This chicken mazemen is a delicious Japanese dry noodle dish that typically consists of juicy ground meat topped with noodles and a variety of umami toppings. It's typically mixed with a creamy poached egg, creating a delicious medley of flavors.
While mazemen is typically not the healthiest, with a few tweaks, this recipe will make a healthier version that will fit into any healthy diet.
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💭 Why Make This Recipe
Healthy and macro-friendly – By using some key ingredient swaps, this recipe is modified so that the resulting dish is low-calorie and macro-friendly.
Easy to make – This dish requires little to no prep - have a delicious meal made in less than 15 minutes.
Restaurant quality taste – After multiple iterations of recipe testing, I finally got the dish to be just as delicious as my favorite Mazemen restaurant in Los Angeles, Mogu Mogu. I was amazed by how close the flavor of this dish was to restaurant version of the dish.
💭 What is Mazemen?
Mazemen is a deliciously simple Japanese noodle dish that features ramen noodles served without broth. Instead of soup, it's topped with a rich sauce and a variety of toppings like meat, vegetables, and a raw egg, allowing the flavors to concentrate in every bite.
This dish is perfect for those who love the texture of noodles and the punch of bold flavors, making it a favorite among ramen enthusiasts looking for something unique and satisfying.
🍏Calories and Nutrition – How to Make It Healthy
A serving of this chicken mazemen recipe has 504 calories with 35 grams of protein, 19 grams of fat, and 48 grams of carbs.
Most of the calories of this dish come from the ground chicken and the noodles. When you order the dish at a restaurant, it will usually be served with ground pork, but by swapping the meat for ground chicken, we lower the fat and calorie content by a significant amount.
By using ingredient swaps and portioning, we can lower the calorie and fat content of the dish. Here are the key modifications we made:
- Portioned 1 teaspoon of sesame oil. While sesame oil is high in fats, it is also essential for the flavor of the sauce, so we use a small amount of it to retain the flavor.
- Portioned 1 serving of the noodles.
- Swapped out ground pork for ground chicken. A 4-ounce serving of ground pork runs at 336 calories versus 150 calories for chicken, due to the high fat content of pork. By using chicken, we can cut more than half the calories.
For a detailed breakdown of each ingredient, their portioning, and how they make up the nutrition profile of this chicken mazemen recipe, you may refer to the table below:
📋 Ingredient Notes
To make the chicken mazement recipe, you’ll need the following ingredients:
Ground Chicken – While most mazemen recipes use ground pork, we will be using ground chicken in this recipe to optimize for calorie and macro content.
Sesame oil, garlic, ginger – The trifecta of these ingredients create the tare, which means sauce in Japanese, which is the main seasoning for the mazemen.
Doubanjiang – Asavory, fermented broad bean paste from China. It gives a rich umami and lightly spicy flavor to the dish.
Ramen noodles – You can buy fresh ramen noodles from your local Asian grocery store.
Bonito flakes – Dried fish flakes are a popular topping in Japanese cuisine. They give a light umami boost to the dish.
Nori – Also known as dried seaweed. This topping gives a boost of umami flavor to the dish.
🔪 Step by Step Instructions
Prepare the ingredients – Mince the garlic and ginger into small pieces for sauteing. Cut the chives and green onions into small pieces.
Prepare the chicken – Get the chicken and add salt. Mix thoroughly with your hand.
Prepare the poached egg – Start the sous vide if using or prepare the poached egg using your preferred method.
Cook the chicken and aromatics – Turn the heat to medium to warm the pan. Add the sesame oil to the pan and add in the ground chicken, flattened into a single layer. Cook for about 2-3 minutes. Then flip over and cook the other side, breaking the ground chicken up into pieces. Add the garlic and ginger into the sesame oil chicken mixture and sauté to let the tare form.
Mix in the sauce – Once the aromatics have been sauteed and the aroma of the tare has formed. Add in the soy sauce, oyster sauce, doubanjiang, sugar, and chicken stock, and fully mix together. Let simmer for 1-2 minutes or until well mixed together.
Cook the noodles – Fill a saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Add in the noodles and cook for 2-3 minutes or until done. Strain and add into a bowl.
Assemble the noodle bowl – Add the chicken mixture on top. Then layer the chives, green onions, bonito flakes, and seaweed. Add a small indent and add the poached egg. Enjoy your delicious chicken mazemen.
💭 Frequently Asked Questions
The wetness of the egg and the sauce should create most of the sauce for the mazemen. If you find that the ground meat has become too dry, add a tablespoon of water and let deglaze a bit before adding it to the noodles.
For optimal results, this dish is best eaten as soon as it is cooked to maximize the flavors of the sauce and egg mixed with the noodles.
💭 Expert Tips
Cut the toppings into small pieces – This will ensure that the flavor of each bite is relatively consistent.
Mix the toppings with the yolk and eat while warm – This dish truly shines when it's freshly made.
📖 Substitutions and Variations
Use rice instead of noodles – Although not necessarily authentic, you can also use rice as the base instead of noodles for an equally delicious dish.
Substitute noodle type – Using udon noodles instead of ramen noodles would also be delicious.
🍽 Related Recipes
This chicken mazemen recipe is a super versatile dish that can be paired with a wide variety of dishes including the following:
🍳 Recipe
Healthy Chicken Mazemen
Ingredients
- 1 serving Ramen noodles
- 4 oz Ground chicken
- 1 teaspoon Sesame Oil
- 1 clove Garlic
- 1 slice Ginger (Minced)
- 2 teaspoon Doubanjiang
- 2 teaspoon Soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon Oyster sauce
- ¼ cup Chicken stock (Can also use water)
- 1 teaspoon Sugar
- 1 Egg (Poached)
Instructions
- Prepare the ingredients – Mince the garlic and ginger into small pieces for sauteing. Cut the chives and green onions into small pieces.
- Prepare the chicken – Get the chicken and add salt. Mix thoroughly with your hand.
- Prepare the poached egg – Start the sous vide if using or prepare the poached egg using your preferred method.
- Cook the chicken and aromatics – Turn the heat to medium to warm the pan. Add the sesame oil to the pan and add in the ground chicken, flattened into a single layer. Cook for about 2-3 minutes. Then flip over and cook the other side, breaking the ground chicken up into pieces. Add the garlic and ginger into the sesame oil chicken mixture and sauté to let the tare form.
- Mix in the sauce – Once the aromatics have been sauteed and the aroma of the tare has formed. Add in the soy sauce, oyster sauce, doubanjiang, sugar, and chicken stock, and fully mix together. Let simmer for 1-2 minutes or until well mixed together.
- Cook the noodles – Fill a saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Add in the noodles and cook for 2-3 minutes or until done. Strain and add into a bowl.
- Assemble the noodle bowl – Add the chicken mixture on top. Then layer the chives, green onions, bonito flakes, and seaweed. Add a small indent and add the poached egg. Enjoy your delicious chicken mazemen.
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