Perfect day for Tonkotsu Ramen🍜🌧️
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chashu.](https://preview.redd.it/ibdbcwn5eljc1.jpg?width=2499&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6dd4eb190d936c94cf6913450c15467cba40b0c7)
At this point, the chashu was ready to be pan seared before a final braising in shoyu with mirin, sake and ginger. I had also reached the point where I could start reducing the broth to a more concentrated, flavorful state. However, as you can see in the picture, I was not prepping the broth in a proper stock pot and was worried there would not be enough of a final product. I made the decision to remove the chicken bones at this point, so there was less volume in the pot from solids (bones and meat), and top off the broth with some of the chashu braising liquid. I had taste-tested the braising liquid prior to adding it and was satisfied it would not take away from the broth in any way. I was also comfortable with beginning the reduction process with the amount of liquid in the pot, confident I would have enough broth in the end.
I then fired up my cast iron pan and began searing the pork butt for my chashu. After searing on all sides, I added shoyu, mirin, sake, garlic clove and sliced ginger.
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[The chashu fortunately maintained it's shape without cooking twine.](https://preview.redd.it/9ikmlnfjgljc1.jpg?width=2202&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=84af2a290924c1b59d27694b8efac206e2a49be8)
At this point I felt like I was in the home stretch. I was approx. 6.5 hours in and everting seemed to be coming together. I started a pot of boiling water, with 2 tablespoons of vinegar (makes peeling easier), for the soft boiled eggs that would become the atijama. After another 45 minutes of shoyu braising, my chashu was finished and ready to be refrigerated overnight, in a gallon-sized ziplock bag with part of the remaining braising liquid. A 6-minute boil of the eggs followed by an immediate ice-bath and the eggs were ready to marinate. Using the remaining braising shoyu, the peeled eggs went in a gallon ziplock for overnight marinating.
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[Soft boiled eggs marinating in shoyu braising liquid for atijama.](https://preview.redd.it/io7caiwyhljc1.jpg?width=2228&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d775fbe1d18cd5b69acbf2ba191dedcf3373d711)
My chashu was done, the atijama were marinating so it was almost done. For my broth, I had reached the 9 hour mark and was happy with where it was at. I removed all bones. There was plenty of meat in the broth and at this point, if I wanted a "white" broth I would have emulsified. But, because that wasn't what I was going for, I gave the meat a vigorous shake as I removed it from the broth. I then proceeded to strain the broth a couple times to remove any remaining meat and of tissue. At this point, I transferred the broth to a second pot that was sitting in my sink which was filled with water and ice. Through my research I had come across a recipe that stated you should try to cool your broth as quick as possible to keep it from darkening. A slow cool allows bacteria to develop which creates the darkening effect and can even affect the flavor. I wasn't chancing it. After 15-20 minutes in the ice bath, the pot of broth was cooled to satisfaction. I packaged it up and threw it in the fridge to further cool and rest overnight.
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[Final yield was 2.5 quarts of broth from 3lbs of neck bones and 2.5lbs chicken legs.](https://preview.redd.it/cx96qm5vjljc1.jpg?width=2523&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ce6185d19b8ae0f70738337a6816e7b6c4f401df)
With the broth, chashu and atijama packaged up and in the fridge I finally started the tare. The tare had been cold-steeping for approx. 9 hours when I added it to a saucepan with light shoyu, mirin and sake. The final yield was aprrox. 2 cups (sorry, no photo).
At this point, I was happy with where I was at. I felt like I was maybe missing something (more on that later) but also somewhat confident with what I had. By then, it was already evening and I was ready to chill.
