I’ve been promising this post for so long… thankfully, I’ve been taking careful cooking notes whenever I cook, so though it’s been a while since I made any of these dishes, I have my notes! Woohoo!
My first couple of attempts at making ramen at home resulted in overcooked eggs. While the flavor results were good in terms of the marinade I used for the egg, that yolk is sad and not at all what I wanted. However, I also topped with soy glazed hot dogs, and I was pleased with that.
As you can see, however, practice makes perfect. My dream egg.
My udon attempts don’t include eggs. I was working on my soy glazing items, the last photo using pork belly that I bought in chunks…
The methods, piecemeal, then a complete explanation of how I assemble each bowl.
Egg:
Bring water to a boil, then lower to a simmer.
Use a slotted spoon and lower eggs into water.
Time 5 minutes.
Empty sauce pan and run a little cold water into it. Then run warm water over eggs as you peel them.
Drop peeled eggs into a soy sauce/mirin mixture, about 50/50.
Reserve the marinade!
Soy glazed hot dogs or sliced pork belly (in early photos; leftover from shabu shabu/hot pot at home):
Add reserved marinade from the egg to a pot along with brown sugar.
Simmer meat in mixture until cooked through and glaze reduces/thickens a little, becoming syrupy and coating meat.
Spicy garlic paste:
Minced garlic
Sriracha
Sesame Oil
Mix. End result should be kind of thick. Refrigerate so it congeals; scoop into a small ball to plop on top of ramen later.
Each bowl of ramen contains a decent amount of Napa cabbage on the bottom for the ramen to rest on.
Generally, after I was done soy glazing my meats, I would remove them from the pot and set aside, then add water directly to thin the glaze for broth. I quickly blanch the cabbage in there, then put in the bottom of my bowl. I cook the ramen – I used bricks of instant ramen for ease, but I’ve been keeping an eye out for a brand that Hungry told me she uses – then put that on top of the cabbage. Blanch frozen corn niblets, put on top, and do that with all the remaining vegetables I want to put on top. Drop the meat into the broth really quickly just to reheat, and then put it on top, slice the egg, put it on top, ladle some broth on the noodles, add scallions, then add the spicy garlic oil/paste.
Then I eat it and blissfully enjoy… It sounds really complicated, I guess, but if you plot out the path you want to make everything, it’s actually pretty quick and easy. I try to make the egg the morning I want to eat the ramen, but I’ve done as little as an hour in the marinade and it’s still good. Once you get going, though, it’s pretty easy.
I didn’t include the recipe for the last photo’s braised pork belly because I don’t like how it turned out. The pork tenderloin slices you see are just from a tenderloin I’d roasted – the recipe was posted here.
I am, however, satisfied that I’ve perfected the egg, and will continue to make ramen as the mood strikes me! Those eggs were so good – the white fully cooked, and the yolk not raw, but heated to the point it’d become thick, creamy, delicious… but not fully cooked by any stretch of the imagination. DELICIOUS.
What toppings do you like on your ramen? What would you like to see me top my ramen with next? I need new ideas!
Happy eating! 🙂
CheeeeEEEEse says
That looks soooo tasty, especially the pork belly and for some reason the corn. I miss good corn. The Jersey kind that you can’t get in the winter…
You thin the glaze into the broth? That part threw me for a loop.
I also like, scallions and bean sprouts in my noodle soups. When doing an egg, I just crack and drop that sucker into the pot when the noodles have a couple minutes left. You can either use chopsticks to break it up ala scrambled, or leave it whole to nibble on as you go.
Feisty Foodie says
I love corn… Jersey corn is so good…
Yes – the glaze is mostly reduced soy sauce, so it becomes the base for the broth. I don’t like using the packets because they can be too salty and not very complex in terms of flavor. I guess it’s a little weird to start with it as marinade, reduce it to glaze, then thin it back to broth…
I only put the noodles in for a minute, minute and a half, so with your instructions, the egg would go in before the noodles 😉 I love runny yolk too much to say I’ll try your way – maybe one day when I’m hungry and haven’t done an egg at all and just want to eat…
CheeeeEEEEse says
Oh yeah, I had forgotten that you’re the shoyu broth girl. 😛
I’ve never cooked noodles that little. Even at a hard hard boil they’re in there for 2-3 minutes and still a little bit al-dente.
Feisty Foodie says
I’m a shio girl!
Hmm, I take them out almost as soon as they soften. Bear in mind that I’ve been cooking the broth for a while, so it might be at a higher temp than water that just boiled (if that makes sense), and it’s not just water. Also, because I ladle more broth on top, and I don’t eat very hot food very fast, they tend to continue cooking a bit while I’m eating, so I have to err on the harder side lest I eat a bowl of mush (this is something I couldn’t figure out as a kid, why my instant noodles were never very good… haha).
CheeeeEEEEse says
Damn. Stupid broth memory.
Stephanie says
There are no ramen shops out here so I may have to use your recipe and tips! I love miso, butter, bamboo shoots, and (Asian) mushrooms!
Feisty Foodie says
The butter has always weirded me out when I see it on menus. Does that leave a filmy feel to the noodles? Ah, I forgot I have tubs of miso in the fridge – next time, I’ll be using miso! Bamboo shoots from a can? I’ll have to look for those at the store. Maybe the slightly spicy ones!
The 2nd photo actually has Shiitake mushrooms in it, but they’re sort of hidden, haha. 🙂 Thanks for the suggestions! I’ll give those a try…
Stephanie says
I normally chose miso so the butter makes the miso broth creamy. I don’t recall it ever leaving a film on the noodles or anything though? I’ll have to check for that next time. (Probably end of this month.)
Yes, baby bamboo shoots from the can work! I also like water chestnuts too. =)
donuts4dinner says
I never thought I’d say this to a women, but . . . your eggs are really beautiful.
Feisty Foodie says
Why thank you… thank you very much 🙂
Dessert Zombie says
It looks like I’d be happier eating the above bowls than Momofuku. SOLD. 😛
Feisty Foodie says
Maybe I’ll make this instead of pasta 😛
Dessert Zombie says
Fine with me.
Or BOTH. Lolol.
sherm says
Maybe I missed it, but what are you doing for broth? Looks delicious BTW, better than a lot of Ramen places…
Feisty Foodie says
I add water to the glaze after removing the meat from it – it makes a very savory broth, with the brown sugar adding a bit of sweetness. Thank you for the compliment 🙂
Ttrockwood says
Definatly make a miso broth version….i’m in the udon noodle camp myself. I always love the toppings from pho so i use bean sprouts and fresh cilantro, usually pressed soy tofu since i’m veg, the kind you get in the refrigerator section at the chinatown supermarkets.
I love your recipe posts and the glimpse into non restaurant food you make and eat
Feisty Foodie says
Will definitely give miso a shot – thanks! Cilantro sounds like a great suggestion too, I love cilantro… yum!
Ah, then you must love my “What I’ve been eating” posts, eh? 🙂
hungry says
I freeze my miso and it lasts forever. Don’t even need to defrost to use it. Just take a spoonful from the frozen block. It stays soft like ice cream.
I like to use the base of instant dashi for my broth. I like that fish and seaweed base flavor.
Feisty Foodie says
I don’t freeze my miso and it lasts forever 😉
I usually have dashi on hand- I used to frequently make myself miso udon, using miso and dashi for umami-ness. But now that I’ve been doing the egg, I do my marinade-to-broth which ties everything together, though occasionally it’s a little too sweet for me.