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Ramen

Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 9:03 pm
by jbart65
I've been seeing this everywhere lately, so I researched it, made the broth on Sunday and served tonite for dinner.

Use chicken since my wife doesn''t care much for pork, bacon aside. Came out well.

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Re: Ramen

Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 9:09 pm
by gastro gnome
Looks great Jeffry! What kind of broth recipe did you use?

I did a ramen project with a friend. He made the broth and it was good but not quite great. I made the noodles and we all agreed that for a little extra effort, the homemade noodles made a big difference.

Edit, not to imply I did my job any better. The broth was a much bigger undertaking and took way more work than what I did. I imagine there is also a bigger learning curve for the broth than for the noodles.

Re: Ramen

Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 9:15 pm
by jbart65
I use a cross of three recipes, Mike, one from Serious Eats and two others from food bloggers. Spent way too much time researching the broth! I did roast the chicken first for richer flavor.

I think it came out well. Like jello when chilled. But I'll have to hit a few really good local ramen places to know for sure.

Got some really good dried noodles from a local Asian store since I couldn't find fresh. Ive got a recipe for making my own and next time I will.

Re: Ramen

Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 9:17 pm
by Kalaeb
Very nice. Been wanting to try some out myself, if only there were more hours in the day.

Re: Ramen

Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 10:04 pm
by gastro gnome
From everything I read, a proper alkaline solution is essential for getting the toothiness of the noodles. I used potassium carbonate. The recipe only calls for a tablespoon or two and now the nearly-full bottle lives in my pantry, staring at me until I make ramen noodles again.

If I were to make stock myself these days, I would strongly consider using a pressure cooker.

Re: Ramen

Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 11:00 pm
by Cutuu
I love some good ramen! Looks great jbart

Re: Ramen

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 12:00 am
by MisoSatisfried
Oh man, I love a good bowl of ramen! I've been wanting to try it myself for years; I just never have the time to try and knock out a solid broth. Well done Jeffry!

Re: Ramen

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 12:15 am
by Lepus
You cannot possibly spend too much time working on ramen or pho broth. Pretty eggs and nice color. Makes me want real ramen.

Re: Ramen

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 9:44 am
by jbart65
Thanks all. The hardest part was all the time spent on research and, to a lesser extent, getting certain ingredients. I wanted to buy fresh noodles, for instance, but my usual Asian haunts were out.

Since chicken is not the protein for classic ramen I also had to spend more time assembling a game plan.

Active time wasn’t so bad, maybe 1 ½-2 hours. I’ve been making chicken broth for years, even more regularly since I got a honesuki. And I’ve also made classic pho broth. I’ve got the broth-making process down pat, especially cleanup.

There are a lot of choices involved. Cut of protein. Roast meat and aromatics? Pre boil and dump? Light or dark color? Marinated or just soft-boiled eggs? Just have to make the choices and not look back.

Toppings, by the way, are: chicken poached in the ramen broth, scallions, serrano chiles, fried shallots, pan-seared shiitakes, parboiled and julienned carrots and snow peas, and bean sprouts (not shown).

For the eggs, Kenji Lopez-Alt has a nice trick. Bring the water to a boil, add the eggs, and drop in a handful of ice cubes. Helps keep the yolk moist and runny while the white cooks.

On pressure cookers: Kenji has written endlessly about ramen, Mike, and he found they were less effective at extraction for ramen-style broth.

Stovetop cooking was fine. Kids at college, wife sick and in bed. Rainy weekend. I just got the broth started early morn and let it cook all day.

Gonna make a classic pork-based version in the summer when my son comes home from college. Make my own noodles too. Story to continue … (-:

Re: Ramen

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 10:26 am
by slobound
Man, that looks amazing! I love me some ramen.

Re: Ramen

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 11:19 am
by Bensbites
Is there something wrong with me that all the Raman prep just sounds fun?

Re: Ramen

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 11:44 am
by salemj
Is "Tampopo" the film I'm thinking of????

Re: Ramen

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 11:56 am
by jbart65
Bensbites wrote: Tue Feb 13, 2018 11:19 am Is there something wrong with me that all the Raman prep just sounds fun?
Well, I certainly had fun, Ben. I put the Yoshi bunka through the paces before I boxed it up.

I've also got some nice broth to freeze. I'll get two more ramen dinners for my wife and I out of it.

Re: Ramen

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 1:15 pm
by Puduu
Looks awesome! I love good ramen.

Your eggs look perfect. My family thinks I'm weird when I sit there, stirring the eggs for two minutes to keep the yokes centred and then dump them into a bath of ice water to halt the cooking process. Have you tried shoyu marinated eggs? Adds a nice flavour to ramen.

I will often use pork shoulder, rendered a bit in a pressure cooker and then marinated and grilled to produce my ghetto version of chashu.

Re: Ramen

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 10:23 pm
by Ut_ron
Do miss ramen. Hard to find good here in Utah. But Jeffery that looks outstanding.

Re: Ramen

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 10:30 pm
by Kalaeb
One of the better ramen places here in Baltimore closed down a while back, have not tried anything since.
@Ut_ron, check out Tosh's Ramen, just north of 13th south on State St. Bit of a dive but worth it if you are down that way.

Re: Ramen

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 11:25 pm
by Cutuu
The best ramen i had was in Austin, damn do i miss that place. There is a decent place, but not like Austin.

Re: Ramen

Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 12:29 am
by Ourorboros
Ut_ron wrote: Tue Feb 13, 2018 10:23 pm Do miss ramen. Hard to find good here in Utah. But Jeffery that looks outstanding.
On YouTube, Alex French Guy Cooking just did a series on making ramen noodles, broth, and flavorings. Interesting to watch if nothing else.

Re: Ramen

Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 10:57 am
by Ut_ron
Ourorboros wrote: Wed Feb 14, 2018 12:29 am
Ut_ron wrote: Tue Feb 13, 2018 10:23 pm Do miss ramen. Hard to find good here in Utah. But Jeffery that looks outstanding.
On YouTube, Alex French Guy Cooking just did a series on making ramen noodles, broth, and flavorings. Interesting to watch if nothing else.
Thanks will check it out.

Re: Ramen

Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 1:46 pm
by MisoSatisfried
jbart65 wrote: Tue Feb 13, 2018 9:44 am
For the eggs, Kenji Lopez-Alt has a nice trick. Bring the water to a boil, add the eggs, and drop in a handful of ice cubes. Helps keep the yolk moist and runny while the white cooks.
Slick idea. The egg looks perfect, nice work!