Amen to Ramen

The word "ramen" invokes copious amounts of longing and salivating. A hot bowl of ramen - with its fall-to-your-knees broth, glazed pork belly, gooey egg yolk, and springy noodles - is something I can never get enough of, especially in the winter. It fills my soul with joy and my belly with warmth. 

For those who think ramen is just the wrapped instant noodles with seasoning packet, come to the light of REAL RAMEN. A bowl of ramen made from quality ingredients and hours of loving labor to make a perfect broth cannot match the anemic flavor of instant ramen. Every time a ramen craving hits, instant ramen is never enough to satisfy. My frenzied self (and my most patient husband) hop in the car and drive a half hour to the closest ramen shop that serves a respectable bowl. 

On this frostbite-inducing weekend, I am sparing my myself (mostly my husband) from the ramen pilgrimage and am making this tasty soup at home. The broth takes a substantial amount of time to make, but the aromas that will warm your home will make the results only more delicious. If you have a quiet day at home coming up and are feeling ambitious, start this ramen recipe early in the morning. There's a lot of slow simmering, where you can watch movies and cuddle under a blanket. Then by dinnertime, you'll have a bowl of amazing ready.  

About the recipe below:

• First, thank you to David Chang's Momofuku Noodle Genius Brain...I adapted this recipe from his creation.
• This will make enough ramen broth for about six hearty servings. You can always freeze what broth you don't use now for another day.
• Many of the ingredients can be found at an Asian grocery store or Whole Foods. Ask you local butcher or grocery meat department about the pork bones and belly.
• Most importantly, read the entire recipe first before starting! The night before your ramen adventure begins, make sure to complete phase zero by marinating the pork belly. Also, you'll be able to save time by making the Tare and roasting the pork belly while the broth's pork bones are simmering. This will all make sense once you read the recipe...
  

Good luck in the kitchen and happy ramen slurping! 


P.S. If you have questions, pleasepleaseplease do no hesitate to contact me via post comment or e-mail!

Japanese Ramen Noodle Soup 
(Adapted from Momofuku Ramen)

PHASE ZERO: MARINATE THE PORK BELLY

• One 3-pound slab of skinless pork belly
• 1/4 cup kosher salt
• 1/8 cup cane sugar
• 1/8 cup light brown sugar

Culinary Dance Steps:

1. Mix together the salt and sugars in a small bowl, and rub the mix all over the meat. Discard any extra unused sugar mix.
2. Placed the coated pork belly into a Ziploc bag that holds the belly snugly. Let the belly marinate in the fridge overnight. Don't marinate the belly for any longer than 24 hours.
   

PHASE ONE: MAKE THE RAMEN BROTH

• Two 3x6-inch pieces kombu seaweed, rinsed in cold water
• 6 quarts water
• 2 cups dried shiitake mushrooms, rinsed in cold water
• 2 chicken carcass bones (the bones and their immediate meat and skin) OR  one whole 4-pound chicken
• 1/2 cup dried bonito flakes, placed into a cheesecloth "tea bag" or into a metal giant tea ball
• 5 pounds meaty pork bones (preferably neck, shoulder, or leg bones with a little meat on them)
• 3-4 smoked ham hock pork
• 1 bunch scallions
• 1 medium yellow onion, cut in half
• 2 large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
• Tare (Japanese BBQ sauce), as needed  - recipe for this is below

Culinary Dance Steps:

