Homemade Ramen

[austingirl 2191]

I love pho, ramen, basically any type of Asian noodle soup. I went through a pho phase a while back and worked on my broth recipe until it was perfect and I could freeze a bunch for pho whenever I got a hankering for it. Once the broth is done it's just a matter if pulling together the toppings and voila, you have a tasty bowl of comfort food I prefer over chicken noodle soup any day.

I visited Momofuku Noodle Bar years ago (in NYC), and got the cookbook last Christmas. It wasn't until now that I thought I'd tackle making my own ramen the David Chang way. (Except the noodles. I may be a glutton for punishment when it comes to cooking complex shit, but I do not have it in me to make my own noodles at this point.) So, this afternoon, I went to the new HMart in NW Austin, stocked up on everything I needed and began working on the broth around 2 pm.

First, put two sheets of dried kombu into a stockpot filled with 6 quarts of water. When it comes to a boil, turn off the heat and let the kombu steep for 15 minutes. Remove the kombu and add 2 cups dried shiitakes. Bring it back to a boil, then simmer gently for 30 minutes. Remove and reserve for another use. I sliced up the kombu to add to salads and am going to pickle the shiitakes. I did not think to start taking pics until after this point, so here are the shiitakes and kombu after doing their thing in the broth.

Next up, I cut the backbone out of a chicken and cut the rest of it into 6 pieces (left in the wings for my purposes). Saved the backbone to make tare' with later.

Added the chicken and let it simmer about an hour. When the chicken was falling off the bone, I removed it and set on a carving board to rest till I could pick the meat off the bones. The chicken bones went to hang out with their brethren, the uncooked backbone, and wait for the tare' to get started.

As the chicken was simmering, I heated the oven to 400 and loaded up a baking sheet with 5 lbs meaty pork bones - I did a mix of neck and back bones. Roasted those suckers for an hour, till they were a lovely brown.

Roasted bones went in next, along with 1 lb bacon. Bacon simmered for about 45 minutes, and I left everything else to simmere for ~6 hours, maybe? About an hour till the end, I added a bunch of green onions, chopped carrot, and two onions, halved but not peeled (onion skins give the broth a great color).

I'll pull it off heat in about 30 minutes, strain, and season with tare (like japanese bbq sauce; a mix of mirin, sake, soy sauce, all cooked with roasted chicken bones.) Tomorrow I'll work on the pork belly and pork shoulder for toppings, while the broth waits in the fridge. Will post more pics then.

Edited May 19, 2018 by austingirl
fucking imgur

[austingirl 2191]

Also picked up some dragon fruit for dessert. Just scraped it out of the shell. Soooo good.

Would've posted a pic but imgur is getting on my fucking nerves right now.

Edited May 19, 2018 by austingirl

[Baboontyme 2814]

Check out tinypic. 

[mycox 582]

I thought I had the patience for a gumbo roux. No way I could do a proper ramen or pho.

[52-80 19180]

 

[Buzzrock 14925]

I’m listening.

Also: you can post pics direct from your phone if you use tapa.

[austingirl 2191]

I’m listening.

 

Also: you can post pics direct from your phone if you use tapa.

 

 

Ohhhhh I did not know that. Thanks! Above is the dragon fruit.

 

Pork belly rubbed down and ready to sit overnight.

 

 

Pork butt ready for slow roasting this morning.

 

 

 

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[austingirl 2191]

Pork belly out of the oven. Once it's cooled a bit I'll wrap and chill it for easier slicing later. I'll save the rendered fat for other stuff later. I added a spoonful to the dog's food bowl and now he's looking at me like I'm the second coming of Jesus.






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[austingirl 2191]

14 hours ago, mycox said:

I thought I had the patience for a gumbo roux. No way I could do a proper ramen or pho.

Making roux is way more hands-on than making ramen broth. With roux you're stirring the whole time and if it burns you have to start over. Pho is a bit more work than ramen because the broth needs to be skimmed and strained so that it's clear. Ramen can be cloudy, so that right there eliminates the constant skimming while it cooks. If you're home all day, it's cake. You're just adding and removing different components to the pot as you go along.

[austingirl 2191]

Plated up. Pork belly, roasted pork, fresh lo mein, broth, nori, fresh peas, and a slow-poached egg. Well worth the effort.





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[HenryJames 66128]

Would.

[gsoda3 3263]

how was it? i applaud your willingness. have you been to 99 ranch at lamar/airport?  i like it better than hmart for most things. 

[austingirl 2191]

11 hours ago, gsoda3 said:

how was it? i applaud your willingness. have you been to 99 ranch at lamar/airport?  i like it better than hmart for most things. 

It was delicious. I have not been to 99 Ranch - I'll definitely check it out.