recipe contents shoyu
5
shio
10
miso
13
tonkotsu
18
toppings
24
recipes These recipes cover the four basic kinds of ramen: Shio, Shoyu, Miso, and Tonkotsu. Each recipe has three main components in tare, noodles, and broth, while some also have aroma oil recipes and tips. The last two recipes are the most common ramen toppings, Ajitsuke Tamago and Chasu.
Shoyu
Recipes | 7
Tare 5 3 inch by 3 inch squares of kombu 2 cups soy sauce (Use a combination of soy sauces, though dark, full salt soy sauce is most important) ¾ cup of iriko niboshi 1 cup of bonito flakes, lightly packed ¼ cup of sake 3 tablespoon of mirin 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
1
The day before, soak the squares of kombu in your soy sauce overnight. This is the base, and we extract a lot of flavor here.
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
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The day of, take your niboshi and saute them in a bit of neutral oil on high heat until fragrant in a sauce pan, about 40 seconds to a minute. We’re doing maillard stuff here, so a little brown is good. Add your kombu and soy sauce, and bring to just shy of a boil, discard the kombu. Hold the mixture at at this temperature for 10 minutes.
Add the bonito and continue to steep for 5 more minutes.
Strain out the solids and reserve the soy base into a separate vessel. Clean the pan, add the sake, mirin, and sugar, and cook on medium high heat until the smell of alcohol is gone, around 5-10 minutes. Add the strained soy base, and cook over low heat until reduced to your salinity liking. You can use it right away, but I like to reduce it somewhat to keep things compact. I add maybe 2-3 tbsp per bowl, though it’s really up to you and depends on your broth level.
Broth 1 stewing hen (broken down 6 lbs total) 2 pounds of chicken feet 1 onion 10 cloves of garlic 1 2-inch piece of ginger. 5 squares of kombu 1 cup of iriko niboshi 1 ½ cups of bonito flakes
1 2 3 4 5 6
Blanch the chicken feet for 5 minutes in water. Strain, and snip off toenails.
7 8
Add the chicken to a stock pot, cover with water.
Bring the stock just shy of a boil on high heat. Hold here for one hour Bring the stock up to a boil briefly, skim any scum. Hold here for 5-10 minutes, or until scum subsides. Reduce heat back down to where it was before, hold for a minimum of 5 hours. After reaching that temperature, add your onion, garlic, and ginger. It’s going to perfume the fat that renders out of the chicken. It’s awesome. In the last hour add niboshi and kombu. Remove kombu in 10 min, keep niboshi for 30 min to 1 hour. In the last 10 minutes, add the bonito flake and steep. 9 Strain the stock and hold until needed.
*keep your broth free of rapid boil; the less the contents of the pot move, the better your clarity will be. Aroma oil Take rendered chicken fat, add green onion and garlic (maybe 1-2 cloves), and cook over low heat until slightly brown. Strain, and add to the bottom of your bowl with the tare. Chicken fat stays liquid at a lower temp than lard, and is quite easy to work with. If you can’t find/render your own chicken fat, veg oil is a fine substitute, though you will miss out on some complexity.
Recipes | 9
Noodles, Tokyo Style 99 grams of king arthur bread flour (12.7% protein by weight) 1 gram of vital wheat gluten (aprox 77.5% protein by weight) 40 grams of water 1 gram of salt 1 gram of baked soda 1 gram of riboflavin (this adds color, I usually estimate it, and is also optional) *per portion: measure everything by weight
1 2 3
4 5
6
10 | The Ramen Reference
Add baked soda and salt (and riboflavin if using) to the water, dissolve completely. I like to add one at a time, it seems like the baked soda dissolves better if added prior to the salt. In the food processor, add your wheat gluten and flour. Pulse a few times to combine the two. While running the food processor, add your water mixture slowly, in an even stream. Occasionally, stop to scrape the sides down. You know you’re set when you have tiny grain like pieces. Cover the food processor and let this rest for 30 minutes. This gives the flour granules time to fully absorb the water and alkaline salts. Knead it. Currently I use an electric pasta machine to sheet the dough, going through the largest setting, then the 2nd, then the 3rd, then folding and repassing through the largest setting. I repass two to three times, or until I notice the dough is making the machine work really hard. I also like to fold the dough the same direction each time. Some articles I read suggested this kept the gluten strands running in the same direction, which promotes better texture. You’ll notice interesting horizontal lines running along the length of your dough if you do it right. If this isn’t an option for you, I used to throw the mix into a plastic bag and step on it repeatedly, which simulates the kneading process used in an industrial setting. When smooth, cover with plastic, and rest at room temp for an hour. This gives the gluten time to relax, and “ripens” the dough according to Japanese cooks.
