Japanese Noodles Pt 1: Ramen (Recipes)

So, this post is all about ramen, with detailed info on how to make ramen noodle, the 3 different soups styles, and the toppings!

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Ramen noodle is not too hard to make, but to make it super authentic, getting all the ingredients are kinda tricky. So here’s some common ingredients you can find, but not as authentic.

You’ll need:

- 400g all-purpose flour

- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt

- 1 teaspoon baking soda

- 2 large eggs beaten

- 1/2 cup warm water (about 50C degrees)

How to make this:

1. Add the baking soda into the hot water, then add the flour, egg and salt with the solution, try not to knead it with your hand, but use an stand mixer to knead for about 7 min, or until the dough is smooth.

2. Let the dough sit in the fridge for at least 2 hours, wrapped with plastic wrap. Then gently press it to the desired thickness, and cut it either with the pasta cutter attachment or a knife

3. Dust with corn starch, you can keep them in your fridge for up to 3 days.

If you don’t want to make it, most Asian market sell dried and fresh version of ramen noodle!

Cha Shu is usually where you start, it takes about 4 hours to cook and even longer to rest, so this is what I usually start.

You Need:

- 0.9 kg or 2 lb slab of boneless pork belly, with skin-on
- 120 ml or 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 250 ml or 1 cup sake
- 250 ml or 1 cup mirin
- 100 g or 3.5 oz sugar
- 5 scallions stem (aka the white part)
- 5 garlic cloves
- 3 thick slice of ginger
- 1 shallot

How to make it:

1. If the pork belly you have is in a long rectangular shape, you can lay pork belly on cutting board and roll up lengthwise, with skin facing out, then tie it up using butchers twine. If you don’t have a shape like that, you don’t have to do this.

2. Sear the surface of the pork belly until the sides except for the skin on top is browned. Then heat 1 cup water with the soy sauce, sake, mirin, sugar, scallions, garlic, shallot, and ginger in a saucepan until boiling. Place the meat in sauce and transfer it to a 135C or 275F oven, turning pork occasionally, until pork is fully tender which should take about 4 to 5 hours.3. Place it in a sealed container (ideally something here the meat can be fully submerged in the sauce) and refrigerate until completely cool (ideally 20 hr so the meat can absorb the maximum amount of flavors)

4.When ready to serve, remove pork belly and strain broth. Slice pork belly into thin rounds, then heat the slices with a blowtorch, charring its surface, then serve.

Shio ramen is one of the most traditional styles of ramen and probably the oldest style of ramen, the word “shio”, which literally means 塩/salt perfectly describes the main flavors of this broth. However, don’t be afraid of the sodium, the base of the broth is usually made with clear chicken or seafood broth, with a “salty tare” + dashi, which contains a lot of natural salty ingredients, and chicken fat.

For the Chicken Broth, You’ll Need:

- 1/2 of a whole chicken
- 3 liters or 12.5 cups of water
- 2 springs of green onions
- 1 thumb size piece of ginger
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 5 grams or 1/5 oz of sea salt

For the Salty Tare + Dashi, You’ll Need:

- 1/4 liter or 1 cup of water
- 1 palm size piece of kombu
- 5 grams or 1/5 oz of katsuobushi
- 5 grams or 1/5 oz of sugar
- 10 grams or 1/3 oz of sea salt
- 3 piece of dried shitake mushroom
- 30 ml or 2 tbsp sake
- 30 ml or 2 tbsp mirin
- 30 ml or 2 tbsp soy sauce

You’ll also need:

- 4 servings of ramen noodle (dried or fresh)
- 2 springs of green onion
- Cha Shu (Japanese braised pork belly)
- Ajitsuke Tamago (Japanese pickled eggs)

How to make this:

1. Trim as much skin and fat as possible off the chicken, then blanch it in boiling water, rinse and clean the partially cooked chicken, then place it in a pot of 3 liters, clean water with the ginger, garlic, and green onion.

2. Bring the broth to a boil over medium-high heat, then turn the heat down to low and let the broth simmer for about 5 hours.

3. Heat a pan over medium heat, and fry the trimmed chicken skin and fat until most of the fat is rendered out, which should take about 10 min, strain & save the fat in a container.

4. About 30 min before the chicken broth is complete, place the kombu, katsuobushi and shitake mushroom in 1/4 liters of water. Bring the water to a boil over medium heat, then add the sugar, salt, mirin, sake, and soy sauce, lower the heat and let the mixture slowly simmer for about 15 min or until it turns slightly thick.

5. Bring a large pot of water to boil, then place the ramen noodle in the water, stir a couple times, wait till the noodle is cooked, then strain it.

6. Place the noodle in a large bowl, then add 2 spoons full of the salty tare + dashi, with about 1 cup of the chicken broth, and a couple drops of the chicken fat. Serve with some thinly sliced green onion root, some Chashu, and an Ajitsuke Tamago, and Enjoy!

Shoyu is another major style, it gets its amazing flavors from soy sauce, an great source for umami, you can use almost the same recipe for the chicken stock as the one for shio, just cut down on the salt and use the shoyu tare/sauce

For the Chicken Broth, You’ll Need:

- 1/2 of a whole chicken
- 3 liters or 12.5 cups of water
- 2 springs of green onions
- 1 thumb size piece of ginger
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 5 grams or 1/5 oz of sea salt

For the Shoyu Tare + Dashi, You’ll Need:

- 1/4 liter or 1 cup of water
- 1 palm size piece of kombu
- 5 grams or 1/5 oz of katsuobushi
- 5 grams or 1/5 oz of sugar
- 3 piece of dried shitake mushroom- 150 ml or 10 tbsp soy sauce
- 30 ml or 2 tbsp sake
- 30 ml or 2 tbsp mirin

You’ll also need:

- 4 servings of ramen noodle (dried or fresh)
- 2 springs of green onion
- Cha Shu (Japanese braised pork belly)
- Ajitsuke Tamago (Japanese pickled eggs)

How to make this:

1. Trim as much skin and fat as possible off the chicken, then blanch it in boiling water, rinse and clean the partially cooked chicken, then place it in a pot of 3 liters, clean water with the ginger, garlic, and green onion.

2. Bring the broth to a boil over medium-high heat, then turn the heat down to low and let the broth simmer for about 5 hours or a pressure cooker for about 50 min

3. About 30 min before the chicken broth is complete, place the kombu, katsuobushi and shitake mushroom in 1/4 liters of water. Bring the water to a boil over medium heat, then add the sugar, salt, mirin, sake, and soy sauce, lower the heat and let the mixture slowly simmer for about 15 min or until it turns slightly thick.

4. Bring a large pot of water to boil, then place the ramen noodle in the water, stir a couple times, wait till the noodle is cooked, then strain it.

5. Place the noodle in a large bowl, then add 5 spoons full of the salty tare + dashi, with about 1 cup of the chicken broth, and a couple drops of the chicken fat. Serve with some thinly sliced green onion root, some Chashu, and an Ajitsuke Tamago, and Enjoy!

Then, there's the the amazing miso ramen, this is what i consider to be the easiest of all the styles of ramen. By diluting some miso paste with either dishi (if you like something light) or chicken broth (a bit heavy), it is incredibly easy to do!