Chocolate Chili Ramen
Mexican hot chocolate, the kind made with a molinillo and a tablet of Ibarra chocolate, already occupies a space between beverage and dessert, and the distance from there to a chilled chocolate-chili noodle bowl is shorter than you'd expect. The combination of chocolate and chili is ancient in Mesoamerican cuisine, predating the Spanish arrival, and the version that survived into modern Mexican cooking in mole and champurrado knows exactly how to balance bittersweet against smoke against heat. This cold ramen dessert plays in that same register, using an ancho chili-chocolate sauce thinned to a pourable consistency, served over cold noodles with Mexican crema and chili flakes. It sounds strange until you eat it. Then it sounds inevitable.
Ancho chili steeps—chocolate pulls the heat dark—cold silk on the tongue
Let Me Tell You...
The fear of chocolate with noodles is legitimate and understandable and wrong.
Mole negro, which contains chocolate and chili and spices and is served over chicken or turkey with rice, is essentially a savory noodle dish waiting to happen, and Oaxaca knows this even if it hasn't said so formally.
The cold temperature is what makes this work as a dessert rather than a main course.
Warm chocolate sauce on noodles reads as dinner.
Cold chocolate sauce on cold noodles reads as something you end with.
Warm sauce will make the noodles clump together and the texture will be wrong.
The ancho chili is the specific chili here and it matters.
Ancho is dried poblano, with a deep raisin-and-chocolate flavor and a mild-to-medium heat that doesn't compete with the chocolate but deepens it.
Chipotle would add too much smoke.
Cayenne adds only heat.
Ancho adds the right complexity and a color that makes the finished sauce look like something a chocolatier would be proud of.
This wakes up the oils and deepens the chocolate-raisin flavor profile.
Mexican chocolate, specifically Ibarra or Abuelita brand tablet chocolate, already contains cinnamon and sugar, which means the sauce doesn't need much additional sweetening.
If you use European dark chocolate instead, add a teaspoon of cinnamon and an extra tablespoon of sugar to approximate what the Mexican tablet brings.
The cinnamon is not optional.
It's what connects the mole tradition to the bowl.
High heat breaks the emulsion and you get greasy chocolate liquid instead of the glossy sauce you want.
Crema on top is cooling and tangy and it's the thing that pulls the bowl from dessert into territory where you might eat it at dinner and not need to explain yourself.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces dried ramen noodles (2 bricks, seasoning packets discarded)
- 2 dried ancho chilies, stems and seeds removed
- 1 cup hot water (for rehydrating chilies)
- 3 ounces Mexican chocolate (Ibarra or Abuelita), roughly chopped
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 2 tablespoons sugar (or more to taste)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon neutral oil (for noodles)
- 3 tablespoons Mexican crema or sour cream
- Tajin or ancho chili flakes, for finishing
Preparation
- Toast dried ancho chilies in a dry skillet over medium heat for 30 seconds per side until slightly puffed and fragrant. Transfer to a bowl and cover with 1 cup hot water. Soak for 15 minutes until softened. Reserve soaking liquid.
- Blend rehydrated chilies with 1/4 cup of the soaking liquid until completely smooth. Strain through a fine mesh sieve. Discard solids.
- Combine heavy cream, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring to a gentle simmer. Remove from heat.
- Add chopped Mexican chocolate to the warm cream mixture and whisk until completely melted and smooth. Stir in vanilla extract and 2-3 tablespoons of the strained ancho chili puree, starting with 2 tablespoons and adding more to taste. The sauce should be chocolatey with a definite chili warmth. Refrigerate until completely cold, at least 1 hour.
- Cook ramen noodles in boiling water for 2-3 minutes until just tender. Drain and rinse under very cold water. Toss with neutral oil to prevent sticking. Refrigerate until cold.
- Divide cold noodles between serving bowls. Pour chilled chocolate chili sauce over the noodles. Add a spoonful of crema. Dust with Tajin and ancho chili flakes. Add optional toppings and serve immediately.