The following day, I make my way over to my friend's place. Funny enough, I took a rideshare over and my driver commented "oh, bringing some goodies?" Remarking on the
Iekei Ramen - An Attempt at Yokohama-style Ramen
I recently made ramen and thought I would share the experience here. It's a bit long so thank you for taking the time to read my post. I appreciate any comments or suggestions for future ramen making, thanks!!
https://preview.redd.it/krllnfdvpljc1.jpg?width=2560&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=08cd4008d96d154058dcee490fe4bd8005f54717
I've always enjoyed a good bowl of ramen but it wasn't until I visited Japan in 2016 that I gained a real appreciation to the nuance and art of ramen making. I was fortunate enough to try ramen in different locations and gain an understanding of the regional variations associated with the dish; Tokyo, Matsumoto, Itoigawa and Toyama to name a few. In each location there was always some variation of the noodle, broth or chashu but ultimately they were all ramen and all delicious.
Living in Chicago, ramen has really gained traction in the past 4 to 5 years and I've always been able to satisfy my ramen cravings but now with more options. I won't get into my favorite spots or a debate about who has the best ramen but some restaurants in the area are definitely better than others. So at a recent visit to Ramen Wasabi, I snapped a couple pics of my bowl of ramen and shared it with one of my best friends and his wife. This being the couple who invited me out to Japan with my buddy's wife originally being from Yokohama. I think any time have ramen I tend to reminisce of that trip to Japan and knowing that my friend's wife equally loves ramen and probably misses some of those local spots she may have frequented in the past (they both live in Chicago as well), I like to share pics of any particularly good bowls of ramen with them.
Typically I'll get together with my friend and his wife once every 1.5 to 2 months and it usually involves hanging out, having drinks and cooking together. I love cooking and particularly cooking for friends and family so I always try and bring a dish or something to prepare when we hang out (along with a good bottle of wine or 2). In response to the recent pic I had shared of the bowl of ramen, my friend's wife responded a few days later by posing the question, "Can you make ramen?" There was a bit of hesitation on my part but my response was initially "Eto...eto..." followed by "I'm the Iron Chef, remember?!" (which is an inside joke and probably speaks more to my willingness to try and make new and different dishes rather than my actual cooking abilities). I asked when and and she responded "Saturday?" to which I agreed, this conversation was on a Wednesday. Lastly, I asked "Tonkatsu?" and she responded "I don't like the white soup, can you do Iekei Tonkatsu Shoyu?" and I responded "Sure!"
We had set a time and date and the clock was now ticking. I had a few days to come up with a ramen whose style I don't think I've had, never made proper ramen from scratch before and I was cooking for friends including my best friend's wife and her friend, both from Japan (plus the Iron Chef title was on the line). No pressure!
Thank goodness for the internet! I was already familiar with some of the ramen making process as it's something I had been wanting to try for some time. The broth making, the chashu braising, all familiar concepts. Iekei style, this was new to me. There was a crash course on any and every recipe, video and photo I could find online. I found a couple more in-depth article on the subject and gained a basic understanding. Somewhere along the way, the style was developed in Yokohama as a hybrid of styles including Tonkatsu and Tori Shoyu. Basically a pork and chicken based ramen broth. Which makes sense how this broth would be less "white" but still have some of that pork richness to it. In my research, I found the chashu was pretty standard with the tare utilizing a lighter shoyu. I had my concept and I knew what ingredients I needed and where I could get them get them. Game on!
In order to find all the ingredients I need I decided on two different stores, both located in Chicago's West Loop area (close to my
Woke Up Craving Jjajang Ramen
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Nakiryu (Tokyo) - Tantanmen
https://redd.it/1auqw8d
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4xSpicy Vietnamese Instant Ramen - When Buldak x2 and x3 is not enough!
https://redd.it/1aukeju
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Spur of the moment Ramen toppings
Recently I've been getting myself more into the topic of making Ramen. I don't make my own noodles and I feel too anxious about burning the house down for a 24 hour simmer, so I buy pre-made noodles and pre-made broth to cut down hours of preparation. Because I have issues following my own meal plans, I usually decide in the moment what I want to eat. This makes choosing my Ramen toppings a nightmare. I've tried Joshua Weissman's beef ramen and it's alright, but I can't buy beef in rations that allow me to toss the pack right after and I can't talk to people so going to a butcher is off the table for me. Chicken takes a while to marinade, and I'd like something faster. I don't like pork, so this is off the table as well. What I've been thinking of for half an hour now is salmon as well as sashimi style salmon. It sounds quite ridiculous and go ogling it I found barely any results that ease my fear of becoming a nightmare TikTok chef. I'd like your opinions on this as well as suggestions for a faster preparation of my Ramen bowls!