1. Fill a 9-quart stock pot with 6 quarts of water, and add the kombu. Bring the water to a simmer over high heat and turn off the heat. Let the kombu steep in the hot water for 10 minutes.
2. Remove kombu from the pot. Add the rinsed shiitake mushrooms and contained bonito flakes. Turn the heat back up to high and bring the water to a boil. Once the water is boil, turn the heat down so the liquid is gently simmering. Simmer the mushrooms for 30 minutes, until the liquid is a deep golden color.
3. Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
4. Remove the mushrooms from the pot, but keep the bonito flakes. Add the chicken to the pot and let it simmer for 1.5 hours. Keep the liquid at a gentle simmer, with bubbles lazily and occasionally breaking the surface. Skim and discard any froth, foam, or fat that rises to the surface of the broth while the chicken is simmering.
5. While the chicken is simmering, put the pork bones on a rimmed baking sheet and bake in the oven for 1 hour; turn over the bones after about 30 minutes to ensure even browning.
6. Remove the chicken from the pot and add the roasted pork bones and hamhock. Adjust the heat as needed to keep the broth at a steady simmer, and skim the scum off the top of the surface as the bones are simmering. Replenish the pot with water as needed to keep the bones submerged. Simmer the bones for as long as your schedule allows, up to 7 hours. Stop adding water to replenish after hour 5-ish.
7. Add scallions, onions, and carrots to the pot and simmer for the final 45 minutes.
8. Remove and discard all the pork bones and vegetables. Strain the broth well - through a strainer lined with cheesecloth is possible.
9. Season with tare until the broth tastes robust. You can also adjust the broth with salt for saltiness, mirin for sweetness, and water if the broth is too strong (most likely it won't be).
10. The broth can be used right away or stored for future use. In the fridge, the broth will keep for 1-2 days. In the freezer, the broth will keep for a few months. If you're making it in advance and want to save on storage space, return the finished broth to the pot and boil until the liquid is reduced by half. Store the concentrated broth in containers, and when you want to use it, dilute the broth with an equal measure of water and reheat it on the stove.

Life easier with bonito flakes in a giant steeping ball when you need to remove the flakes from the broth later.

Shitakes will give your broth a beautiful golden color and earthy aroma.

Make sure the chicken stays submerged in the water to get all the flavor out of the meat and bones.

Keep checking your simmering broth periodically to skim off the scum, foam, fat, and debris that floats to the top of the pot. That stuff can ruin a good ramen broth if left to emulsify into the liquid.

Roasted pork bones should have a deep golden color. You can dissolve the toasted brown bits stuck on the pan with a little broth, then add the dissolved stuff back into the pot for more flavor.

Veggies give the broth a more complex flavor. You're in the homestretch - almost done!

While the pork bones in the broth are simmering...
PHASE TWO: MAKE THE TARE

• 2 chicken carcass bones (the bones and their immediate meat and skin)
  
• 1 cup sake
• 1 cup  mirin
• 2 cups Japanese light soy sauce (aka usukuchi) - can also use Chinese thin soy sauce
• One pinch of freshly ground black pepper

Culinary Dance Steps:
While your pork bones in the ramen broth are simmering...

1. Heat the oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Spread the chicken bones out in a wide (12-14 inch) saute pan or large pot. Bake the bones in the oven for about 45 minutes to 1 hour: check on the bones after 40 minutes to make sure they're just browning, not burning. You want the bones to be deeply browned, and you want the crispy bits of fond on the bottom of the pan/pot to be deep brown too - not blackened or charred (charred = burnt = bittter). Keep a close watch on the bones as the hour baking time closes in to make sure the bones are perfectly browned.
3. Once the bones are browned, remove the pan/pot from the oven and put it on the stove. Place the browned bones in a bowl and set aside.
4. Pour a splash of the sake into the pan/pot and turn up the stove heat to medium-high. Once the sake starts to bubble, scrape the crispy brown bits (fond) off the bottom of the pan/pot.
5. Once all the fond is scraped off, add the remaining sake, mirin, soy sauce, reserved roasted chicken bones to the pan/pot. Bring the liquid to a boil, then turn down the heat so that the liquid is barely simmering.
6. Let the liquid simmer for 1 hour - it will slightly thicken and all the flavors will blend together.
7. Strain the bones out of the tare and season with a pinch of freshly ground black pepper.
8. You can use the tare right away, store it in the fridge for 3-4 days, or freeze it for a couple months.

Bones before roasting...

