Momofuku Ramen

So, um, remember 1 million years ago when I said I would share the Momofuku Ramen recipe I made with you guys? I do apologize for it taking so long, but here it finally is! Trust me, this one is worth the wait!

While this entire recipe does take about a week to make (specifically the broth/tare), it makes a ton of food. Plus, the broth and tare both freeze really well. Additionally, the pickled shiitakes will keep in your fridge for months! The best part is that you can use a lot of the components in other recipes, either from the Momofuku cookbook (which I HIGHLY recommend), or your own!

The broth and tare both require a whole lot of ingredients and time to make, but it’s worth it. Especially because when you’re making the broth, you inadvertently end up with an entire poached chicken, great for making chicken salad, quesadillas, soups, etc.! Also, the shiitakes used in the broth are the exact same ones used to make the pickled shiitakes- repurposing ingredients, hooray!

I made a trip to our local Asian grocery store, Uwajimaya, to buy all of the ingredients for this recipe, though you can probably find all or good substitutes at your local grocery store.

After the long cooking process, what you end up with is a delicious, savory ramen broth that is salty, slightly sweet, rich, and amazingly satisfying. The actual process of putting together the ramen is fairly quick and simple once everything is ready. You just need a couple of minutes to warm up the broth, cook the noodles, and pop everything into a bowl.

Momofuku Ramen

all recipes from here

for one serving

ingredients:

• 2 cups Ramen Broth (recipe below)
• Tare (recipe below), and/or mirin, to taste
• 5-6 ounces fresh ramen noodles
• 2-3 slices Pork Belly
• 1/2 Pulled Pork Shoulder
• 2 3-by-3-inch sheets of nori
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
• 2 thin slices naruto (store-bought fish cake)
• 5-6 pieces Stewed Bamboo Shoots (recipe below)
• 4-5 Pickled Shiitakes (recipe below)
• 5:10 Egg (recipe below)

1. Heat the broth up over the stove, or in the microwave. Taste the broth and add more tare, mirin, and/or water until the broth is to your liking.
2. Cook the noodles in a large pot of well-salted boiling water, according to the package directions.
3. Portion the noodles into the bowl and top with the hot broth. Arrange the remainder of the ingredients on the top. SErve!

Ramen Broth

makes 5 quarts

ingredients:

• 2 3-by-6-inch pieces of konbu (an edible kelp)
• 6 quarts water
• 2 cups dried shiitakes, rinsed
• 4lb whole chicken
• 5lbs meaty pork bones (neck, shoulder, and leg bones, and ribs)
• 1lb smoky bacon
• 1 bunch green onions
• 1 onion, cut in half
• 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped in large chunks
• Tare (recipe below)

1. Rinse the konbu under running water. Add it to an 8-quart stockpot with the water, and bring it to a boil. Turn off the heat and allow it to steep for 10 minutes.
2. Remove the konbu from the pot and add in the shiitakes. Bring the water to a boil and then turn the heat down to a gentle simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes unit the mushrooms are plumped and have colored the broth.
3. Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
4. Remove the mushrooms from the pot with a slotted spoon or spider. Reserve them for the Pickled Shiitakes. Add the chicken to the pot. Continue to gently simmer the liquid, skimming off any froth, foam, or fat that rises to the surface of the broth. Replenish water as necessary to keep the chicken covered. After roughly an hour, test the chicken for doneness. If the meat does not easily pull from the bones, continue to simmer until it does.
5. While the chicken is simmering, place the pork bones in a roasting pan and put them in the oven to brown for an hour. Turn the bones over half-way through, to ensure even browning.
6. Remove the chicken from the pot and add in the roasted bones and the bacon. Keep the broth at a steady simmer, skimming the top of the water and replenishing water, as needed. After 45 minutes, take the bacon out of the pot and discard it. Then gently simmer the pork bones for 6 to 7 hours. Stop adding water to replenish the pot after about hour 5.
7. Add in the green onions, onion, and carrots, and simmer for the final 45 minutes.
8. Remove and discard the bones and vegetables. Pour the broth through a cheesecloth-lined strainer.
9. Season the broth, to taste, with tare. Start with 2 to 3 tablespoons per quart, and take it from there.

Tare

makes about 2 1/2 cups

ingredients:

• 2 to 3 chicken backs
• 1 cup sake
• 1 cup mirin
• 2 cups usukuchi (light soy sauce)
• freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. Cut the chicken backs into 3 pieces. Spread them out into a 12 to 14-inch ovenproof sauté pan and put them in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour. You want the bones to be deeply browned, but not burned.
3. Once browned, remove the bones from the oven and place the pan on the stovetop. Pour a splash of the sake into the pan, and put the pan over medium-high heat. Once the sake begins to bubble, scrape the browned bits off of the bottom of the pan. Add in the remaining sake, miring, and soy sauce. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat so that it barely simmers. Cook for 1 hour.
4. Strain the bones out, and season the tare with black pepper.

Stewed Bamboo Shoots

ingredients:

• 12-ounce can of sliced bamboo shoots
• splash of grape seed oil
• splash of sesame oil
• splash of usukuchi
• 1 Pickled Chile, seeded and chopped (this is another recipe in his book, but this is an option ingredient)

1. Drain the bamboo shoots and rinse them well under running water. Place them in a saucepan with the oils, soy, and chile.
2. Stew the bamboo shoots over low heat for half and hour, stirring occasionally, until tender.

Pickled Shiitakes

ingredients:

• Shiitake mushrooms from making Ramen Broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup usukuchi
• 1 cup sherry vinegar
• 2 3-inch knobs of fresh ginger, peeled

1. Trim the stems from the shiitakes, and cut the caps into 1/8-inch-thick slices.
2. Combine the water, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, and shiitakes in a saucepan over medium heat. Brin to a simmer, and simmer gently for half an hour, stirring occasionally.
3. Discard the ginger, and pack the shiitakes into a quart container with enough liquid to cover them.

5:10 Eggs

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Gently lower the eggs, in their shells, into the water. Set a kitchen timer for 5 minutes and 10 seconds from the moment the eggs go into the water.
2. Prepare an ice water bath in a large, deep bowl.
3. When the timer rings, transfer the eggs to the ice bath using a slotted spoon or spider.
4. When they are cool enough to handle, peel the eggs under the water in the bowl. The eggs can be stored in the fridge for up to 8 house. Warm them under hot running water for a minute before serving.