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Ichiran with homemade chashu
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Extruding 34% hydration noodles for the week
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Trying egg in ramen for the first time, any tips on how to cook it?
I'm gonna be trying an egg in ramen and I need to know the best way of going about this, a little afraid of eating raw or undercooked eggs so I wanna get over that fear as I know US eggs are pretty much safe. For the record I wanna crack the egg in the ramen.
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Buldak Curry Ramen w/ BBQ Roasted Pork Ribs
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Ramen Broth......what are the different flavor profiles....for a dummy?
After 40+ years of loving instant ramen (shout out to indo mie BBQ chicken flavor), a year ago i decided that it would behoove me to go out and actually try some 'real' ramen.
I've had restaurant ramen 5 times or so, and I've always ordered Tonkotsu. And its wonderful. But i see there's Shoyu, Shio, Miso broths as well. Are these basically Tonkotsu broth with Soy sauce, salt or miso added? Or are they a whole different broth?
I'm looking for something a little saltier than Tonkotsu. Or.....a way to make Tonkotsu a little saltier.
Really, id love to try them all in some sort of sampler to decide which i like best.
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box of ingredients I had with me. I tell him I was going to hang out with friends and make ramen for them. He exclaims, "oh, I love ramen!" He goes on to tell me how he had lived in Tokyo for 10 years and ate ramen every day!?! Coincidence, hahaha?! Anyways, we're hanging out, chatting and start warming everything up. Broth in the stock pot, boil water for the noodles and slice the chashu to throw under the broiler for a bit of char. One of my apprehensions for this dish was the noodles. I went with store-bought, fresh noodles and knew this would be somethings out of my control. I've made pasta before and knew I could attempt to make noodles but considering the short notice I decided with just buys them The noodles, I feel were just ok.
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[Store bought noodles. Okay, not the best.](https://preview.redd.it/4p94vfujmljc1.jpg?width=2560&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=70a9d940406f487c5cc88402acba5dec532460f6)
At this point, the ramen bowls were ready to be put together. Rather than do it myself, I though it'd be more fun if my friend's wife and her friend out the bowls together. They've surely had more ramen than myself and I wanted the cooking experience to be more interactive. Broth, tare, noodle, chashu, nori, green onion and atijama. Aroma oil? NO AROMA OIL! Hahaha. A major oversight. Through it all I never made a negi abura or aroma oil. That last, crucial component to a well rounded bowl of ramen.
Nonetheless, the ramen was served up and everyone enjoyed. The broth was rich and satisfying. The tare an umami bomb. The chashu was tender and flavorful. The atijama were nice and jammy in the middle and well flavored. The noodles, eh, were ok. They served their purpose. Everyone was happy with the ramen as well as I, mostly (I'm my own harshest critic). I knew there was something missing though everyone was complimentary of the final result.
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https://preview.redd.it/kwg9vfukoljc1.jpg?width=2560&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=da5bffecba600747cce9a555afaab15849834f05
All in all, it was a great experience making this ramen and would definitely do it again. There is room for improvement and I already have ideas for some small tweaks to bring it up a notch. An aroma oil is a must for the next iteration. I also think the next time I will make my own noodles as I should be more prepared and have at least an extra day or two to work on the dish.
Again, thanks for reading my post!
