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!
