$116 vs $11 Ramen: Pro Chef & Home Cook Swap Ingredients | Epicurious

Pro chef Esther Choi, owner of Mŏkbar in New York and home cook Daniel are swapping ingredients and hitting the kitchen to make each other’s ramen recipes. We set Daniel up with all of the supplies he’d need to make Chef Esther’s luxurious $116 bowl of ramen while sending his more modest $11 worth of ingredients back the other direction. While Esther was using her expertise to elevate Daniel’s recipe, food scientist Rose dialed in to assist our home cook with a few questions he had along the way. Which one looks best to you?

Follow Chef Esther on Instagram at @choibites & @mokbar_nyc
Find Daniel at @iamdanielvictor
Rose is on Instagram at @rosemarytrout_foodscience

—
Director: Chris Principe 
Editors: Léa Kichler, Andy Morell
Director of Photography: Brad Wickham
Producer: Ness Kleino
Assistant Producer: Michael Cascio
Camera Operator: Paige Wollensak  
Audio: Austin Rumsey
Production Assistant: Brandon Guillebeaux
Culinary Producer: Kelly Janke
Associate Culinary Producer: Jackie Beal
Post Production Supervisor: Stephanie Cardone
Associate Director, Post Production: Nicole Berg
Epicurious Video Team
Jonathan Wise
Ali Inglese 
Dan Siegel 
Rhoda Boone 
Carolyn Gagnon 
June Kim
Holly Patton 
Myra Rivera
Billy Keenly


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[rickirae]

I love how Chef Esther doesn’t let things go to waste. She deserves her own cooking show, I can hear her talk all day.

[Fridanextdoor]

She's soooo good at talking. Her voice is so smoothing and calming!

[emsii]

i love how chaotically fun daniel is and calming esther is, polar opposite as it finest

[KnightlyNerds]

As someone who is untrained and works with cheap ingredients when cooking, I really appreciated Chef Esther's approach to cooking that ramen. It is the kinda thing I do all the time, definitely not to her level, jazzing up cheap simple meals is a lot of fun and satisfying.

[biancarosa]

I LOVE the way they were soooo respectful, and no one made mean comments on the ingredients they chose for each other

[Sarah-byrt]

I love how the pro chef had respect for the ingredients and was able to bring out their best qualities and make a beautiful dish, even though she normally works with high quality stuff. That’s the sign that she’s talented bc she’s able to bring up the ingredients to her level

[michellemarion]

Daniel is so funny, I love his commentary. I also love how Esther explained everything she did in detail

[emmarose]

[recipe below]
Just tried making Esther's $11 version (only without meat and then we added mushrooms at the end) with my sister. We had it for lunch and I would highly recommend it. Our mom and our other sister were very impressed with us doing this by ourselves, and it's actually pretty doable for younglings like me. So don't be intimidated by it!

My sister and I's version of Esther's $11 version :
(serves 4 and takes ~2 hours)

Ingrediets :
-veggie broth from walmart [it already had 4 servings] (fight us, we decided to make this today. what did you expect?)
-3 stems of scallions
-4 eggs
-5 cups of water
-1/4 cup veggie oil
-4 cloves of garlic (minced)
-2 tablespoons of peeled and chopped ginger
-4 ramen noodle servings
-1/3 cup soy sauce
-red pepper flakes (to taste)
-mushrooms (to taste)
-fried onion bits that we already had (to taste)

~broth~
1. dump broth into a pot. leave be for now

~tare~
2. in a different (and cold) sauce pot, add 1/3 soy sauce, 2 out of 4 cloves of garlic, and half of your chopped ginger (1 tablespoon)

3. take out a small bowl and a strainer for later

4. now turn the heat on to boil for 5 mins

5. take it off heat and strain your tare into a small bowl

6. in the strainer, you still have garlic and ginger bits. dump these bits into your sitting broth for flavor, leave broth be for now


~aromatic oil~
7. mince the rest of your garlic and chop the rest of your ginger, leave on cutting board for now

8. take out a small bowl with a strainer in it and a small plate with a paper towel on it for later

9. take a large pan and add 1/4 cups of veggie oil and 2 of your scallion stems (cut with kitchen scissors)


10. heat this until its starts to bubble


11. when it starts to bubble, add your garlic and ginger, don't leave

12. when the garlic starts to turn, take it off heat, then strain it

13. in the strainer, you have scallion, garlic, and ginger pieces. dump them onto the plate with the paper towel to dry. they will become crispy. leave be your oil and yummy bits for now.

~eggs~
14. take out a small pot and add 4 cups of water and bring this to a boil

15. take out your eggs, and get 1 cup of cold water from the sink

16. dump cold water into the pot then take it off heat

17. gently add your eggs in then cover the pot

18. let sit for 15 minutes

19. during those 15 minutes, take out a medium bowl and fill it with ice and water

20. after 15 minutes, gently take the eggs out and into the ice bowl

21. let it until cool

~noodles~
22. cook your noodles (i think we all know how to cook instant ramen, right? if not ask google, it's easy)

23. put strained noodles into your ramen bowl

~assembly~
24. add broth (to taste) into your ramen

25. lightly drizzle your tare and your aromatic oil into the bowl then mix (to taste)

26. add your fried aromatic oil yummy bits (to taste)

27. add fried onion bits (to taste)

28. add mushrooms (to taste)

29. crack your egg into the bowl

30. add red pepper flakes (to taste)

31. have a wonderful time eating this because it takes 2 hours

hope this oversimplification and unnecessary specification helps anyone!

[andrewleeadkins]

Also, finally the pro chef was able to taste the home chefs creation and vice versa. That’s all I had ever asked of this. And also the fact that Ester took a rotisserie chicken from the deli and turned it into like 6 different elements is very impressive.

[derrickzehr]

I love the fact the Esther doesnt add a bunch of her own ingredients
She adds basic things like water or seasoning but she doesnt completely change ingredients

[littlelizzyann]

I love Esther's comment on the rotisserie chicken: "this is like a nice gift." :D It's the backbone of the ingredients: it becomes both the stock and the meat component of the finished dish.

[theprousteffect]

I'm amazed how she built so many levels of flavor and texture. I've watched several episodes and am amazed every time how they elevate these simple ingredients.

[rowanmelton]

I like how Esther's not ashamed to admit she likes the chicken flavouring. You'd think lots of pro chefs would look down on artificial flavourings

[clanisham]

I'm impressed with how the home cook can make the restaurant quality ramen and how the chef can take cheap ingredients to the next level with technique

[tonyduranjr]

If Chef Esther had a cooking show I would binge watch the entire thing impatiently wait for more episodes

[pensieve]

Fell in love with Daniel when he mentioned Appa haha, such a fun guy. Also, Chef Esther never stops to amaze me! Can’t wait to eat ramen noww

[sagessp]

Daniel: *sends ingredients to pro chef*

Pro chef: *NEW RECIPE.*

[gjaeigjiajeg]

There is a guy out there who can cook minute rice in 58 seconds. Then there is Esther, who can cook 2 Min packet noodles in 2 hrs. Equally impressive.

[elefantindaroom]

This guy should be a voice actor. I love his voice. Or really any actor. I love his energy and expression too!

[iheartmri]

Honestly, Esther & Saul are the best