The BEST Ramen
An authentic homemade Japanese ramen: a rich pork neck bone and kombu broth, chashu pork, a soy-sake-mirin tare, and noodles topped with bean sprouts, green onion and a soft-boiled egg. Makes 8 to 10 servings.
Ingredients
| 6 lb | 2.7 kg | Pork neck bones |
| 2 oz | 57 g | Ginger, sliced |
| 2 bulbs | Garlic, cut into halves | |
| 1 large | Leek, halved and washed | |
| 1 1/2 oz | 43 g | Kombu (dried kelp) |
| 1 1/2 tbsp | 23 ml | Chicken stock powder |
| 24 cups | 5.8 l | Cold water |
| 2 lb | 905 g | Pork belly or pork butt (chashu) |
| 1 1/2 cup | 360 ml | Soy sauce (tare) |
| 3/4 cup | 180 ml | Sake (tare) |
| 3/4 cup | 180 ml | Mirin (tare) |
| — | Ginger, sliced (tare) | |
| 1 clove | Garlic, crushed (tare) | |
| 3 oz | 85 g | Bean sprouts (per bowl) |
| 1 portion | Ramen noodles, fresh/frozen (5 oz) or dried (3 oz) (per bowl) | |
| 2 stalks | Green onions, chopped (per bowl) | |
| 1 pc | Soft-boiled egg, halved (per bowl) | |
| 1 clove | Garlic clove (per bowl) |
Instructions
- Place the pork neck bones in a large bowl and cover with cold water. Soak 1 hour to draw out blood for a clean broth.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Carefully add the pork bones and blanch 5-8 minutes to remove bone bits and blood. When it returns to a boil, drain and discard the water. Rinse the bones under cold running water one by one.
- Wash the pot and add the clean bones with the ginger, garlic, leek, kombu, chicken powder and 24 cups water. Bring to a boil over high heat and hard boil 15 minutes, skimming off all foam and scum. Do not stir, only skim.
- Cover, reduce to medium heat and simmer the broth 3 hours, without lifting the lid.
- After 3 hours, add the 2 lb pork belly or butt for the chashu. Cook until tender and fully cooked: about 1 hour 20 minutes for one large piece, or 45 minutes for two 1 lb pieces.
- Meanwhile make the tare: combine all tare ingredients in a saucepan, bring to a boil over high heat and hard boil 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.
- When the chashu is done, turn off the heat, remove the chashu pieces and drizzle 4 tbsp of the tare over them for color. Cover and cool in the refrigerator.
- Strain the broth into a large bowl or container. Discard the aromatics but keep the bones and meat to enjoy separately.
- If not serving all 8-10 bowls now, store the soup, chashu and tare in the refrigerator up to 7 days, or freeze the soup up to 30 days.
- Slice the cooled chashu thin.
- To assemble: bring a large pot of water to a boil for the bean sprouts and noodles. Bring 2 cups of ramen broth to a boil in a pot.
- Blanch the bean sprouts 2 minutes, remove and drain. In the same water, cook the ramen noodles per package directions.
- While the noodles cook, pour 1/4 to 1/3 cup tare (to taste) and hot broth into a serving bowl.
- Drain the noodles and add to the bowl, stirring to coat, and arrange in the middle.
- Top with the bean sprouts, 4 oz chashu slices, chopped green onion and the soft-boiled egg. Finally, grate a fresh garlic clove directly over the ramen. Serve immediately while piping hot. Enjoy!