So I know what you are thinking- how can the queen of ramen restaurants finally concede and make her own. Well, it started because Kristi got me authentic ramen bowls, chopsticks etc. for my birthday. I had to put them to use. I read a TON of recipes. They all looked really hard, with a lot of ingredients I didn’t know.
I finally found a couple variations that had a simple method. They also mentioned a tea bag that you steep to quickly make the broth- which from scratch takes days (no thanks).
With ramen you can also have a variety of toppings. In my humble opinion, soft poached egg is a must. We also decided to buy some ultra thin pork slices to quickly saute before adding to the top. We also added nori (dried seaweed for taste). You could also substitute veggies if you didn’t want meat.
PSA: We had to go to the Asian Food Supermarket in town to find some of these ingredients. We also had to google image search what they actually looked like and walk around the aisles. Quite an adventure, but totally worth it.
Alright here’s what you do-
Gather the ingredients:
- 2 packages ramen noodles
- 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 ½ inch ginger, minced
- 2 tsp. spicy chili bean paste with chili (la doubanjiang)
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 2 cups dashi stock (this can be found in tea bag form!)
- 2 ½ Tbsp. soy sauce
- ½ Tbsp. sake
- 1 ½ tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. sugar
Step 1: Fill a large pot with water for the noodles, put it on the stove. Get a small pot for hard boiling the eggs, put it on the stove. Get a large stock pot for the broth, put it on the stove. Get a pan for the pork, put it on the stove.
Note: As you can see, you are going to be cooking a lot of things at the same time. Relax, it freaked me out a little at the beginning too- it’s simple if you follow the order correctly.
Step 2: Get all your ingredients ready. I prepped them into small dishes just so I had everything ready to go and I wasn’t fishing for the ingredients in the middle of cooking.
Step 3: Add the sesame oil to the broth pot when hot over medium heat, then add the garlic and ginger. Cook until you can smell them (2-3 min) then add the bean paste and mix in well. Then add all the liquids (chicken stock, dashi stock, sake, soy sauce) then add the sugar and salt. Let that simmer for at least 20-30 min. We let ours sit for about 45 to let the flavor build.
Step 4: Strain your broth to get the garlic and ginger out of there! Put back on the stove to simmer.
Step 5: Boil the water for the eggs. To get a soft/runny egg yolk cook for 6-7 min. If you want a solid yolk- try 8 min. Once done put the eggs into ice cold water. Let sit for 5 min. Then peel and add to ramen bowl.
Step 6: Boil water for the noodles. Also add oil to the saute pan for the pork and high heat (but don’t let the oil smoke)
Note: The noodles take 1 min (if using fresh ramen). Don’t over cook. The pork if thinly sliced will take about 2.5 min. Don’t over cook.
Step 7: Add the noodles to the boiling water cook for 1 min. At the same time add the pork to the pan cook for 2.5 min. Once done- add the noodles and the pork to the ramen bowls. (We also added Nori (dried seaweed for taste)
Step 8: Spoon the broth over the ramen!
Now you will have a steaming hot bowl of amazing ramen. This recipe is really about time management. Make sure you prep before and it will be a piece of cake! It’s SO worth it. SO FREAKING GOOD, if I do say so myself.
But we all know- I love ramen.
Love,
Rachel xo
Melinda Ott says
This looks WONDERFUL! I love noodle dishes!
OrangeMew says
That is some giant ginger or you have small hands… I agree I can't imagine ramen without egg…. I also like having chashu pork but I don't know if they even have that at the market. I also add spring onion, and for vegetables sometimes slices of radish!
Meredith {Martha Chartreuse} says
YUM!
marlynn says
Nice work! It looks delicious!
Jane {In The Pink & Green} says
This looks great! I'm impressed!! 🙂
Ladies in Navy says
mmm! very impressed, like jane!
ladies in navy
Suzannah Hamlin Stanley says
I'm very impressed by your ability to dig in and use and understand the original ingredients! I love Asian supermarkets but I get overwhelmed. I don't eat grains so no ramen for us but I do love Asian flavors, I should get more adventurous and try some new ingredients sometime!!
Natalie says
I am thoroughly impressed.
Erin says
Totally love this. Good work!!