Noodles, Cont.
7 8 9
Pull out your dough. Portion into workable sizes (around one serving’s worth), and roll out to desired thickness, using potato starch as you go to prevent sticking. Do this with a pasta machine, it is borderline impossible without a machine. An electric one will save you an incredible amount of effort. Cut your noodles to your desired thickness. You rule your ramen. Ideally you should make these noodles in advance, they’re really nice after about a day in the fridge. They firm up a bit, and most recipes for noodles online discuss this resting phase prior to use. The general rule for this cure is that the higher the hydration, the longer the wait.
Recipes | 11
Chicken Shio
*For noodles refer to page 63 and use the Tokyo Style Noodles.
12 | The Ramen Reference
Tare 15 grams kombu 150 milliliters mirin 75 milliliters sake 75 milliliters dry white wine 500 milliliters chicken ramen stock (yes, the one you’re making!) 1/2 pounds ground chicken 100 grams salt 10-20 grams msg (optional)
1
The night before, combine the kombu, mirin, sake, and white wine in a container. Place in the fridge and steep overnight, or up to 24 hours.
2 3 4 5
When ready to make the tare, place the contents of step 1 in a saucepan and heat just shy of a boil. Hold for 5 minutes. Remove the kombu from the liquid, add in the chicken ramen soup and the ground chicken. Cook, mixing frequently, at a boil until the chicken is thoroughly cooked, around 5 minutes. Strain the liquid, reserving the cooked ground chicken for another use. Place the strained liquid back into a pot and add the salt and (optional) MSG. Cook until dissolved, whisking to incorporate, around 2-3 minutes.
*This makes a really large amount of tare (easily enough for 20 bowls). Feel free to halve it.
Recipes | 13
Broth one 7 pound stewing hen, breasts removed (or 2 small chickens, broken down into quarters or halves.) 2-3 pounds of chicken feet, toes removed. (You can sub chicken wings if feet are hard to find) 1 onion, cut in half 1 head of garlic, split open to expose the cloves 1 carrot, peeled
1 2
Add the chicken to a pot, cover with water by at least 2 inches.
3 4 5 6
Heat the pot on the stove just shy of a boil. Hold here for one hour.
Bring the stock up to a boil briefly, skim any scum. Hold here for 5-10 minutes, or until scum subsides. Reduce heat back down to before, hold for a minimum of 5 hours. After reaching the previous temperature, add your vegetables. Cook for 5-6 hours just shy of a boil. Strain the stock, reserving until needed.
Aroma oil Take 1 cup chicken fat, add green onion, and cook in a small saucepan over medium low heat until the green onion just starts to brown, around 30 min.
14 | The Ramen Reference
Miso
Recipes | 15
Tare 2 cups of various miso (typically at least 50% white/kome miso. I generally blend 3 misos: a Shinshu, another white of some kind, and a nice Red or Wheat forward variant) 1.5 tablespoons tahini 4-8 cloves of grated garlic (entirely up to you) one 2 inch long piece of ginger, grated 1/2 a white onion, pureed 2 tablespoons soy sauce (though more if needed) 1 tablespoon of sesame oil ichimi to taste (maybe half a teaspoon).
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1
Combine all in a bowl and season with salt or additional soy sauce, until this tastes quite salty.
*Don’t use American Miso or Miso powder, it’s disappointing.
Broth
4 pounds pork neck bones 1 pig trotter 1 whole chicken, broken down, breasts removed 1 large white onion, roughly chopped 10 cloves of garlic one 2 inch long piece of ginger, peeled
1
Take the pork neck bones and pig trotter, and blanch them in boiling water for around 10-20 minutes, or until scum stops rising. This blanch helps to clean the pork of its “funk” and keeps the stock clear.
