodle I’ve encountered. This wonton soup rests handmade pork dumplings, bok choy, and bamboo shoots on a nest of Umi Organic Ramen Noodles, then floods the bowl with an aromatic ginger broth. This soup will sooth your lingering winter chills and surpass anyone’s cravings for chicken noodle soup.”

Cumin Lamb Sesame Noodles

December 13, 2020 Lola Milholland

Local author, recipe developer, editor, gardener, creatinve genius and all around cooking inspiration Heather Arndt Anderson shares how to turn our Noodles with Miso Sesame Sauce and 1/2 pound of lamb stew meat into a sumptuous meal reminiscent of the rugged Xinjiang Province. Cumin and lamb are hallmarks of Uyghur cooking, and Umi’s chewy, bouncy noodles make a fine stand-in for traditional hand-pulled biangbiangmian.

Jammy Ramen Eggs, 2 Ways

December 9, 2020 Lola Milholland

Creating our perfect ramen egg has been something we’ve slowly worked on as we prep for one farmers market after another. What are we looking for in a great ramen egg? The white should be cooked, though tender. The yolk should start runny, but time spent in a salt-brine should cure the yolk, deepening the color to a vivid orange and transforming the texture into something jammy, gooey, akin in texture to dulce de leche. The egg should taste savory but not aggressive. Here are our rules of the road and recipes for steaming and boiling our perfect ramen egg.

Stacey's Farmy Okonomiyaki

September 25, 2020 Lola Milholland

Okonomiyaki means “pancakes as you like them” and this is how Stacey Givens, chef extraordinaire of the Side Yard Farm & Kitchen likes hers. This is a true taste of Pacific Northwest farm as summer blurs into fall. And the ground cherry sauce is ridiculous!

tonya's Thanksgiving Ramen, Thanks-for-Noodlin'

November 26, 2019 Lola Milholland

The main idea here is to use your leftovers from preparing a traditional Thanksgiving meal (Turkey, stuffing, vegetables, cranberry sauce) and make them into bowls of ramen. Using leftovers is a huge timesaver and you can make a few things fresh if necessary to round out the dish. The broth alone will astonish you.

Tsukune Miso Ramen (aka Holiday Ramen)

November 30, 2018 Lola Milholland

This ramen is such a great way to use up holiday leftovers. You’ve probably got stuff like mushrooms and green beans already in your fridge as we speak! In this case I’ve made the tsukune with ground turkey, but you could use ground chicken or pork, or your favorite vegetarian meatball.

Lagman Ramen

October 18, 2018 Lola Milholland

Fortified with smoky lapsang souchong tea and blue fenugreek, this savory, traditional Central Asian meat-noodle soup is even heartier with Umi Organic ramen noodles. Though the dish comes from Central Asia, the name “lagman” comes from the same Chinese root word as ramen (lamian), making these two dishes ready for their Mongol-Turkic family reunion.

Miso Ramen with Smoked Pork Tare

April 18, 2018 Lola Milholland

The nice thing about miso ramen is that it’s rich enough for rainy days, but can be lightened up for spring by mixing up the veggies. My tare (seasoning liquid) starts with roasting a whole pig every year but I have a shortcut to a great pork broth too. Either way, go nuts!

Jaron's Salmon Ramen

January 16, 2018 Lola Milholland

We had the amazing fortune of meeting Jaron Ayres at the PSU Farmers Market on Saturday, and as he bought packs of noodles, he announced he was going to make a broth from a salmon head he had in his freezer. We were curious, and lo and behold, not 48 hours later, Jaron shared his photos and recipe with us. It looks down right good enough to eat.

Nacho Ramen

January 12, 2018 Lola Milholland

Okinawan taco rice is totally a thing, and so is Korean cheese ramen, so why not? It's cold out, and sometimes you need to scratch two snacky comfort food itches at once. Feel free to use your favorite nondairy cheese and milk to make this vegan.

Tempura Ramen with Tentsuyu Broth

October 15, 2017 Lola Milholland

This dish of Umi ramen noodles with tempura'd veggies is really satisfying on a rainy evening. Seasoned with generous amounts of soy sauce and mirin, the broth is rich and sweet like tentsuyu (tempura dipping sauce) but still light enough to eat like soup. Swap mushroom broth for chicken stock and omit the fish to make this vegetarian.

Noodles in Beef Bone Broth with Fish Sauce

September 14, 2017 Lola Milholland

The foundation of this soup is a many-hour simmered beef bone broth that rumbles with depth and strength. We layered on top of that a carrot-ginger-fish sauce flavor base that is very bright, very lively, and a nice contrast to the beef. We really think this bowl is a winner!

Umi: noodles for you and me.

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