Ramen
“Everyone says ramen is rigid. That it has to be one exact thing. It isn’t and it doesn’t. The most important thing is that you make it delicious.”
– David Chang
This bowl of ramen takes 22 hours to make in a home kitchen. Fair warning. Is it worth it? Yes. Should you make it once a month. No.
There are many more qualified than myself to tell you which ramen to make or how to construct it. I like this particular bowl. It’s delicious and a lot of fun to make. It’s also a lot of work but that makes it so much better when you’re done.
This recipe is from David Chang and Peter Meehan’s cookbook “Momofuku: A Cook Book”.
I highly recommend watching the video we made for this. The recipe is clearly intended to be executed by someone who has a commercial kitchen running regularly. In the video, I divided all of this cooking into two days and its helpful to follow the order I established. There are also half measure version of ramen in there that I find very delicious with about 5% of the work. Maybe less.
Momofuku Ramen
Credits: David Chang // Momofuku
Total Time: 22 Hours
Servings: Approx 10 Servings
The ingredients/recipes for each contributing item are listed below this portion of the instructions. The top portion is for the finished bowl and the components all follow. Feel free to swap any of these ingredients as you see fit. Use boxed noodles. Buy pulled pork from the store. Use a bowl of $0.99 ramen as the base. Just make it taste good
Ingredients
2 Cups Ramen Broth
5-6 oz fresh ramen noodles
2-3 slices of pork belly
½ c pork shoulder
2 three-by-three inch sheets of nori
¼ thinly sliced scallions
2 thinly slices store-bought fish cakes
¼ fresh peas
Equipment Needed:
Stand Mixer
Large Stock Pot
Baking Sheets
Pasta roller & spaghetti cutter
Method
Prepare all of the required ingredients, broth hot, meats cooked, eggs poached, nori and scallions sliced
Add the noodles to a pot of salted water. Boil for 5 minutes (6 if frozen) they should be tender but toothsome
Drain the noodles and place in a large ramen bowl
Ladle the broth into the bowl
Dress the bowl with both meats, peas, fish cake, scallions and carefully place the egg into the bowl
Tuck two sheets of nori into the side of the bowl, ⅓ submerged in the broth
Serve hot
Ramen Broth
Time: 10 Hours
Ingredients
2 three-by-six inch pieces of konbu, rinsed
6 qt water
2 c dried shiitake, rinsed
4 lbs chicken pieces (back, thighs, wings, drums)
5 lbs pork bones
1 lbs smokey bacon (Benton’s recommended)
1 bunch scallions
1 medium onion
2 large carrots
Taré (can sub for soy sauce, kosher salt and mirin)
Method
Rinse the konbu under running water and combine it with the water in a large stock pot. Bring the water to a simmer over high heat and turn off the heat
Steep for 10 minutes
Remove the konbu and add the rinsed shiitake mushrooms
Turn the heat back up to high and return to a boil
Turn the heat back down to a simmer and simmer for 30 minutes
Preheat your oven to 400°F (205°C)
Remove the mushrooms from the pot and discard
Add the chicken and keep the water at a lazy simmer for 1 hour, a bubble will break the surface from time to time
While the chicken is simmering placed the pork bones on a baking sheet and into the oven, turn once at 30 minutes
Skim any scum from the surface and add water to keep the chicken submerged
Test the chicken after 1 hour, it should pull from the bone easily
Remove chicken from the pot, can be served on its own with some salt to season, this will not be in the final dish
Add the roasted bones and bacon to the pot, the bacon will be in the broth for only 45 minutes
Remove the bacon at 45 minutes
Continue at a lazy simmer for 6-7 hours or however long you have time for, skim the scum from the top and add water to keep everything covered, stop adding water at hour 5
In the last 45 minutes of the simmer, add the scallions, onions and carrots—all rough chopped
After 45 minutes your simmer is done remove all the bones and vegetables with a spider or slotted spoon
Pass the finished broth through a fine mesh sieve lined with a few pieces of cheese cloth
Season with taré to taste, should be on the verge of too salty, but not quite, VERY seasoned
Taré
Back to the top ↑
Time: 45 Minutes
Servings: Approx 5+ quarts
This is my only deviation from the cookbook. This is just what I keep on-hand in my kitchen. The book has a different recipe, altogether. This portion can also be substituted for kosher salt, mirin and soy sauce.