2 3 4
water as needed 0ther aromatics: carrots, cabbage (at the last hour)
5
Dump the blanching water, and rinse the bones of any residual scum. Add the bones and foot back to the pot, along with the chicken and aromatics, and cover with water by at least two inches. Bring the stock to a boil, then down to the tiniest of simmers (like, barely a bubble breaks the surface, just occasionally blubbing up), and cover. The higher your temp gets before an actual boil, the better your collagen conversion to gelatin will be. Cook at this temperature for at least 6 hours, but preferably 10 hours. Don’t stir! It’ll cloud the stock! This is very delicate and any agitation will emulsify particulate. Strain the solids. Reserve until needed.
Aroma Oil If using the wok method of assembly, you don’t need it! The larded wok does the work for you For the first one, it’s quite simple: Take some lard (maybe a cup) and cook around 15 cloves of garlic, one half of an onion chopped, and a 2 inch piece of ginger, sliced, in that fat, slowly, until just beginning to brown, anywhere from 15 to 40 minutes depending on heat. Strain and reserve until needed. Do note that lard will solidify at room temp, so be ready with a spoon to dollop it into your bowl of choice.
Recipes | 17
Noodles, Sapporo Style 98.5 grams of king arthur bread flour (12.7% protein by weight) 1.5 grams of vital wheat gluten (aprox 77.5% protein by weight) 42 grams of water 1 gram salt 1.5 grams of baked soda a pinch of riboflavin (this adds color, I estimate it entirely, optional) *per portion: measure everything by weight
1 2 3
4 5
6
18 | The Ramen Reference
Add baked soda and salt (and riboflavin if using) to the water, dissolve completely. I like to add one at a time, it seems like the baked soda dissolves better if added prior to the salt. In the food processor, add your wheat gluten and flour. Pulse a few times to combine the two. While running the food processor, add your water mixture slowly, in an even stream. Occasionally, stop to scrape the sides down. You know you’re set when you have tiny grain like pieces. Cover the food processor and let this rest for 30 minutes. This gives the flour granules time to fully absorb the water and alkaline salts. Knead it. Currently I use an electric pasta machine to sheet the dough, going through the largest setting, then the 2nd, then the 3rd, then folding and repassing through the largest setting. I repass two to three times, or until I notice the dough is making the machine work really hard. I also like to fold the dough the same direction each time. Some articles I read suggested this kept the gluten strands running in the same direction, which promotes better texture. You’ll notice interesting horizontal lines running along the length of your dough if you do it right. If this isn’t an option for you, I used to throw the mix into a plastic bag and step on it repeatedly, which simulates the kneading process used in an industrial setting. When smooth, cover with plastic, and rest at room temp for an hour. This gives the gluten time to relax, and “ripens” the dough according to Japanese cooks.
Noodles, Cont.
7 8 9
Pull out your dough. Portion into workable sizes (around one serving’s worth), and roll out to desired thickness, using potato starch as you go to prevent sticking. Do this with a pasta machine, it is borderline impossible without a machine. An electric one will save you an incredible amount of effort. Cut your noodles to your desired thickness.
Take a handful of finished noodles and squeeze the noodles together into a tight ball, like a snowball, then shimmy them around to create the classic wavy effect. Repeat until crinkled to your liking.
*Ideally you should make these noodles in advance. Sapporo noodles are best after around 2 days in the fridge. They firm |up a bit and develop more flavor. The general rule for this cure is that the higher the hydration, the longer the wait. You can, of course, also bag them up and freeze them; they freeze extremely well.
Recipes | 19
Tonkotsu
20 | The Ramen Reference
Tare fish: 5 3 inch by 3 inch squares of kombu water to cover (around 1-2 cups) ¾ cup of dried niboshi 1 tablespoon of sesame oil 1 cup of loosely packed bonito
soy: ¼ cup of sake ¼ cup of mirin 1 cup soy sauce (Use a combination of usukuchi, good ol’ standard kikkoman, and a white soy sauce) salt to taste
1 2 3
Cover the kombu with water enough to cover. Let sit overnight, or at least 3 hours, in the fridge.
4 5 6 7 8 9
When ready, add sesame oil to a medium sauce pan over medium heat. When oil is shimmering, toss in the niboshi, sauteeing in the oil for 40 seconds to a minute, or until brown and fragrant. Try not to get this too hot, as bitter flavors might develop if the fish is overheated. Add the kombu and kombu’s soaking liquid. Bring just shy of a boil. Remove the kombu, add the bonito, and steep the niboshi and bonito in this liquid at the same temperature for 10 minutes. Strain broth, and reserve while making soy base. In the pot, add in the mirin and sake, and cook at a boil to remove the alcohol, around 5 minutes. Add in the soy sauce, and reduce to previous heat again. Let sit at this temp for a few minutes to concentrate. Add in an equal part of the fish broth made earlier. Season with salt until quite salty (like, to the point that you’d go “WOW this is almost too salty for me to handle, but damn it’s nice).
