2021-09-07T07:40:00.000-07:00

Journey to Authentic Japanese Ramen l

I fell in love with authentic Japanese Ramen a few years ago when my youngest son took me to a local Ramen restaurant in Seattle. The broth was rich and creamy with an aroma so comforting I was transported to a far-away Ramen house somewhere in Tokyo.

Right then I decided I was going to learn how to make this amazing soup. After a couple of Almost-There attempts I finally hit the bullseye.

There are three main types of Ramen: Shoyu or Soy Ramen, Miso Ramen, and Tonkotsu Ramen. This recipe is a combination of Tonkotsu and Miso Ramen.

Home Ramen production is a three-day affair. Let’s go through each day in detail so you can duplicate the process and perhaps learn from my ill-fated attempts.

The most demanding part of this recipe are the fresh noodles. Ramen noodles are unique and require some heavy kneading. I prefer hand-cutting the noodles but you certainly can use a pasta maker once you have rolled the noodle dough out thin. Don’t try to do all the kneading in a home pasta maker or you will break it. This recipe will easily feed 6 hungry adults.

Day One:

Make your Ramen Eggs. In a roomy pot of rapidly boiling water, carefully immerse the eggs so as to not break the shells. Cook the eggs for 7 minutes. Remove the eggs from the boiling water and place in a bowl of very cold ice water. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. Gently peel the eggs and place in a separate bowl. Add the egg marinade and marinate for two days or until you are ready to serve your Ramen.

Egg Ingredients

½ dozen large eggs. Try not to use fresh eggs since they are harder to peel.

½ cup soy sauce

¼ cup Mirin

2 cups water

Day Two:

Make your Dashi, Tare sauce, and Chashu Pork. You can also make the noodles a day ahead of time and store them in the refrigerator if you have room. If you are making Ramen in the winter you can cover the noodles with parchment, tightly wrap with plastic film, and store them outside. Just make sure no wild animals can get to them and don’t let them freeze.

Dashi Ingredients

1 large piece dried Kombu Kelp

1 cup Bonito Flakes

3 cups water

Dashi Directions

In a 2-quart pot add your Kombu kelp piece. It can sit in the water for several hours. When you are ready, bring the water to a simmer and remove the Kombu. Don’t let it boil or it will impart a somewhat bitter flavor. Add the Bonito flakes and simmer for an hour or so. Turn off the heat and strain the Dashi into a large canning jar. The Dashi should have a pale pink-yellow color. Cover and place in the refrigerator.

Tare Ingredients

½ cup chicken broth

5 to 8 dried Shitake mushrooms, reconstituted in boiling water

1 small piece fresh ginger, sliced

2 cloves garlic, smashed

1 large green onion, chopped

½ cup soy sauce

¼ cup Mirin

2 TBS brown sugar

¼ cup Rice Vinegar

Tare Directions

In a 2-quart pot add all the ingredients and bring to a simmer. Simmer for one to two hours. Strain the Tare. Return the Tare to the pot and reduce by about one-third. Place in a large canning jar and store in the refrigerator.

Chashu Pork

Your Asian market should be able to furnish you with a large piece of fresh pork belly, 10” long by 8” wide (or you can sew two smaller pieces together with food string and a large, very-strong curved needle)

Chashu Pork Marinade

½ cup soy sauce

1 small piece ginger, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

¼ cup Mirin

Chashu Pork Directions

Roll your pork belly up as tightly as possible and tie with food-safe cotton string. Place the rolled pork belly in a large plastic zip-lock bag and add the marinade. You should marinate the Chashu Pork roll for several hours or even overnight, adjusting occasionally to evenly marinate.

Place the marinated, rolled pork in a baking dish and roast at 300 F for about 45 minutes. Add a little water to the pan so you have some drippings/juices, which you will add to the stock.

On day three, slice the Chashu Pork into ½ inch slices and arrange on a metal platter or pan. Using a Butane or Propane torch glaze the pork slices until bubbly and richly browned. Turn the slices over and torch the other side. Keep in a warm oven for a few minutes or until you are ready to serve the Ramen.

Noodles

4 ¾ cups bread flour (you can use All purpose flour if you don’t have bread flour)

1 tsp salt

½ tsp lye water (you can make your own but you can find it at any Asian market)

1 ¼ cup water (you can add a few drops more if the dough is too dry)

Noodle Directions

At the risk of being executed by Samuri swordsmen I will depart from the Ramen Noodle ritual a bit by suggesting that perfectly excellent Ramen noodles can be made in a food processor. I use a strong Cuisinart Food processor, using the blade, rather than the dough attachment. Put the flour in the bowl.

Mix the cold water, salt, and lye water in a measuring cup until the salt is dissolved. Turn on the food processor and slowly pour the water into the bowl. The flour mixture will begin to look like little flakes, similar to pie dough. At this point, stop the processor and check to see if the dough will clump together. It should feel dry but holds together when squeezed.

