Ramen
From OSR
Ramen is so versatile that it is hard to write one recipe for it, but I do have a basic ramen sauce concentrate that I make. I freeze it in ice cube trays and ramen becomes as easy to make as spaghetti from a jar -- until you start getting imaginative with the toppings.
Ingredients
Pan Asian concentrate:
- shallots or onions, chopped or sliced
- star anise
- clove
- beef, chicken or pork stock, whatever is on hand
- shoyu
- brown sugar
Japanese pre-mix:
- shoyu
- mirin
- brown sugar
Directions
Asian concentrate:
In a dry pan (no oil or anything), saute the onions or shallots over high heat. It is ok to get a little char on them. Add the star anise and clove and pour in the stock. Simmer for a while (about 30 minutes). If you want a very tasty broth toss a slice of bacon in, and take it out later. Now add some brown sugar and shoyu, stir in well to dissolve the sugar, and taste. Keep adding shoyu and sugar until the sweet/salty balance is to your liking and the broth is very flavorful. Cool and freeze in into cubes. To prepare for ramen simply toss a couple of cubes into a pot with some water and heat until hot.
Japanese pre-mix:
Combine shoyu, mirin and sugar and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 10 minutes, then pour into a jar. Cover it lightly, and fully cover it when cool. This will keep in the fridge indefinitely. To prepare ramen with it first make a stock with kelp and bonito flakes. The kelp should be removed from the pot as soon as it starts to boil, and the bonito flakes soon after. Strain out the flakes and pour a little pre-mix into the broth, tasting as you go, until it is flavorful enough.
Toppings:
I like to prepare the cooked toppings in the pot I will fix the sauce in beforeI do the sauce. For greens saute them with plenty of garlic and sprinkle with salt or shoyu. For shrimp saute with garlic. Mushrooms can be added to the broth while it is heating up and cooking. If you use thinly sliced beef, place the slices in a metal strainer and dunk the strainer in the broth until the slices are just cooked.