Recipes | 21
Broth 8 pounds of pork bones (I used half femurs, half neck bones. All neck will work in a pinch) 4/5 pounds fatback. (10% the weight of the bones).
1
Before any cooking, soak the bones in cold water in a large, non-reactive vessel, for at least 6 hours, and up to 24 hours. (I use a large plastic container).
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
22 | The Ramen Reference
The night before you want your broth ready, drain the bones, add them to a pot with fresh water covering them by 2 inches, and bring to a boil over high heat. Drop the heat to medium, and blanch the bones, at a simmer, for 15-30 minutes, or until little to no scum rises. Strain the bones again, and scrub away any black material, such as coagulated blood, from the bones and pot. Return the bones to the pot. Add fresh water, and add in the fatback. If doing the night before, bring this to a boil, then down to the lowest setting on your stove, and cover. Then go to bed. If not, continue to step 7. In the morning, bring the pot back up to a full boil, then back down to the lowest setting possible to maintain that jostling boil while covered. (For me, this is medium on my stove) Depending on when you started cooking, continue to boil the broth for 12-18 hours, or until desired consistency and color is reached, meat has completely separated and broken down in the broth, and fatback pieces have mostly melted. Optionally, you can stir every 1-2 hours just to check up on things and promote more churning. Please feel free to add back water if the level gets too low. Once cooked to your liking, strain the broth, discarding the solids, and reserve broth until needed over low heat. This broth keeps for around a week in the fridge.
Broth, Cont. Tips and Tricks The sugars in aromatics (onion, carrot, apple) caramelize and turn brown. I had been chasing this idea that aromatics were required, but the truth is that most tonkotsu shops use an all-animal approach, opting to add aromatic compounds in things like tares and aroma oils later on. Gelatin is a surfactant that emulsifies the fat from the bones, creating the characteristic opaque, white color. Getting the balance is key though; too much gelatin and your broth will be overly sticky and unappetizing. Not enough, and you won’t be able to emulsify the fat. To get that emulsification, you have to churn the contents in some capacity, which decreases the size of the fat globules and allows them to emulsify. To do this, a rapid boil is required. Agitation also has the benefit of reducing the amount of water soluble proteins that rise to the surface, which can actually brown over time if they aren’t mixed back into the liquid. No one said this needed to rapidly boil all of the time. The rapid boil acts quickly to emulsify things if the gelatin level is appropriate. Which means the cooking can start at a simmer, and build up later! So you can actually start this the night before, keep things at a safe, low temp during the night, and then crank it up to high heat the next day, with the same results. Covering the pot increases the pressure in the vessel, which helps promote agitation, saves heat, and water. Do it. You can use a combination of bones. Can’t find femurs? Try neck bones. This iteration uses half neck bones, half femurs. The addition of fatback boosts the fat levels, creating the right balance of fat to gelatin.
Recipes | 23
Noodles, Hakata Style 99 grams bread flour 1 gram vital wheat gluten 36 grams water 1 gram baked soda 1 gram salt *per portion: measure everything by weight
1 2 3
4 5
24 | The Ramen Reference
Add baked soda and salt to the water, dissolve completely. I like to add one at a time, it seems like the baked soda dissolves better if added prior to the salt. In the food processor, add your wheat gluten and flour. Pulse a few times to combine the two. While running the food processor, add your water mixture slowly, in an even stream. Occasionally, stop to scrape the sides down. You know you’re set when you have tiny grain like pieces. Cover the food processor and let this rest for 30 minutes. This gives the flour granules time to fully absorb the water and alkaline salts. Knead it. I used to throw the mix into a plastic bag and step on it repeatedly, which simulates the kneading process used in an industrial setting. Currently I use an electric pasta machine to sheet the dough, going through the largest setting, then the 2nd, then the 3rd, then folding and repassing through the largest setting. I repass two to three times, or until I notice the dough is making the machine work really hard. I also like to fold the dough the same direction each time. Some articles I read suggested this kept the gluten strands running in the same direction, which promotes better texture. You’ll notice interesting horizontal lines running along the length of your dough if you do it right.
