RAMEN YA RECIPES

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring chicken broth to a bare simmer. Remove from heat and let cool 2 minutes. Add in mushrooms and kombu (kelp) and let steep 5 minutes. Then, add in bonito and let steep 5 more minutes. Strain and save solids for nitamago process and serving. Store dashi chilled, up to 1 week. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring all ingredients except pork to a low simmer and reduce heat to low. Meanwhile, in another medium pot over medium heat, bring pork and 6 cups water to a low simmer. Drain immediately and gently rinse pork.  Place pork in tare pot and bring to a simmer. Cover and continue to cook on low until tender, turning pork occasionally, about 1 hour 20 minutes. Let cool for 20 minutes, then strain and reserve liquid for serving. Refrigerate pork and remaining liquid separately. Slice pork before serving, lightly torched, if desired. In a medium saucepan over high heat, bring 6 cups water to a rolling boil. Carefully prick rounded bottoms of each egg with a pin. Gently lower eggs into pot with a slotted spoon, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer eggs for 6 minutes. Drain. Transfer eggs to an ice bath and let rest for 5 minutes. Thoroughly crack eggshells very gently, knocking one egg against another, then return to ice bath for 10 more minutes. Peel carefully. Place eggs in a medium bowl and pour reserved pork-marinade liquid over. Weigh down eggs with reserved spent kombu (kelp) to fully immerse in liquid. Let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, up to 12 hours. In a small saucepan over the lowest possible heat, simmer garlic in oil until tender and translucent, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Keep the heat level low enough to avoid frying the garlic. Remove from heat and immediately stir in chili. Let rest 2 minutes, then stir in sesame.  Once completely cool, store refrigerated in a closed container for up to 2 weeks. In a pot of salted boiling water, cook ramen, stirring with tongs or chopsticks until al dente, about 1 minute. (If using instant ramen, discard seasoning packet and follow packet instructions to cook until al dente.) Drain well. In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm dashi and shiitake until barely simmering. Cook for 1 minute and remove from heat. Set shiitake aside. Add dashi, tare, and noodles to serving bowl. Top with chashu, nitamago, shiitake, green onion, a drizzle of la-yu, and nori, if using.

Steps:

• Let’s cut the ingredients for tsukemen. Cut the pork belly slices into 4~5cm (1.6"~2") pieces. Slice the long green onion using diagonal cuts. Crush the garlic clove and ginger root with a wooden paddle.
• Here, we will be using frozen shiitake and shimeji mushrooms. The fresh mushrooms were cut and frozen in a freezer bag.
• Let’s make the tsukemen broth. Stir-fry the fatty pork belly slices in the heated pot.
• When the fat begins to melt, sprinkle on the red chili pepper rings and continue to stir-fry.
• Add the sake and the Chinese-style chicken stock, made from instant chicken stock powder. Drop in the green part of the onion, crushed garlic and ginger.
• Bring to a boil on high heat. Remove the foam with a fine mesh strainer. Adjust the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Remove the long green onion, ginger and garlic.
• Add the soy sauce. Drop in the chopped long green onion, and the shiitake and shimeji mushrooms. Bring it to a boil on high heat and immerse the ingredients in the broth.
• When it begins to boil again, adjust the heat to low and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes until the long green onion becomes wilted. Drop in the rest of the pork belly slices.
• When the pork is completely browned, test the flavor of the broth. Sprinkle on the pepper. Finally, add the sesame oil and vinegar. Lightly stir and turn off the burner.
• Let’s cook the noodles for tsukemen. Boil a generous amount of water in a large pot and drop in one bag of fresh ramen noodles at a time. The cooking time depends on the thickness of the noodles so follow the directions on the package.
• When the noodles are cooked, take the pot to the sink and strain the noodles. Gently rinse the noodles in a mesh strainer under running water and remove the gooey texture on the surface.
• Place the strainer in a bowl of water and continue to rinse the noodles. Drain the noodles well.
• Let the strainer sit in ice water and quickly cool down the noodles to increase the refreshing texture. Remove and squeeze out the excess water from the noodles thoroughly.
• Let’s serve the tsukemen. Place the noodles on a plate covered with a bamboo mat. Put the soft boiled egg next to the noodles.
• Serve the piping-hot tsukemen broth and vegetables in a bowl.
• Top with the bonito flakes and chopped spring onion leaves.