​
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office); H Mart and Peoria Meat Packing (PMP). H Mart I'm sure most are familiar with while Peoria Meat Packing not so much. PMP is a bit old-school, no frills, meat distributer that has a retail storefront. I had been there many times in the past and I knew I could get some of those ingredients for the broth and chashu; neck bones, trotters, belly, etc. PMP was my first stop, during my lunch break so I didn't have a lot of time (haha), and I could check a few items off my shopping list. Sure enough, most of your pork bone and broth making ingredients were available. During my research, I had read that some prefer neck bones to trotters as they produce a less gamey broth so that's what I decided on. For the chicken, I decided to go with chicken legs. They're inexpensive and have some of the largest bones in the chicken's body so I figured they'd be ideal for broth-making. For the chashu, the selections were not as ideal. They had pork belly but they were these huge slabs that were bone-in. They also had pork shoulder but those were also huge and bone-in. For the sake of saving time from breaking down these cuts and potentially wasting some of the meat I settled on pork butt. The nice thing about PMP is that the meats are laid out on tables and sectioned in what is essentially a store-sized, walk-in freezer. I found a decent piece with good marbling that I was satisfied with and completed my shopping there. That week in Chicago, the weather was hovering right around 0° so I left the meats in my car's trunk with no worries. For all my other ingredients, I went to H Mart after work; kombu, dried anchovy, shoyu, etc. I had all my ingredients and was ready to start making ramen!
I decided I would make my broth, chashu, atijama and tare on Friday, the day before it was was to be served. I have flexibility with my job that I can work from home so this would allow me to work and prepare everything and the same time. The evening prior, Thursday night, I soaked the neck bones and chicken legs in water to extract as much remaining blood as possible. That Friday morning, the soaking water was a crimson red and had extracted the blood as intended, which reduced the amount scum that needed to be skimmed off while boiling the bones. I had also set out some of other ingredients that would later be added when I was ready to reduce the broth.
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[Neck bones, chicken legs, kombu, bonito flakes and dried shiitake mushrooms.](https://preview.redd.it/eve4k568cljc1.jpg?width=2417&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dc1595a907be4fb0a10b14a084baf62ed52271d3)
After beginning my ramen broth I wanted to start the tare. I decided to begin with a cold steep and figured I could finish the tare later in the evening, some 8-9 hours later.
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[Cold steep of dried shiitake, kombu, bonito flakes and dried anchovies.](https://preview.redd.it/as8e59ypeljc1.jpg?width=2003&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e3c5a0c0b50e25d1a695801be109f7cfc7fb44d7)
For approx. 3 hours I let the bones boil, refilling the stock pot to the original fill line as it reduced over time.
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[After 3 hours in, I added Kombu, shiitake mushroom and green onion.](https://preview.redd.it/rbr25lbpcljc1.jpg?width=2099&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2bc31d97a0dd10e9349861e40185942a12c4464d)
At this point, I was ready to begin making the chashu. I know there are many different processes to achieve this but I decided to go with the liquid braising (twice) method. Particularly because of the cut of meat I was using, pork butt. This cut had good marbling, so I wasn't worried about losing too much fat, but is still a tougher cut so I figured this was the best approach.
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[Pork butt braising in water with garlic cloves, onion, kombu and green onion.](https://preview.redd.it/xtr49mfidljc1.jpg?width=1950&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=adb555cccbf3c558d7ded38516292039cb186592)
The chashu braised for approx. 1.5 hours, while I turned the meat every 15-20 minutes.