Ingredients
1 c soy sauce
1 c apple cider vinegar
½ c sherry vinegar
4 cloves garlic
2” knob of ginger
6 scallions
¼ c brown sugar
Method
Rough chop the ginger and scallions
Peal and rough chop the garlic
Add all the ingredients to a medium sauce pan and whisk together
Bring to a boil
Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, it will reduce slightly and thicken
Strain through a fine mesh sieve and store in hot sauce bottles or left over soy sauce bottles
Fresh Noodles
Time: 45 Minutes
Servings: 10 6 oz portions
Chang, himself, says to skip this part. Just buy fresh noodles from an asian market or go with boxed. I don’t mind making them because everything else take so much time I tend to cook them in between other items finishing.
The sodium carbonate and potassium carbonate are common food additives. The sodium carbonate can be made at home using baking soda. Its the same process we used on the pretzel episode. Use gloves and a mask when handling the salts.
This method also uses a pasta roller and spaghetti cutter. If you don’t have those don’t attempt this portion.
Ingredients
800 g bread flour
300 g temperature water
7.2 g sodium carbonate
0.8 g potassium carbonate
Method
Combine all the ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer
Mix to combine with a dough hook attached
Dough should form after about 2 minutes if not:
You may have to add more water, do this 1 Tbsp at a time
Knead dough for 10 minutes, I did this by hand rather than in the machine because this is quite a large batch and it kicked my bowl off the stand
After kneading wrap in plastic and store in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to rest
Remove from plastic and cut a small slab off the dough, return the other dough to the plastic and store in refrigerator until needed
Flour the piece of dough and roll with a rolling pin into a thickness that will fit into a pasta roller roller at the widest setting
Roll the dough through the widest setting, fold to laminate on roll again
Pass the dough through thinner and thinner setting each time until the dough is as thin as possible, flouring when needed
Pass the rolled dough through the spaghetti cutter
Toss the noodles with a generous amount of flour and toss, this prevents them from sticking together
Repeat until you have used all the dough
Divide the noodles into 6 oz portions and wrap in plastic
These will hold for 24 in the refrigerator or freeze them, if frozen they will last several weeks
Pork Belly
Time: 2 Hours (Plus overnight dry brine)
Servings: 20 ½” slices
Ingredients
3 lbs pork belly, without skin
¼ c kosher salt
¼ c white sugar
Method
If your pork belly has skin, remove it
Combine salt and sugar in a bowl
Rub the entire pork belly with the mixture and place on a small tray or baking sheet, it should be a snug fit
Cover with plastic and place in refrigerator for at least 6 hours or up to 24
When ready to cook, preheat oven to 450°F (230°C)
Remove plastic and drain off any liquid
Place fat-side up into the baking dish and into the oven for 1 hour or until the fat is golden brown, baste at 30 minutes with drippings
Turn oven down to 250°F (120°C) and continue roasting for 1 hour or until the belly is tender
Remove from oven and cool completely
Cover in plastic and store in refrigerator until ready to serve ramen
Remove from plastic and slice ½” thick slabs and warm in a pan over medium heat, warm until soft and jiggly, no browning needed
Pork Shoulder
Time: 2 Hours (Plus overnight dry brine)
Ingredients
3 lbs shoulder
¼ c kosher salt
¼ c white sugar
Method
Combine salt and sugar into a bowl
Rub entire shoulder with mixture and place into a small roasting dish
Cover dish with plastic and store in refrigerator for 6 hours or up to 24
Preheat oven to 250°F (120°C)
Place shoulder into the oven and cook for 6 hours, basting once per hour with drippings
Remove from oven and rest for 30 minutes
Shred the meat, pulling it into strands with two forks, remove bones if present
Serve immediately
If you need to store shredded meat with some of the pork fat from the pan to keep moist, covered tightly—This will hold for a day or two
Warm the shredded meat in a 250°F (120°C) for 10 minutes before serving ramen
Slow Poached Egg
Time: 45 Minutes
I can empathize why someone would say “just make a soft boiled egg instead. It takes six minutes.” You’re right but you’d also be wrong because a slow poached egg is entirely different. It cracks open and comes out like an egg that hasn’t been cooked at all. Except, this egg has been gently bathed into the perfect doneness. It give you the maximum amount of runny yolk. I’ll be honest, it might be my favorite part of this entire bowl. If you’re going to skip anything make it the noodles but DO THIS PART.
Ingredients
Large eggs, as many as you’d like
Method
Fill a large stock pot with water
Bring the water up to 140-145°F (60-62°C)
Use a cake rack, steamer basket, strainer, bunch of chop sticks to create a surface to keep the eggs off the bottom of the pot, be resourceful
Place the eggs in the bath and poach for 45 minutes, regulating the temperature as needed
After 45 minutes, remove to eggs and serve immediately
If storing, cool completely in an ice bath and store in refrigerator, reheat under piping hot water from sink for 1 minute
To serve, crack egg into a small bowl
Tip the bowl to pour off and discard the loosest part of the white
Slide the egg gently into the bowl of ramen
