Ramen From Scratch (Noodles & All) Pt. 1

I had a stroke of inspiration after making a large amount of duck stock last week and decided to host a ramen night with a few of my friends tomorrow (more on the duck broth in pt. 2.) This is part one of my documented trials and tribulations. I'll post the links of the recipes I commandeered at the bottom of this post.

The full process will take a total of three days and includes a hodgepodge duck broth that would make any ramen chef turn over in his grave, dashi that may or may not be used (seaweed water,) a traditional tonkotsu (pork) broth, chashu pork (braised pork belly,) tare (soup flavor,) as well as a myriad of assorted toppings.

Above is the beginning of the tonkotsu broth. Pig feeties and chicken spines.

The feeties and spines need to be cleaned, so they're submerged in cold water and brought to a boil. This is foot scum foam. I never said this would be a glamorous process.

If there's anything that could convince me become a vegetarian again it's cleaning out coagulated blood with a chopstick while parfum de boiled pig foot wafts gently into my face.

Note: boiled pigs feet bounce when you drop them. Not a slight bounce. They bounce like a child just threw a bouncy ball across the room.

After the trimmings are thoroughly cleaned the stock can finally start to be made. Onions, garlic, and ginger are burned to shit and added to the pot along with leeks, mushrooms, and the white stalks of green onions. (Leeks not pictured because mine had started to flower and were pretty much useless.)

On top of that is placed a pound of pork back fat. Bless my local butcher who didn't look at me like i was a psychopath for asking for all of these cuts of meat.

The broth is brought to a rapid boil at med-high, the gunk is skimmed off (20 ish minutes,) then the heat is reduced to medium low and covered for 4 hours at a rolling boil. After 4 hours the back fat is removed and set in the fridge for later use and the stock is left to boil for another 6-8 hours.

I'll show pictures of the finished stock and the use of the fat in the next post.

In the mean time let's make some chashu pork! You'll notice in japanese cooking, many of the same ingredients are used. Mirin (Japanese sherry,) sake, soy sauce, and a bit of water make up the liquid to braise the pork.

On another day this beauty would be used to make the most wonderful bacon.

Note: This is 6lbs of pork belly. You probably don't need this much unless you're feeding 12 people like I am.

Caught in the act!

The pork is rolled and tied (and cut in half if your pans are too small like mine.) The ingredients for the braise are brought to the boil and the pork is added. The pork is then put into the oven at 275 freedom units for 3-4 hours.

There's debate on the best way to braise and cooking temps. According to my recipe it would be ideal to put the pork in the oven at a much lower temp of 155 freedom units for 36 + hours...but ain't nobody got time for that. *boiling stock pictured in background*

Pork belly number 1

The recipe mentions nothing about basting. I basted once around half way through because I started to feel uncomfortable about the skin being left so dry. This may have been a mistake. I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

Pork belly number 2

DON'T EAT THE PORK BELLY YET (difficult.) It needs to sit over night in it's juices in the fridge for maximum flavor (and also because hot pork belly is a bitch and a half to slice.)

Once the pork has sat overnight, the stock can be strained and used later in many ways; one of which is to marinade your soft boiled eggs. I may or may not do that depending on how much time and energy I have tomorrow.

Koshka Tax

In a few days I'll post updates on both of the finished stocks, the possibly unused dashi, the making of the noodles (packaged ones are on back up just in case they totally suck,) as well as any finishing touches for the finished bowls.

Recipes and tips for the above found here:

Tonkatsu broth recipe: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/02/print/rich-and-creamy-tonkotsu-ramen-broth-from-scratch-recipe.html

Vital tips on tonkatsu broth making: http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/02/print/how-to-make-tonkotsu-ramen-broth-at-home-recipe.html

Chashu pork recipe: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/03/chashu-pork-marinated-braised-pork-belly-for-tonkotsu-ramen-recipe.html

Further chashu pork tips (less necessary than the broth): http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/03/chashu-pork-marinated-braised-pork-belly-for-tonkotsu-ramen-recipe.html

Not all of the recipes for this project are pulled from serious eats. It's truly a mishmash of stuff I dug up on the internet. Please know that I'm (obviously) not a professional chef and it's 100% possible that everything i've done so far is completely wrong and my ramen will taste terrible. I guess we'll find out.

TL/DR: I'm spending 3 days and countless hours making ramen that may or may not turn out to be terrible.

Update: Pt. 2 is up: http://imgur.com/gallery/Ytig4