Shoyu Ramen

Name: Shoyu Ramen
Prep time: 50 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Cuisine: Japan
Ingredients: 2 l (8½ cups) chicken stock, Chicken Stock or good low-sodium store-bought; 10 g (a 10 × 10 cm piece) kombu; 3 dried shiitake mushrooms; 30 g (1 oz) fresh ginger, sliced; 4 scallion greens, from the bunch below; 15 g (1 loose cup) bonito flakes (katsuobushi); 120 ml (½ cup) Japanese soy sauce; 40 ml (2 tbsp + 2 tsp) mirin; 20 ml (4 tsp) sake, or dry sherry; 60 ml (¼ cup) neutral oil or rendered chicken fat; 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced; 4 scallion whites, from the bunch below, sliced; 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) fresh ramen noodles, or 360 g dried; 4 marinated soft eggs, Ajitama (Ramen Eggs), halved; 300 g (10½ oz) sliced cooked pork or chicken, e.g. Char Siu (Cantonese Barbecue Pork) or leftover roast chicken; 1 bunch scallions, about 8; greens thinly sliced for topping, the rest used above; 8 bamboo shoots (menma), optional, from a jar; 2 sheets nori, halved

A clear chicken-and-dashi broth, soy tare, and every topping made ahead

Serves: 4
Hands-on: 50 min
Total: 1 h 30 min
Level: Project

Ramen shops spend days on their broth, but a clear shoyu ramen is within reach at home. The trick is to think in parts: a well-flavored chicken stock deepened with kombu and bonito, a concentrated soy seasoning (tare) that goes into the bowl, a spoonful of aromatic fat, fresh noodles, and toppings made the day before.

Ingredients

Broth

2 lchicken stock (8½ cups)Chicken Stock or good low-sodium store-bought
10 gkombu (a 10 × 10 cm piece)
3dried shiitake mushrooms
30 gfresh ginger (1 oz)sliced
4scallion greensfrom the bunch below
15 gbonito flakes (katsuobushi) (1 loose cup)

Shoyu tare

120 mlJapanese soy sauce (½ cup)
40 mlmirin (2 tbsp + 2 tsp)
20 mlsake (4 tsp)or dry sherry

Aroma oil

60 mlneutral oil or rendered chicken fat (¼ cup)
3 clovesgarlicthinly sliced
4scallion whitesfrom the bunch below, sliced

Bowls

500 gfresh ramen noodles (1 lb 2 oz)or 360 g dried
4marinated soft eggsAjitama (Ramen Eggs), halved
300 gsliced cooked pork or chicken (10½ oz)e.g. Char Siu (Cantonese Barbecue Pork) or leftover roast chicken
1 bunchscallionsabout 8; greens thinly sliced for topping, the rest used above
8bamboo shoots (menma)optional, from a jar
2 sheetsnorihalved

Allergens: gluten, soy, fish, egg, celery, sulphites
Origin: Japan (Tokyo)
Season: Autumn, Winter

Method

Put the stock, kombu and dried shiitake in a pot and leave 20 minutes. Bring slowly to a bare simmer over medium-low heat and remove the kombu just before it bubbles. 30 min
Add the ginger and 4 scallion greens and simmer gently 20 minutes. Turn off the heat, add the bonito flakes and steep 5 minutes, then strain through a fine sieve. Keep the broth hot but not boiling. Slice the shiitake for topping if you like. 25 min
While the broth simmers, make the tare: bring the soy sauce, mirin and sake to a simmer in a small pan, simmer 1 minute, then turn off the heat. 2 min
For the aroma oil, warm the oil, garlic and 4 sliced scallion whites in a small pan over low heat until the garlic is pale gold and the scallions are fragrant, 6–8 minutes. Strain and keep the oil. 7 min
Bring a large pot of unsalted water to a rolling boil. Put 2 tbsp tare and 1 tbsp aroma oil in each of 4 warmed deep bowls.
Ladle about 400 ml boiling-hot broth into each bowl and stir. Taste one: it should be well salted; add a little more tare if needed.
Cook the noodles according to the packet, usually 1–2 minutes for fresh. Drain very well, shaking off all water, and fold them into the bowls. 2 min
Top quickly with the meat, egg halves, bamboo shoots, scallion greens and a sheet of nori tucked at the edge. Eat right away, before the noodles soften.

Why it works

Kombu (glutamate), shiitake (guanylate) and bonito (inosinate) multiply each other's savory effect, giving a store-bought chicken stock real ramen depth. Keeping the salt in a separate tare means the broth stays clean and each bowl can be seasoned exactly. Ramen noodles contain alkaline salts that make them springy; cooking them in plenty of unsalted water and draining well keeps that bite.

Common mistakes

Boiling the kombu: it turns slimy and bitter. Remove it just before the simmer.
Cooking the noodles in the broth: their starch and alkalinity cloud and flatten it. Always use a separate pot.
Putting toppings on too slowly: ramen waits for no one. Have everything sliced and ready before the noodles go in.

Variations

Spicy shoyu: Add 1 tsp Chili Crisp to each bowl with the aroma oil.
Vegetable shoyu: Use Vegetable Stock and skip the bonito; top with roasted mushrooms, corn and blanched bok choy, and omit the egg for a vegan bowl.

Make ahead and storage

Broth keeps 4 days in the fridge or 3 months frozen; tare keeps 1 month in the fridge; aroma oil 1 week. Make the eggs 1–3 days ahead.

Notes

Fresh ramen noodles are sold chilled in Asian groceries and many supermarkets. Without them, dried ramen or even thin wheat noodles boiled with 1 tsp baking soda per liter of water get close.