Lychee and Pork Ramen

A picture of chopsticks laying on top of a bowl of ramen. The ramen contains lychee and pork.

This Lychee and Pork Ramen looks almost too good to eat!

Lychee and Pork Ramen


Oh my.

This ramen.

This one took me a few tries but I’m very excited to show my new Lychee Pork Curry Ramen. Packed with flavor, this ramen dish has a few unusual garnishes but I PROMISE they come together like you wouldn’t believe. It has a great, punchy flavor with a spicy/salty/sweet flair that is almost too good to be true.

This ramen is actually mainly inspired by a salad that kinda blew my mind at Rose’s Luxury in Washington D.C. I’ve had their Pork Lychee Salad twice now and it ALWAYS impresses me. It brings together some interesting ingredients including spicy sausage, lychee (a super sweet, warm climate fruit), a coconut foam salad dressing, and raw onion and peanuts for toppings. Weird right?? Yes but also no, trust me, amazing!

Originally, this recipe was going to be a copycat of that salad until I decided that was lame for this instance. I wanted a full meal and something that incorporated all those fun flavors. And thus, after a lot of tinkering, this Lychee and Pork Ramen was born!

The Process

The recipe comes together surprisingly easily. It’s a fun twist on a weeknight meal or can be made over the weekend for a fancy feel! We start out by frying our ground sausage (you are also welcome to use any ground meat or even Beyond Meat! I used ground turkey once for a healthy twist as seen below, with great results) with red chili pepper flakes, plenty of garlic and a touch of salt.

Ground sausage cooking in a pan.

Fry your ground sausage to add to your ramen.

While that’s cooking we can get started on a broth. We start with pan-frying our mushrooms in a soup pot, I like using my All-Clad soup pot. with some miso paste. I really love shiitake mushrooms here but sliced baby Bella works especially if your grocery store doesn’t have the fancy mushrooms. Once they fry up, we add broth and our seasonings and allow them to combine to a simmer.

A pot filled with ramen broth and mushrooms.

Feast your eyes upon this yummy broth!

When you’re ready to serve the ramen, go ahead and boil your ramen noodles in the broth (it can handle up to 2 packets, or 4 servings of noodles). Then you’re ready to assemble with all of our fun garnishes.

The Lychee and Pork Ramen

A bowl of Lychee and Pork Ramen.

Pair your ramen with lychee, nut, and green onions.

This broth is good enough to drink through a straw on its own – for real. I mean…I don’t do that *cough cough* but…you COULD.

If you’re interested in any other soups of mine, take a look at my Zuppa Toscana!

Are you looking for a vegetarian recipe? Try my Very Vegetarian Lasagna.

If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pictures of your creations on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok! Hashtag them #thehappyhaandi. And tag me @thehappyhaandi.

Lychee and Pork Ramen

A savory ramen dish with an unusual Lychee fruit garnish.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Dinner, Lunch, Main Course
Cuisine Japanese
Servings 4 People

Equipment

  • 1 Frying Pan
  • 1 Soup Pot

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lbs Ground Pork (or other ground meat of your choice)
  • 2 packets Ramen Noodles
  • 8 oz Mushrooms (sliced)
  • 4 tbsp Miso Paste (separated)
  • 5 tsp Sambal Oelek This gives the broth a good punch! If you'd prefer a little less heat, add about 1-2 and then increase to taste.
  • 4 cloves Garlic (minced)
  • 1/2 cup Coconut Milk
  • 6 cups Water
  • 5 tbsp Soy Sauce (separated)
  • 1 tsp Curry Powder
  • 1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes

Garnishes

  • 1 can Lychee fruit You'll need about 3 per bowl for total of 12 (the can will leave you with extra)
  • Roasted Peanuts
  • Green Onion, chopped
  • Seasame Oil
  • Baby Bok Choy, chopped

Instructions
 

For the Ramen:

  • Start out by adding a little oil to a medium size skillet and heat to a medium-high. Once the pan is hot, begin to fry your ground sausage making sure to break it into chunks as it cooks. Continue to fry the sausage for about 10 minutes or until cooked through.
    1 lbs Ground Pork
  • When the sausage is almost done, add 2 tbsp of soy sauce, the garlic, and 1 tsp of red pepper flakes. Stir everything around with the heat on for just a minute before removing the sausage and placing it into a bowl. We're looking for the soy sauce to get absorbed into the meat here - so it shouldn't be running separately.
    4 cloves Garlic (minced), 1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes, 5 tbsp Soy Sauce (separated)
  • If you're using bok choy as a garnish, go ahead and stir fry the bok choy in the same pan with a little oil. It should wilt quickly (about 2-3 minutes at most, especially if you're using the same pan that is already hot from the sausage).
    Baby Bok Choy, chopped
  • Next, we can start assembling our broth/soup. In a non-stick soup pot, with a little oil, add the mushrooms. Once the mushrooms begin to sizzle, add 1 tbsp of miso paste, and be sure to thoroughly mix the paste in with the mushrooms.
    8 oz Mushrooms (sliced), 4 tbsp Miso Paste (separated)
  • Allow the mushrooms to fry until they have some golden brown spots, about 6-8 minutes.
  • Once, the mushrooms are cooked and ready to go, add the water, 3 tbsp miso paste, 3 tbsp soy sauce, coconut milk, curry powder, and sambal oelek into the soup pot. Bring this whole mixture to a simmer. Adjust to taste*
    4 tbsp Miso Paste (separated), 5 tsp Sambal Oelek, 1/2 cup Coconut Milk, 6 cups Water, 5 tbsp Soy Sauce (separated), 1 tsp Curry Powder
  • When you're ready to assemble your ramen bowl - add your noodles to the broth and boil the noodles according to package instructions.
    2 packets Ramen Noodles
  • Now, all that's left is to assemble your bowls - add some broth and a quarter of the noodles into a bowl and garnish with spicy sausage, about 3 of the lychees, peanuts, green onion, bok choy, sesame oil and/or any other garnishes!
    1 can Lychee fruit, Roasted Peanuts, Green Onion, chopped, Seasame Oil
  • Grab some chop sticks and enjoy!!

Notes

Adjusting the broth to taste: 
  • If you're looking for more salt, I would recommend adding salt - not soy sauce. Less is more here so add cautiously and taste often!
  • Add more miso if you're looking for a more umami flavor
  • Add more samba oelek or sriracha if you're looking for heat
Keyword Coconut, Curry, lychee, miso, pork, ramen
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