Easiest Ramen (that's not instant ramen) 3 different ways.
INGREDIENTS:
Dashi (Optional)
1 quart (960ml) water
2 x 2in squares of kombu
1 ¼ cup (17g) katsuobushi (bonito flakes)
Shoyu:
Broth:
6 cups (1.5L) chicken stock, or a 50/50 mix of dashi and chicken stock
2 green onion whites, rough chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 inch knob ginger, grated
¼ cup (60g) aged soy sauce
Splash of shiro dashi optional
Salt to taste
Chicken:
4 chicken thighs, boneless, skin on
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons (30g) soy sauce, ideally dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon (18g) honey
2 teaspoons (12g) light corn syrup
Salt to taste
Vegetable oil for cooking
Assembly:
1 pint (480ml) shoyu broth
4 shiitake mushrooms, sliced thin, seared
½ soft boiled egg
1 piece shoyu chicken, sliced ¼ inch thick
3 stalks green onion, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons (9g) toasted sesame oil
Spicy Miso:
Broth:
⅓ lb (150g) ground pork
5 shiitake mushrooms, sliced thin
3 cloves garlic
3 whole green onion, whites separated, thinly sliced
1 inch knob ginger, grated
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 quart (960ml) chicken stock
1 ½ (360ml) cups dashi, substitute with chicken stock if not making
3 ½ (50g) tablespoons red miso
1 tablespoon (9g) toasted white sesame seeds, lightly ground
1 tablespoon (15g) mirin
2 teaspoons (9g) doubanjiang
1 teaspoons (4g) toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon (4g) sugar
½ teaspoon (2g) ground white pepper
Salt to taste
Assembly:
1 pint (480ml) spicy miso broth
1 corn cob, kernels removed
2 teaspoons (9g) chili oil
1 pinch of pickled ginger
Tonkotsu:
Broth:
2 pounds (900g) pork neck bones
2 ½ pounds (1.1kg) sliced pork hocks
1/2 lb (227g) pork fatback
2 gelatin sheets
1 bunch green onion, rough chopped
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1-inch knob ginger, sliced
Tare:
¼ cup (60ml) sake
¼ cup (60ml) shirodashi
½ cup (120ml) mirin
½ cup (120ml) aged soy sauce
Salt to taste
Assembly:
1 pint (480ml) tonkotsu broth
2 ounces (56g) tare
2 slices chashu pork
1 sheet of nori, cut in half
½ soft boiled egg
3 stalks green onion, thinly sliced
METHOD:
Dashi:
In a medium sized pot add water, and kombu. Heat over medium heat until the water begins to steam. Maintain this temperature and let the kombu steep for 5 minutes.
Once the kombu has steeped, cut the heat from the pot and add the bonito flakes. Let the flakes steep for 8-10 minutes, and pass through a chinois into a heatproof bowl to cool.
Shoyu:
Broth:
Begin by heating a saucepan over medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot add oil and let it heat until it's beginning to smoke.
Once the oil is hot, add sliced shiitake mushrooms to the pan and sear for 2-3 minutes. Mushrooms should be golden brown and fully cooked.
Remove the mushrooms from the pan and reserve for later use.
Add crushed garlic, grated ginger, and sliced green onion to the pan and saute for 1-2 minutes, or until the aromatics become fragrant and begin to develop color.
Deglaze the pan with dashi and chicken stock. Season the broth with soy sauce. Bring the broth to a boil.
Season broth with salt to taste and an optional splash of shiro dashi.
Let broth cool to room temperature and reserve for later use.
Shoyu Chicken:
Begin by preheating a large saute pan over medium-high heat.
While the pan is heating, in a small mixing bowl combine dark soy sauce, honey, corn syrup, and garlic. Mix together until fully combined.
Dry chicken thigh off with a paper towel and add oil to the heating pan. Allow the oil to heat until it begins to smoke.
Once the oil is starting to smoke, place the chicken thighs into the pan skin side down.
