Ramen Shrimp Pouches (but not really)

I love the show Good Eats.  I think Alton Brown does a fantastic job breaking down recipes, ingredients, and kitchen tools.  I feel like it's as much of a science show as a cooking show.  I'm bummed that he won't be making any new episodes. I was quite excited that I got to meet him last fall, when he came to Raleigh for a book signing.

Anyway, in one episode he cooks things entirely in pouches. Some were cooked in parchment paper (en papillote, if you want to get all French about it) and some in aluminum foil.   In this episode he made shrimp ramen pouches, and I knew I wanted to try it.  It seemed like a super easy recipe.  Also, in college, despite my best efforts I never met a ramen soup that didn't make me sick to my stomach.  I wanted to see if it was all due to those sodium laden flavor packets or if it was the noodles themselves I didn't like.

The first time I made the recipe, I made the mistake of reading some reviews of people who said there was too much liquid, so I made a version with much less liquid.  The end result?  There wasn't enough to cook all the ramen noodles through, so a few were crunchy. Also, one of my double wrapped foil packets leaked.  Boo.  So this time, I wanted to remake the recipe but use more liquid and also use a different vessel.  Earlier this year I bought some white corningware ramekin-like mugs for making French onion soup, so I figured they would be perfect.  I also changed up Alton's recipe to include more veggies because hey, I have squash to use up!  I also downsized to accommodate there just being two of us eating this.

Ingredients

1 package Ramen noodles (throw away the flavor packet)

1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped
12 small raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/8 cup sliced scallions
1/4 cup zucchini, sliced into thin strips
1/8 cup bell peppers, sliced into thin strips
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 cups vegetable broth (I used fat free)
1/2 cup mirin (found at an Asian food store)
1/4 cup soy sauce (I used reduced sodium and would recommend this, otherwise it can be too salty)
4 teaspoons sesame oil 

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Break ramen noodles in half.  Break them into a few more chunks and divide evenly into your cooking vessels. I used 2 corningware French onion soup ramekins.

Here's the dry ramen at the bottom of the mug.

Chop up all your veggies.  You can really add whatever you like and want.  Just remember to cut things up into fairly small pieces so they cook through.

 I had green and red onion, mushrooms, zucchini, all kinds of bell pepper, and a few green beans from my garden.

Stack the following ingredients on top of noodles in each of the bowls, in this order: mushrooms, shrimp, onions, scallions, red pepper flakes, and then any other veggies.

In small bowl, combine vegetable broth, mirin, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Distribute liquid evenly among bowls. Cover the bowls with foil and place them in a baking dish they'll both fit in (in case you have any liquid spillover). Bake them in oven for 35 minutes, and then carefully check shrimp and veggies for doneness.  If necessary, throw them back in the oven. Serve immediately. At the table, I added some Sriracha to mine for an extra kick.

The final product.  Yum!