Noodles, Cont.
6 7 8 9
When smooth, cover with plastic, and rest at room temp for an hour. This gives the gluten time to relax, and “ripens� the dough. Pull out your dough. Portion into workable sizes (around one serving’s worth), and roll out to desired thickness, using potato starch as you go to prevent sticking. Do this with a pasta machine, it is borderline impossible without a machine. An electric one will save you an incredible amount of effort. Cut your noodles to your desired thickness. I like mine rather thin for tonkotsu, but you rule your ramen. Store for up to 2 days in the fridge, or indefinitely in the freezer.
Recipes | 25
Toppings
C
hasu is the braised pork belly found in almost every form of ramen. While many different pork cuts are used, some flat and rectangular and others rolled into a circular format the cooking methods are the same. The left over marinade from Chasu can also be used to marinate ajitsuke tamago if you’re making both.
Ajituske Tamago is a Japanese marinated egg that is often served with ramen. These eggs are usually soft boiled to leave a runny yolk warms and softens in the soup adding another layer of complexity. Becareful as the difference of a few seconds can completely change their consistency.
Chasu 2 pound slab of boneless pork belly, skin-on 1/2 cup soy sauce 1 cup sake 1 cup mirin
1 2 3
Lay pork belly on cutting board and roll up lengthwise, with skin facing out.
1/2 cup sugar 6 scallions, roughly chopped 6 whole garlic cloves 0ne 2-inch knob ginger, roughly sliced 1 whole shallot, split in half (skin on)
4 5
Using butchers twine, tightly secure pork belly at 3/4-inch intervals. Preheat oven to 275째F. Heat 1 cup water, soy sauce, sake, mirin, sugar, scallions, garlic, ginger, and shallot in a medium saucepan over high heat until boiling. Add pork belly (it won't be submerged). Cover with a lid left slightly ajar. Transfer to oven and cook, turning pork occasionally, until pork is fully tender and a cake tester or thin knife inserted into its center meets little resistance, 3 to 4 hours.Transfer contents to a sealed container and refrigerate until completely cool. When ready to serve, remove pork belly and strain broth. Reserve broth for another use (like making ajitsuke tamago). Slice pork belly into thin rounds (it might help to cut it in half lengthwise first). Reheat pork belly slices in soup broth with noodles and other garnishes. Alternatively, heat a small amount of reserved broth in a skillet and heat pork slices in broth until hot or reheat with a blowtorch, charring its surface. Serve.
Recipes | 27
Tamago 1 cup water 1 cup sake 1/2 cup soy sauce
1 2
1/2 cup mirin 1/2 cup sugar 6 eggs
3
28 | The Ramen Reference
Combine water, sake, soy, mirin, and sugar in a medium bowl and whisk until sugar is dissolved. Set aside Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Pierce fat end of each egg with a thumbtack to make a tiny hole (this prevents them from cracking and eliminates the air bubble at the end). Carefully lower eggs into water with a wire mesh spider or slotted spoon. Reduce heat to maintain a bare simmer. Cook for exactly 6 minutes. Drain hot water and carefully peel eggs under cold running water (the whites will be quite delicate). Transfer eggs to a bowl that just barely fits them all. Pour marinade on top until eggs are covered or just floating. Place a double-layer of paper towels on top and press down until completely saturated in liquid to help keep eggs submerged and marinating evenly. Refrigerate and marinate at least four hours and up to 12. Discard marinade after 12 hours. Store eggs in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in ramen soup to serve.
sources This book was made using sourced content and photography from many different authors, and photographers. Anything not attributed in the following section was written by myself.
Content Shoyu, Chicken Shio, Miso, and Tonkostu Recipes These recipes were all provided by Reddit user “Ramen_Lord” and can be found in the side bar at Reddit.com/r/ramen
Chasu and Ajitsuke Tamago These two recipes were taken from Serious Eats
Photography Recipes Reddit user “Ramen_Lord”(61, 66, 69, 74, 82) Justonecookbook.com(82)
The Ramen Reference | 31
colophon This book was compiled, and designed by Nikolai Laba for the Spring 2016 Capstone project at the Washington University in St. Louis Sam Fox School of Visual Arts & Design. It was printed at Marvel Printing, on Mohawk Superfine smooth ultrawhite 80 lb text using Tabac Sans and Baskerville, and is intended as a companion book to The Ramen Reference.
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The Ramen Reference |