Reduce the heat to medium, and cook for 4-5 minutes or until the skin is golden brown and crispy.
Flip the chicken so that the flesh side is down, and cook for an additional 4-5 minutes. Begin to brush the chicken with the sauce that was prepared earlier.
Reduce the heat to medium-low , and continue to glaze and flip the chicken until the chicken thighs are coated to desired amount of glaze.
Reserve cooked chicken on a wire rack lined baking tray.
Assembly:
Bring a pot of water to a boil, once to a boil cook the noodles to the package's instructions.
While the water is coming to a boil, begin to heat the broth to just under a boil.
Slice the cooked chicken into thin strips and reserve for plating.
Place the cooked noodles into the ramen bowl, followed by enough broth to cover the noodles.
Garnish the bowl with seared shiitakes, half of an ajitama egg, sliced chicken, and thinly sliced green onion.
Finish with a drizzle of toasted sesame oil, serve, and enjoy.
Spicy Miso:
Broth:
Begin to medium saucepan or rondeau over medium high heat.
Once the pan is hot, add ground pork to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown and developing crispy bits. Be sure to regularly break up the large chunks of ground pork using a wooden spoon, or serving spoon.
Add sliced shiitake mushrooms to the pan and season with salt to draw the moisture from the mushrooms.
Once all of the moisture has been cooked out of the mushrooms, add ginger, garlic, and shallot. Season with salt, and saute for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant.
Add sugar, white pepper, doubanjiang, mirin, and sesame oil. Allow to cook for 1-2 minutes, or until fragrant.
Deglaze the pan with dashi and chicken stock, and bring to a boil.
Place a mesh strainer into the pan, then add miso to the mesh strain.
Using a spoon mix the miso into the soup through the strainer until it has all dissolved.
Allow soup to cool and reserve for later use.
Assembly:
Bring a pot of water to a boil, once to a boil cook the noodles to the package's instructions.
While the water is coming to boil, begin to heat spicy miso ramen broth to just under a boil. The stock should have steam rising from the surface.
Once the noodles are cooked and the broth is hot, add noodles to a ramen bowl. Followed by the broth until the noodles are just covered.
Garnish the bowl with corn, half of an ajitama egg, thinly sliced green onion, and pickled ginger.
Finish with a drizzle of chili oil, serve, and enjoy.
Tonkotsu:
Broth:
Place pork neck bones and sliced pork hocks into a large saucepan and cover with cold water.
Bring the hocks and bones to a boil, and boil for 2-3 minutes. Skim any scum that rises to the top. Drain the bones over a colander, and rinse with cold water.
Add bones, pork fat, and gelatin to a pressure cooker or Insta Pot and cover with water. Place the lid onto the pressure cooking and cook on high for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Once the broth has cooked for 1 and a half hours, remove the fat from the broth and place into a blender along with 1 quart of the broth. Blend on high until emulsified.
Strain the bones from the rest of the broth into a large stock pot. Add the blended broth into the pot along with strained broth.
Add green onion, garlic, and ginger to the broth and bring to a boil. Let boil for 20-30 minutes.
Once the broth has boiled, strain out the green onion, garlic, and ginger. Reserve for later use.
Tare:
In a small saute pan, bring sake to a boil and use a torch or some type of flame to burn off the alcohol.
Once the alcohol has cooked off, add shirodashi, mirin, and soy sauce to the pan and bring to a boil.
Transfer to a heat proof container and reserve for later use.
Assembly:
In two separate sauce pots bring water, and the tonkotsu broth to a boil.
While waiting for the water to boil, slice chashu ¼ inch wide and torch over a wire rack lined baking tray until warmed through and seared.
Once the water is to a boil, cook the noodles according to the instructions on the package.
While the noodles are cooking, add tare into the bottom of a ramen bowl.
Ladle tonkotsu broth into the bowl with the tare.
Place cooked noodles into the broth.
Lay chashu onto the noodles. Followed by green onion, soft boiled egg, and nori.
