Soup ingredients

• 2-3 pounds pork shoulder roast (or butt)
• 4 cups water [2]
• 60 g (1/4 cup) low sodium soy sauce
• 60 g (1/4 cup) rice vinegar
• 30 g (2 tbsp) fish sauce
• 30 g (2 tbsp) Thai red curry paste
• 15 g (1 tbsp) sambal oelek (or to taste)
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 tbsp (5 g) Chinese five spice
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 55 g (1/4 cup) brown sugar
• ramen noodles

Topping ingredients

• 2 cups shitake mushrooms (chopped)
• 1 carrot (grated)
• 1 jalapeno (sliced)
• 1 bunch of green onions (chopped)
• 4 eggs (hard boiled, soft boiled, or fried)

Roasted squash ingredients

• 1 medium acorn squash, seeded and diced
• 2 tbsp (28 g) coconut oil, melted
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tbsp (18 g) white miso paste (or 2 tsp soy sauce)
• 1 tbsp (14 g) brown sugar
• pepper, to taste

Pork marinade ingredients

• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp brown sugar

Instructions

Morning:

• Mix together the chicken stock, soy sauce (1/4 cup), rice vinegar (1/4 cup), fish sauce, curry paste, ginger, sambal oelek, lime juice, five-spice, black pepper, and brown sugar (1/4 cup) in the bowl of a crockpot, then add the pork.

• Cook on low for 7-8 hours.

2h before eating:

• Preheat the oven to 400°F.

• Dice the squash into bite-size pieces. Mix together the melted coconut oil, curry powder, miso paste, brown sugar and pepper, then toss with the squash to coat. Spread over a lined baking sheet.

• Bake for 30-40 minutes, tossing a couple of times during cooking. You want the squash to be lightly browned and crisp.

• Meanwhile, remove the pork from the crockpot and replace it with the mushrooms. Cover the crockpot and crank the heat up to high. In a medium bowl, lightly shred the pork.

• Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sesame oil. Once hot, add enough pork to cover just the surface of your skillet. Mix together the pork marinade and drizzle the mixture over the pork. Stir and allow the pork to caramelize. The process should take 5-10 minutes. Once one batch of pork is done remove it from the skillet and continue with the next batch. Make the marinade for each batch.

• Cook the ramen noodles in boiling water for about 5 minutes, then drain.
  Place each serving of noodles in its own bowl, ladle the broth over the noodles, then top with caramelized pork, curry roasted acorn squash, fried egg, and any vegetables you want.

Notes

1. I made this recipe in Fitzy's slow cooker by doubling the amount of broth and using a 4 lb pork shoulder (with bone). After 7h, the pork was not really cooked. Most of it was still too tough to pull, and some of it still looked raw. I think the problem was that the surface area to volume ratio of the pork shoulder changed when I doubled the recipe. Next time I make ramen in Fitzy's slow cooker, I'll cut the pork into smaller pieces to help ensure it all gets cooked.

   And in general, I think ~10 h is better than ~8.

2. The original recipe calls for unsalted chicken cooking stock (110 mg sodium/cup) instead of water. We have found that water tastes just as good, as doesn't run the risk of making the broth too salty.