Do you want to learn how to make an authentic Japanese ramen? Discover the necessary ingredients and the steps with this traditional recipe arrived directly from Japan.
The ramen has become tremendously popular in recent years, so much so that even in our country there are restaurants specialized almost exclusively in its preparation. In this sense, as you probably know, it consists of a dish of Japanese origin made with Japanese noodles, soup and Gu.
And what does the Gu consist of? Basically it is a combination of very varied ingredients that can serve as an accompaniment to the soup, so that in most cases, they are left to the sole choice of the consumer who is going to enjoy the dish. For example, the most common options are boiled eggs, nori or wakame seaweed, slices of pork, chives, and various boiled vegetables.
However, did you know that each region of Japan has its own ramen recipe? For this reason, today it is possible to enjoy a very wide variety, of all flavors and for all tastes.
What is Japanese ramen?
But before continuing with the recipe to learn how to make ramen at home, it is necessary -and essential- to delve a little more about what are the base ingredients with which it is traditionally made.
Thus, the Japanese noodles chosen for the preparation are served in a broth that, classically, is prepared based on meat, soy sauce and miso (soy paste, with an intense and very salty flavor), accompanied with garnishes such as chives, seaweed, menma (Japanese seasoning made from fermented bamboo shoots), and slices of pork.
There are also vegan options, so that the slices of pork and any other ingredient of animal origin are replaced by tofu.
Authentic Japanese ramen recipe
Basic ingredients
- Eggs.
- Pork belly.
- Noodles (Japanese noodles).
- Olive oil (for sautéing).
- Vinegar.
Ingredients for the broth
- 2 chicken bones.
- 1 leek.
- 4 cloves of garlic.
- 1 carrot.
- 1 onion.
- 1 piece of ginger.
- 4 liters of water.
Ingredients for the sauce
- 600 cc of soy sauce.
- 250 cc of mirin.
- 100 cc of sake.
- Kombu seaweed.
- 1 piece of ginger.
- 1 piece of leek.
- 1 piece of garlic.
Preparation
First we are going to make the broth. To do this, put water in a saucepan to heat over the fire, and when it starts to boil, add the chicken bones. As soon as you notice that the meat has begun to change color, remove them and clean them well by placing them under a stream of cold water.
Put the leek, garlic, ginger, onion and carrot in the pressure cooker along with the chicken bones.
Fill it now with the water, cover and put it on the fire. Just when the pressure starts, let it simmer for 1 hour. After this time, remove from the heat and let it cool down. Once cold, open the express pot and add the pork belly. Cover the pot and return it to the heat.
Now it’s time to brown the pork belly in a pan. To do this, put the pan on the fire, roll up the bacon and put a string on them. Cook until golden brown.
In a small saucepan, boil the eggs with vinegar and salt. Cook for up to 6 minutes after the water starts to boil. Once ready, let them cool, and when they are cold, peel them carefully so that they do not break and set them aside.
Just when the pressure of the pressure cooker begins, leave it over medium heat for 30 minutes. Finally, remove from the heat and let it cool down.
In another saucepan over low heat add the soy sauce, mirin, sake, leek, ginger and garlic. At the moment in which this preparation begins to boil, remove from the heat.
Remove the pork belly from the pot. In a large bowl, add the soy sauce we have prepared, and place the meat and eggs without the shell in it, leaving it to marinate for 40 minutes. Once marinated, place in the fridge for the rest of the preparation, this way it will be easier for you to cut both the eggs and the pork belly.
Cut the meat and the egg to your liking. For example, it is common for eggs to be cut in half and served like this. Also add nori seaweed, wakame and other ingredients that you like.
Put water in another saucepan and cook the noodles until cooked and ready.
In the bowl where you are going to eat the ramen, add between 5 to 6 tablespoons of the sauce, and then add the hot broth until slightly more than half of the bowl. We add the noodles and that’s it! We already have our traditional Japanese ramen.
