The Summertime Fruit That Will Give Your Ramen A Refreshing Twist

While bowls of ramen are commonly topped with an assortment of proteins and vegetables, there's a fruit you may want to consider for the dishes you serve in the warmer months. Instead of flavoring a hot broth to showcase your chosen ingredients, this particular watermelon-enhanced recipe is served cold.

The basis of this dish is a watermelon poke, made with cubes or slices of watermelon marinated for several hours in a mixture of soy sauce and flavorings like cayenne, sesame, and lemon juice. While poke recipes are traditionally made with fish, this Hawaiian-inspired method also works with watermelon and tofu. Before letting the watermelon bathe in its flavorful bath, it can be helpful to saute the watermelon in order to reduce some of the liquid and create a less crunchy texture.

You'll prepare ramen noodles as usual, but you'll drain the cooked noodles and let them cool before topping them with the watermelon poke, crunchy bean sprouts, and other ingredients of your choosing — like boiled eggs, sliced cucumbers, and chopped peppers. Your chosen assembly of ingredients will be drowned in a blended dressing mixture of watermelon juice, rice vinegar, olive oil, and garlic, instead of the usual hot broth.

Once you have this basic recipe mastered, you can customize your meals to your liking with red pepper chili flakes, drizzles of hot honey, sprinkles of black sesame seeds, or slivers of sliced scallions. The combination of ingredients can also be easily matched with ripe avocado or an avocado creme, simply seasoned sushi rice, and servings of seasoned edamame. Boost the protein content of your noodles with steamed shrimp or lump crab and finish each dish with a drizzle of chili or sesame oil. 

However you decide to garnish your watermelon ramen, these bright, juicy dishes will quickly brighten any dinner setting. Should you want to aim for the wow-factor as you entertain guests, you can hollow out watermelons and serve the ingredients in the carved out fruit itself. Though the watermelon ramen might disappear quickly, any photos of this colorful dish will surely live on in the Instagram feeds of your friends. 

Watermelon ramen can be made in advance and kept cold in the fridge for several days if you're wanting to party-prep. Equally, should you find yourself with leftovers, store the poke and broth to serve for tomorrow's lunch.