Ramen - How to make it at home

[Important Elements]

Hey guys,
So I had a few people ask me if I can post a recipe for this awesome Japanese noodle soup. It is my pleasure


A long time ago, while sitting in the office 3D modeling things for a video game, a coworker asked me a question.

- Dude, do you want to go to lunch? Im hungry.

- Man, its only 11am. - I said

- Trust me, we need to get there before the line gets big. Have you ever had ramen?

HA HA - I laughed

- No man, seriously. Have you ever had real ramen? Not that instant crap.



Things were never the same after that trip to a real ramen place in San Jose, Ca.



Addiction started instantly.



Well fast forward 12 years, here I am making ramen at least 3 times a month. As some of you might know, there are only 4-5 main types of ramen out there made freshly.

Shio - Seasalt base

Shoyu - Soy sauce based

Tonkatsu - Pork based

Miso - pretty self explanatory



Each one of those has sooo many varieties through out areas of Japan its crazy. I must say my favorite one is the classic SHOYU, soy sauce based ramen.



Today I decided to make it from scratch, and show you how I do it.

If you have a good Asian style market near you, be sure to visit it for some of the ingredients. However you dont really need to. I've seen similar ingredients at regular grocery stores that will work just fine.



Shoyu ramen is usually made with 3 main parts.



1. The soup Base - your broth

2. Sauce Base (Tare) - together with pork chashu

3. Topings



Of course the noodles should be fresh if possible. If you cant find fresh ramen noodles, seriously them instant ramen noodles will work just fine



I went shopping and bought all this at a Japanese grocery store we have here in California called Mitsuwa. Here is all you will need for the soup

So lets start with the first part. The Soup Base



For the soup base I prefer chicken. Thighs, legs, backs, necks will work perfectly. For the aromatics we go with simple

1. Ginger

2. Onion

3. Green Onion

4. Dry Shitake mushrooms (any mushrooms will do)

5. Kombu (dry kelp), dry seaweed will work too. But not roasted Nori !!!

6. Katsuobushi (this is dry skipjack tuna flakes), your regular grocery store should have Bonito flakes. Which is basically dry smoked tuna flakes.

7. Dry Sardines (dont have to use those at all if you cant find them) they add a very nice salty seafood touch to the broth

If you do manage to get some Kombu (kelp), make sure to soak it in hot (not boiling) water for 15 minutes, and then wash it with cold water.

Get plenty of good clean water, and add chicken, and all the aromatics listed above. Let it simmer for 3 hours on medium heat. Try not to stir it hehehe. Also, DO NOT SALT at all !

Add 2-3 tablespoons of Sake, any sake will do. Just not fruit flavored.

3-4 hours, let the magic of time do its ... wait I already used the word magic you know what I mean. Dont touch it for 3 hours at least.

Now Next Post is Part 2

 

[Important Elements]

PART 2



So now that our broth is slowly simmering, lets do the second very important part of Shoyu Ramen.



THE TARE



Basically this is the sauce, the actual taste, the magic part of shoyu ramen. And of course in this part we will prepare the chashu. Juicy, moist, yummy pork that goes with the ramen.



I use pork belly. Simple uncured pork belly. The bacon before it becomes bacon

Roll it into a nice roll and tie it with food twine

On a medium high heat, sear all sides of it. No oil needed. Just make sure the skillet is nice and warm. The heat I use is 7 out of 10

And for the actual TARE ( the sauce) we will need the following

1. TOKYO LEEKS (these are basically a big brother of green onions) if you cant find them, use the green onion.

2. Dry Shitake mushrooms (any dry mushrooms will work, in fact porcinis are YUMM)



3. Ginger, fresh is better



4. Bonito flakes (any big grocery store should have it in the Asian area) Its basically thinly shaved smoked cured tuna



5. Garlic, the whole thing



6. Carrot



7. Kombu (that soaked kelp we did, some for the broth and some for the sauce)



8. Soy Sauce (lots of it) get your favorite one.



9. Mirin (or sugar if you cant find mirin) its just a rice syrup



10. Sake



11. and of course the pork belly





In a Sauce pan, add 2/3rds of soy sauce

And then 1/3rd of water. I like the sauce saltier, but you can do half soy sauce, and half water if you want

Then add 3 table spoons of Mirin (or 2 tablespoons of sugar)

3 tablespoons of Sake

 

[Important Elements]

Place your pork in there

Rest of the aromatics listed above



and sprinkle the Bonito flakes.

Let it slowly simmer on medium-low heat for 2 hours. Dont let it boil !!!!

 

[Important Elements]

PART 3


So here we go my friends, after 3 hours we are ready for the ramen



I removed the pork belly into a fridge and let it rest for an hour

But the sauce (TARE) we must drain

Let all the soy sauce and pork flavor come through. It will be salty to the taste, but we need that salt.

It should be nice and amber like

Now we also drain our broth. I used a cheese cloth to make it nice and clean

It should be clear and transparent. And it shouldnt be salty AT ALL (Very important)

Meanwhile I chopped Tokyo Leek very thinly into strips, and placed it in the cold salty water

Now for the toppings



1. Raw onion

2. Bamboo Shoots

3. Green Onion

4. Chashu

5. Bean Sprouts

 

[Important Elements]

To make the Shoyu soup



Add one scoop of TARE

and 3 parts of Broth

Now we add the noodles into the hot broth mixture

Enjoy my friends

 

[roadfix]

Holy crap! You can open your own Ramen-ya....

 

[Kayelle]

Very impressive Roman!! Thanks so much!!

 

[Rocklobster]

Nice job..lot's of content here, for sure

 

[Cheryl J]

Beautiful looking ramen and thank you Roman, for taking the time to post the pics and tutorial!

 

[roadfix]

You know I wish I had the time and patience to do this at home but being so close to Little Tokyo I can be seated at a counter in one of several ramen shops in 15 minutes from home. I love ramen, especially late night. I usually order a side of gyoza with it.

Awesome recipe and presentation, btw...

 

[msmofet]

Very nice thank you.

 

[Addie]

Wow!!! What a presentation.

 

[JustJoel]

To make the Shoyu soup



Add one scoop of TARE

and 3 parts of Broth

Now we add the noodles into the hot broth mixture

Enjoy my friends

That looks delicious! Thanks for taking the time and trouble to edit and post it!

If I might make a tiny correction - tonkatsu is pork tenderloin fried in pano brwad crumbs and topped with tonkatsu sauce. Tonkotsu is the famous pork-based Hakata ramen broth. Both are delicious!