​
[Approx. 4.5 hour mark on the broth and 1.5 hours in on the
Iekei Ramen - An Attempt at Yokohama-style Ramen
I recently made ramen and thought I would share the experience here. It's a bit long so thank you for taking the time to read my post. I appreciate any comments or suggestions for future ramen making, thanks!!
https://preview.redd.it/krllnfdvpljc1.jpg?width=2560&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=08cd4008d96d154058dcee490fe4bd8005f54717
I've always enjoyed a good bowl of ramen but it wasn't until I visited Japan in 2016 that I gained a real appreciation to the nuance and art of ramen making. I was fortunate enough to try ramen in different locations and gain an understanding of the regional variations associated with the dish; Tokyo, Matsumoto, Itoigawa and Toyama to name a few. In each location there was always some variation of the noodle, broth or chashu but ultimately they were all ramen and all delicious.
Living in Chicago, ramen has really gained traction in the past 4 to 5 years and I've always been able to satisfy my ramen cravings but now with more options. I won't get into my favorite spots or a debate about who has the best ramen but some restaurants in the area are definitely better than others. So at a recent visit to Ramen Wasabi, I snapped a couple pics of my bowl of ramen and shared it with one of my best friends and his wife. This being the couple who invited me out to Japan with my buddy's wife originally being from Yokohama. I think any time have ramen I tend to reminisce of that trip to Japan and knowing that my friend's wife equally loves ramen and probably misses some of those local spots she may have frequented in the past (they both live in Chicago as well), I like to share pics of any particularly good bowls of ramen with them.
Typically I'll get together with my friend and his wife once every 1.5 to 2 months and it usually involves hanging out, having drinks and cooking together. I love cooking and particularly cooking for friends and family so I always try and bring a dish or something to prepare when we hang out (along with a good bottle of wine or 2). In response to the recent pic I had shared of the bowl of ramen, my friend's wife responded a few days later by posing the question, "Can you make ramen?" There was a bit of hesitation on my part but my response was initially "Eto...eto..." followed by "I'm the Iron Chef, remember?!" (which is an inside joke and probably speaks more to my willingness to try and make new and different dishes rather than my actual cooking abilities). I asked when and and she responded "Saturday?" to which I agreed, this conversation was on a Wednesday. Lastly, I asked "Tonkatsu?" and she responded "I don't like the white soup, can you do Iekei Tonkatsu Shoyu?" and I responded "Sure!"
We had set a time and date and the clock was now ticking. I had a few days to come up with a ramen whose style I don't think I've had, never made proper ramen from scratch before and I was cooking for friends including my best friend's wife and her friend, both from Japan (plus the Iron Chef title was on the line). No pressure!
Thank goodness for the internet! I was already familiar with some of the ramen making process as it's something I had been wanting to try for some time. The broth making, the chashu braising, all familiar concepts. Iekei style, this was new to me. There was a crash course on any and every recipe, video and photo I could find online. I found a couple more in-depth article on the subject and gained a basic understanding. Somewhere along the way, the style was developed in Yokohama as a hybrid of styles including Tonkatsu and Tori Shoyu. Basically a pork and chicken based ramen broth. Which makes sense how this broth would be less "white" but still have some of that pork richness to it. In my research, I found the chashu was pretty standard with the tare utilizing a lighter shoyu. I had my concept and I knew what ingredients I needed and where I could get them get them. Game on!
In order to find all the ingredients I need I decided on two different stores, both located in Chicago's West Loop area (close to my
Manichi Ramen (Honolulu) - Basil Ramen
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Shoyu double soup w RL’s new wave chicken chintan 🙏
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Finally made a Tonkotsu that was tasty ❤️
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Strategies for eating ramen REALLY fast?
My favorite ramen joint (Umaido) offers a food challenge where you need to eat a bowl of ramen under 7 minutes. And oh yeah it's super spicy, what they call spice level 100. It's made with Carolina reaper, ghost, scorpion, and other peppers.
Does anyone have any ideas on how I should tackle this challenge? I'm thinking eat the noodles first, chug the broth, and then deal with the other toppings
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Shiro Ramen - What’s Up Men (Fullerton, CA)
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Confit Duck Ramen. Homemade Menma, Marinated eggs & Chicken/Dashi Broth. Apart from the oversized portions, it tasted great.
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