Remove from the bowl and place on a large cutting board or better yet, a marble top. Divide the dough into two pieces. The marble helps to keep the dough cool while you knead it. Using strong arms knead the dough, folding it over on itself many times until it becomes smooth and not sticky. Wrap it in plastic wrap and let it cool for at least one hour.

After an hour resting lightly dust the cutting board with corn starch, potato starch or flour. Begin rolling the dough out using a long wooden rolling pin. Roll from the middle out to the edges, turning the dough ¼ turn after each rolling. The rolling technique involves completely rolling the dough up on the rolling pin and using the heels of your hand to roll it out from the center of the rolling pin to the outer edges. Flip it over, lightly dust it, and continue the rolling out process until the noodle dough is about 3 mm thick.

I like to hand cut my noodles but feel free to use a pasta maker once the noodle dough is rolled out the desired thickness. For hand cutting, fold the dough into a few layers, the folded dough should be about 3 or 4 inches wide and 18 to 20 inches long. Carefully make each cut with a Chinese cleaver cutting through to the board. Noodles should be about 3 mm thick, 3 mm to 5 mm wide, and about 10 to 12 inches long.

Unfold the noodles and separate into 5 or 6 serving bundles, dusting the noodles with corn starch or potato starch to keep them from sticking. Lay them out on a parchment lined baking pan and cover them with parchment. If you are making them on Day two, cover them with plastic wrap as well to keep them from completely drying out.

Day Three

Time to make the Ramen broth. Here are the ingredients and the directions for making the stock. I typically start out making the stock at Four O’clock in the morning. That way the stock is finished cooking, strained, and ready to serve by dinner time. You can make the stock on Day two, just make sure you have room to refrigerate it.

Broth Ingredients

5 lbs. of fresh Pork bones, preferably neck bones

2 lbs. fresh chicken bones

Optional: 5 or 6 fresh chicken feet, toenails removed

6-ounce piece of fresh pork fat

2 large, peeled carrots, rough cut

1 large, sweet onion, rough cut

1 bunch green onions, rough cut

1 large piece of peeled ginger, sliced

1 whole head of garlic: remove the stem and smashed

½ head of Napa cabbage, rough cut

½ cup Sake

¼ cup Mirin

1 cup soy sauce

1 TBS sesame oil

10 to 15 dried shitake mushrooms, reconstituted in boiling water

1 cup reduced shitake mushroom broth

1 cup Dashi

1 cup Chashu Pork cooking liquid.

¼ cup rice vinegar

1 cup Benito flakes

¼ cup dried shrimp (I had to forego the dried shrimp due to a shrimp allergy)

Optional: 1 or 2 tablespoons of Miso paste.

3 gallons of water

Broth Directions

In a large stock pot filled ½ way with cold water, blanch your pork and chicken bones, chicken feet, and port fat. Bring to a slight boil and reduce the heat to a simmer. Skim the scum. After about 15 minutes cooking, discard the cooking water and thoroughly strain and wash the bones.

Return the bones, chicken feet, and pork fat to the stock pot with about 3 gallons of fresh cold water. If you don’t have a stock pot this big you might want to use two pots. Bring the stock to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer for about 8 hours. Skim the stock for the first 30 minutes or so.

After about 2 hours of cooking add your aromatic vegetables:

Carrots

Cabbage

Onion

Green onion

Garlic

Ginger

Shitake mushrooms

At about the ½ way point add the other flavorings: Mirin, soy sauce, sake, sesame oil, Dashi, some of the Chashu Pork cooking liquid, and continue reducing the stock. If it reduces too low exposing the bones, add more water. I like to simmer the roasted Chashu Pork roll to the simmering broth for about 30 minutes, then refrigerate it so it’s easy to slice at serving time.

At the 8-hour point turn off the heat, strain the stock, and return it to the cleaned stock pot to reduce a little further. At this point you may want to adjust the flavor with soy sauce, and a little Tare and Dashi juice. If necessary, add a little good prepared chicken base. I also like to add a couple tablespoons of Miso paste to my Ramen to enhance the creamy texture and give it a bit more fish-flavor.

Toppings

Sliced, reconstituted shitake mushrooms

White fish cake with pink swirl

Fine sliced green onions

Ramen eggs

Chashu Pork slices

Nori seaweed slice

Optional - Fermented Bamboo Shoots

Assembling your Ramen bowl

Pour boiling water in your bowl to heat it, then pour it out. Add 2 oz of warm Tare sauce to the warm bow.. Place your cooked noodles on top of the Tare sauce. Add enough steaming hot Ramen Broth to cover the noodles. Top with the cooked Ramen egg, white fish cake, a Slice of Nori seaweed, sliced shitake mushrooms, sliced green onions, and two or three ½ inch slices of sizzling Chashu pork.

I hope you enjoy this Ramen recipe. While it takes a while to make it is well worth it. Enjoy!

Wildgamefeast

Journey to Authentic Japanese Ramen l