Taking Stock: Coconut Red Curry Ramen

Welcome back to QCK!

Life has been so insanely busy lately, and I haven’t been consistently active on here for a while, so I want to take a second update everyone on what I’ve been up to! First of all, school – currently, I’m working on a double major in graphic design and marketing. It keeps me busy to say the least. Second, Visual Black Justice. I recently took on the role of President for VBJ, a Black women-led, Minneapolis-based Social Justice organization. Between a total rebrand, building our social media following, and event planning, coordination and execution, it’s been a crazy 6 months. We do a lot of different events, community outreach projects, and host some really dope protests. Check us out on socials or click here for more info on what we do and how we do it! Our most recent project was a winter gear drive. We collected coats, hats, mittens, hand warmers, etc. to be distributed to the unhoused communities in Minneapolis/St. Paul. The MSP community SHOWED UP y’all! We ended up with a garage full or winter gear – enough to do several distributions as the winter season goes on.

Here’s why that’s so important: Mayor Jacob Frey ran his campaign and was elected on the foundation of eliminating homelessness in Minneapolis. Currently, homelessness is at an all time high. This summer, the city council promised to turn several city parks into sanctuaries for unhoused folks to set up tents and live. That hasn’t happened. Because each time folks start to settle in at one of these “sanctuaries”, Mayor Frey and the city council call on the Minneapolis Police to evict and clear out these parks. The forcibly remove people from their tents, throw their belongings in the trash, and bulldoze what’s left over. It’s a cruel and violent display of power. This leaves everyone in those camps displaced. Every time they’re left to start over from scratch. If it wasn’t already dangerous and cruel enough to have people living in tents in Minnesota in the winter (rather than providing safe and sustainable shelter) it’s exceptionally disgusting to strip them of the things they’ve collected to keep them warm. It’s an intentional cycle that keeps the unhoused homeless. How can you focus on creating financial resources for yourself when those commissioned to serve and protect our communities are stripping them of their most basic needs.

So my point here is that while this problem that the city has created shouldn’t exist. There’s no reason for homelessness to exist. Period point blank. So for as long as it does, VBJ will be supporting the community in whatever ways we can. All of the donations we received from this drive made it possible for us to sustainably support the unhoused community for a couple months. THANK YOU!

Okay, life update/informative rant over. Let’s talk about food and how this all ties in. I’m partnering with Taking Stock, a Twin Cities based bone broth company, to do some really cool work. First of all, their bone broth is exceptional. It’s slow simmered to get every last drop of flavor and it’s made with super simple, clean ingredients. It has great depth and it comes in a few varieties, my current favorite being this ginger and turmeric chicken broth. My favorite thing about Taking Stock is that they’re doing their part to help the community. This coming weekend, they’re partnering with us at VBJ to sponsor a soup dinner for an encampment, we’ll be making chicken noodle soup to keep everyone warm and nourish our unhoused neighbors with a filling, protein packed meal with left overs for everyone!

A recipe that I’ve been obsessed with lately is this coconut red curry soup using the Ginger Turmeric Bone Broth. It’s super flavorful, easy to make, and extremely comforting. I love it in the winter because it’s loaded with warm flavors like coconut, garlic and ginger but complimented with a squeeze of lime and fresh cilantro to brighten it up. I always add some rotisserie chicken, it’s such an easy touch and a great way to use leftovers.

Substitutions and Add Ons

• Rice noodles can be subbed for any long noodle you like, just cook according to directions on package.
• Coconut milk can be subbed for heavy cream.
• Chicken can be subbed with shrimp, just sauté it separately with some garlic, onion, ginger and butter.
• You can also add: spinach or kale, sliced mushrooms, baby corn, soft cooked egg, or really any other ramen toppings you like – it’s a pretty flexible soup.

Recipe

Prep: 10 Mins

Cook: 20 Mins

Yield: 1 Quart

Category: Soups

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
• 1 Small Shallot, minced
• 3 Cloves Garlic, minced
• 1 tsp Fresh Ginger, grated
• 1/8 C Shredded Carrots
• 1 Tbsp Gochujang (fermented chili paste)
• 4 Tbsp Red Curry Paste
• 2 tsp Fish Sauce
• 1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
• 2 Tbsp Fresh Lime Juice
• 2 Cups Taking Stock Ginger and Turmeric Bone Broth
• 8 oz Flat Rice Noodles
• 1 (13 oz) Can Coconut Milk
• 1 Chicken Breast, cooked however you like, I use left over rotisserie chicken, optional
• Cilantro, lime wedge for garnish

Directions

1. In a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat, add sesame oil and bring up in temperature slightly.
2. Add shallot, garlic, ginger, and shredded carrot. Sauté until soft and aromatic, stirring frequently.
3. Add gochujang, red curry paste, fish sauce, soy sauce, and lime juice. Stir until all the vegetables are well coated.
4. Add the bone broth and bring to a boil.
5. Add your rice noodles and cook according to directions on package. NOTE: most will say to drain and rinse your noodles after cooking, skip that step for this recipe, just keep them in the broth.
6. Shake the coconut milk really well before adding – don’t skip this step or you’ll end up with grainy, lumpy coconut milk soup. It’s gross.
7. Stir in your coconut milk and bring to a simmer. Allow it to cook for 5-7 minutes so all the flavors come together.
8. Pour your soup into a bowl and top with sliced rotisserie chicken, cilantro, and lime.

As always, I hope you enjoyed this recipe! If you tried it out let me know in the comments. For more recipes check out my homepage and follow along on Instagram. Don’t forget to like, follow, comment and share. Thanks for reading! 

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