Ramen - My Journey

[SheilaAnn]

So this is my first attempt at ramen. Talk about a labor of love! Kinda like BBQ 💕

https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-make-perfect-tonkotsu-ramen-food-lab-redux

Most of the ingredients. Not shown, the bones.


Recipe called for chicken backs, I had some feet, so used them. Used pork bones and one trotter.

Charring up the aromatics.


Pork belly tied. Since all I had was two strips instead of one whole piece, I could not tie tight enough.



Post braise. The braising liquid is delicious!



Halfway through a 10-hour simmer.



Eggs! PITA!!! Only two survived peeling. Marinated in the pork belly braising liquid.



Next day after cooling down. Thick like cold gravy. 🙌🏼



Sliced belly ready to broil. Brushed with braising liquid while broiling. Wish I had a slicer…. these were thick!



Service.



what did we learn? Broth not seasoned as much as I would have liked. Cook the eggs for 7 minutes, not 6. Don’t use mushrooms that further water down the broth. Choose the proper kombu, it took almost two hours to soften it.

[DTro]

Looks great!

[FireMan]

Wow, quite the journey!

[SheilaAnn]

It was two days!

[tstalafuse]

So, I am guessing my survival in college on a package of 25 cent ramen noodles mixed with a can of soup/mixed veggies isn't gonna compare...? Your bowl looks amazing!

[mnavarre]

Looks good, mostly. You don't mention a tare at all, the tare and an aromatic oil are what seasons your broth. For the eggs, I like 6:15 and then straight into the ice bath. Fresh eggs matter here, kinda, at least they usually seem to peel better than older eggs. Mostly. Sometimes.

If you really want to geek out on ramen making, Ramen__Lord on reddit has got you covered. And if you just want to hit the easy button this tonkatsu base Link and some noodles are handy things to have on hand.

[SheilaAnn]

mnavarre I just read the table of contents from ramen lord. 😳😳🤓🤓

Whoa!

[mnavarre]

It truly is the finest sort of OCD geekery. You can learn something from that book even if you're just trying to doctor up a bowl of instant ramen.

[SheilaAnn]

This ebook is amazing!

[Jerod Broussard]

Wow!! That is off the chain.

I buy a bag of Ramen noodles at the store, typically pork flavored, put some Tony's on top the seasoning whilst the noodles cook just enough to get soft, add a boiled egg (peeled by someone or something else)...and manger.

[ecowper]

I am betting yours is better, although when i want Ramen in 7 minutes …

[ecowper]

But now I want to follow your journey

[SheilaAnn]

That’s BF’s favorite instant!

[ecowper]

SheilaAnn for instant package, it’s darn good. Throw some pork belly in and you will almost think you are getting the home made deal

[TripleB]

Beautiful. Kudos. Good Ramen takes effort. Delicious, but a lot of work. Yours looks tremendous. Would you make it again? Glad I made it once.

[SheilaAnn]

See above ^^^

[Spinaker]

Really cool. This is what this place is all about. I love seeing stuff like this.

Great work, my friend!

[Old Glory]

Looks fantastic. Labor of love. I once made miso soup from scratch. $60 of ingredients and lots of work. Glad I did it but easier to get a cup at a take out joint for $1.50.

[ecowper]

Went back and re-read the post. SheilaAnn …. Dat broth! Thick bone broth jelly!!!!!! I could taste that picture. Just beautiful.

[SheilaAnn]

I make chicken broth/stock all the time. I add chicken feet to really bump up the gelatin/collagen. It’s so good, your lips stick together!

Of course, I have since learned about tare and how I will fix it for next time.

[gcdmd]

OUTSTANDING!

[barelfly]

What a great post. With the holiday coming up, I have vacation and this will be a meal I dive into. So thank you for sharing. i also have done the soft boiled eggs for a meal, perhaps it was ramen at one time but man, it wasn’t worth it. So will have to look for fresh eggs.

and, mnavarre seems to have all the links for some fun cooks! Birria and now ramen

SheilaAnn , hope you enjoyed your ramen and thanks again for sharing!

[JCBBQ]

Good for you!! Looks incredible. I’ve thought about making the broth from scratch but I’m too lazy so I just get Sun Ramen and add my own meat eggs etc. Mostly it’s a vehicle for leftovers in our house.

[hoovarmin]

Kudos on a job well done. Craving activated!