...Bones after roasting. Nice and deep golden brown bones means lots of flavor.

The toasted little bits on the bottom of the pan are called fond, and the more the better.

The liquid should be simmering so slightly that it barely bubbles.

While the pork bones in the broth are simmering...
PHASE THREE: ROAST THE MARINATED PORK BELLY [from phase zero]

• Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Transfer the marinated pork belly onto a baking sheet, discarding any marinade liquid that accumulated from the overnight chill in the fridge. 
• Bake the pork belly in the oven, fat side up, for about 40 minutes, basting it with the rendered fat that after the first 20 minutes of baking. At this point the belly should be a nice golden brown.
• Turn down the oven temperature to 200 degrees and cook the belly for 1 more hour, until the belly is tender. 
• Remove the belly from the baking sheet and transfer to a large plate. You can pour the meat juices rendered from the belly into the broth pot as the pork bones are simmering.
• Let the pork belly cool on the plate until it's cool enough to handle. Then wrapped the cooled pork belly in plastic wrap, and chill it in the fridge until it is firm and thoroughly chilled. 
• Cut the chilled pork belly into 1/2-inch thick slices that are about 2 inches long. Once you're ready to assemble the ramen (next phase!), you can warm the belly slices in a pan over medium heat for a minute or two.
• You can store the extra chilled pork belly slices in the fridge for a couple days or in the freezer for a few months.

White pork belly that's ready for a tan...

The cooked belly shouldn't be falling apart, but it should yield to a firm finger poke.

You can skip this chilling step if you don't have time, but the only way to get neat, nice-looking slices is to chill the belly thoroughly before slicing it.

If you need to warm up a bunch of cooked pork belly at once, you can do that in an oven at 425 for 5 minutes.

PHASE FOUR: ASSEMBLE THE RAMEN BOWL

• 3 cups of ramen broth
• Tare, as needed
• 6 oz fresh Japanese ramen noodles (Chinese lo mein noodles are okay too)
• 3 slices of roasted pork belly
• Two 3x3-inch sheets of nori seaweed (cut from larger sheets)
• 1/4 cup of thinly sliced scallions (green and white parts)
• 1 poached or soft-boiled egg
• Optional ingredients: bamboo shoots, sliced Japanese fish cake, sweet corn kernels

Assembling instructions:

1. Make sure everything is ready for assembly by following  steps 2-6
2. The broth should be hot, just shy of boiling. Taste the broth one more time and adjust the seasoning? (More tare for depth? Salt for roundness? Mirin for sweetness? Water to dilute it?) 
3. There should be a large pot of boiling water for cooking the noodles, and the water should be well salted. 
4. All the garnishes for the ramen should be sliced, hot, and prepared. The pork belly should be hot. The nori should be cut into squares, scallions sliced, eggs cooked, veggies prepared (if you're including them). 
5. Have something to drain the cooked noodles, ladle to pour the broth, and chopsticks to place the noodles and garnishes in the bowl.
6. The bowls that will hold the ramen should comfortably hold 3 cups - bonus points if you warm your bowls in a low-temperature oven.
7. Cook the noodles in the large pot of boiling water according to the instructions included with your noodles or the recipe you've used.
8. Portion out the cooked noodles into the ramen bowls. Top the noodles with hot ramen broth.
9. To finish the soup: Arrange the belly and other garnishes around the edges of each bowl. Place the egg in the middle of each bowl. Finish by tucking a couple pieces of nori seaweed about 1/3 of the way into one side of the soup, so they lean against the side of the bowl and stand up above the rim.

I transformed my kitchen into a ramen shop! Everything is hot, chopped, and ready for assembling.

I found that I could plate 2-3 bowls of ramen at a time if I made it like an assembly line.

WOOHOO! You just finished making your very own ramen made from SCRATCH. You should be extremely proud of yourself because this is no easy feat and not for the faint of heart. Many have tried...few have made it.
I really hope you enjoy your creation!