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Friday, November 19, 2010

Torigara Shoyu (Japanese Soy Sauce Chicken) Ramen

Torigara Shoyu (Japanese Soy Sauce Chicken) Ramen 1

As I was saying, the Tori No Nimono (Japanese Simmered Chicken) was destined as topping for my homemade Torigara Shoyu (Japanese Soy Sauce Chicken) Ramen. I had tried to make ramen a few times before, but it was missing that extra something-something. I figured trying to make a milky tonkotsu broth was too difficult, so I would opt for shoyu since the soy sauce would be pretty flavorful. This time around I went a little crazy supplementing the two chicken carcasses by adding in Dashi Kombu (Japanese Kelp), dried shrimp, dried little fish, and two apples.

But it worked! The result was a flavorful, savory broth that wasn't too salty or too sweet.

The ramen was almost perfect. Except for the noodles.

I had all the other ingredients in my pantry and was making the ramen for Mrs. SinoSoul's birthday, so I asked if they could stop off and get the noodles on their way over. Tony had some imported Annie Chun noodles from work that he thought would be premium. They weren't. Ack! I don't know about the other products but the chow mein noodles were gross. Starchy and mealy and not at all appealing.

Gourmet Pigs stopped by for some later and all I had were packaged ramen noodles. But, with the homemade ramen broth, even the packaged noodles were elevated to another level.

Torigara Shoyu (Japanese Soy Sauce Chicken) Ramen 2

Torigara Shoyu (Japanese Soy Sauce Chicken) Ramen

For about 6 to 8 servings, or a 7 quart stock pot, you'll need:

2 chicken carcasses
1 large onion, quartered
2 small apples, peeled and quarted
1 sheet Dashi Kombu (Japanese Kelp)
2 tsp dried small fish
2 tsp dried shrimp
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup mirin (Japanese rice wine)
2-inch knob ginger
1-lb package ramen noodles

Optional: For garnishes, hard-boiled eggs, shiitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, corn, seaweed, butter, green onions, bean sprouts, etc.

Serve with Buta No Kakuni (Japanese Braised Pork or Tori No Nimono (Japanese Simmered Chicken)

Fill a 7-quart pot with about 5-quarts of water. Add in 2 chicken carcasses, 1 large onion, 2 small apples, 1 sheet dashi kombu (Japanese kelp), 2 tsp dried small fish, 2 tsp dried shrimp, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup mirin rice wine, and 2-inch knob ginger. Keep the whole mixture on medium-high for about 5 hours. The high temperature will help extract maximum flavor from the bones.

Torigara Shoyu (Japanese Soy Sauce Chicken) Ramen 3

The Japanese kelp will help add a natural savoriness, but don't go overboard or the broth will taste fishy. Same goes for the tiny dried fish and shrimp added to the stock.

Torigara Shoyu (Japanese Soy Sauce Chicken) Ramen 4

After about three hours, taste the stock and make adjustments if necessary.

After about five hours, your stock should be ready. Spoon out the bones and other ingredients.

Torigara Shoyu (Japanese Soy Sauce Chicken) Ramen 5

The ramen broth still isn't as clear as I'd like.

Torigara Shoyu (Japanese Soy Sauce Chicken) Ramen 6

So I use my skimmer to clean up any stray large pieces.

Torigara Shoyu (Japanese Soy Sauce Chicken) Ramen 7

Finally, a nice clear broth.

Torigara Shoyu (Japanese Soy Sauce Chicken) Ramen 8

When the broth is ready, keep it on medium-high heat. Boil the noodles. Slice some Japanese simmered chicken, or whatever meat you're serving with the ramen.

Torigara Shoyu (Japanese Soy Sauce Chicken) Ramen 9

To serve, add the noodles to the bowl, and ladle the broth on top, and garnish as you wish.

Oops! Forgot the chicken.

Torigara Shoyu (Japanese Soy Sauce Chicken) Ramen 10

Add some corn and butter and now it's better.

Torigara Shoyu (Japanese Soy Sauce Chicken) Ramen 11

Or the next day, if you're out of meat, you can simply garnish with shiitake mushrooms, seaweed, and an egg.

Torigara Shoyu (Japanese Soy Sauce Chicken) Ramen 12

Enjoy!

Once again, thanks to Ila of I Nom Things for help with the translation. 

My other ramen recipes:
Mapo Tofu Ramen
Shichimenchou (Japanese Turkey Bone) Ramen
Shio (Japanese Salt) Ramen
Torigara Shoyu Miso (Japanese Soy Sauce Miso Paste Chicken) Ramen

*****
1 year ago today, what I did with a Before and After: Wooden Arm Chair I picked up off the street.
2 years ago today, my house was broken into. :(
3 years ago today, I asked is my scrap blanket hideous?
4 years ago today, the heirloom bell peppers I grew in my garden.

13 comments:

  1. You really know how to cook. If I wasn't a girl, I'd ask you to marry me. =)

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  2. Wow WC, looks great! I haven't tried making ramen broth from scratch but would like to some day.. Had friends that did and instead of using straight soy sauce that has a hard edge to the flavor they used the braise liquid from the pork belly. But really nice with the konbu and I really like the dried shrimp idea. Nidaime Keisuke I hear has a great shrimp based ramen that I'm craving to try. Anyway great post!

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  3. That looks so delicious. Nice bowl of hot noodle soup during the cold weather. Yum...

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  4. wow, I can almost smell that cooking!

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  5. this reminds me so much of my happy days in the Land of the Rising Sun.

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  6. I'm going to attempt this some day - maybe during my mini-vacation when I go back to my parents' house after Christmas. I may do it in a crock pot too - I'll let you know how that turns out!

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  7. It seems you are MIA from the blog; we sort of are too. Hope that means that you are having TONS of fun and eating lots of good food. =D

    Merry Chrstmas and a Happy New Year, WC, from HS and me!

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  8. Oh man, typo! I mean, of course, from JS and me (not "HS").

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  9. it looks authentic! I have the same issue with the soup base too. But Now I know!

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  10. Hello first time here and wanna say hi. I love Asian food in general as well. :) I love ramen and always wonder how they make their broth, so this recipe will give me some idea. thanks for sharing it.
    Btw if I use pressure cooker to cook the broth, will it speed up the cooking process?

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  11. Hi WC!

    Hope you had a relaxing Christmas, and that you were able to ring in the new year in a fun way. I wish you and your family happiness, prosperity and loads of good health in 2011!

    Reading about this ramen was hard: looks so good, and I was already so hungry...I especially like the konbu and dried shrimp elements of the broth. Good that you cautioned us about not adding too much, I would have been tempted.

    Am I reading correctly--that at some point earlier you actually made your own ramen noodles? I gotta go backwards in your posts, if that's the case! I just learned in Vietnam how cellophane noodles are made (hint: a big contraption that looks like a medieval torture device is involved) and so my imagination blanks a bit at the notion of homemade ramen, imagining the labor...

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  12. WOW! That looks so amazing! I have to make this when I have time! I'll skip on the butter part haha, but the rest looks sooooo amazing! Great job! Keep up the amazing work!

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  13. No London,
    If you weren't a girl, I might consider it. Only if you do the dishes though. ;)

    Dennis,
    The braising liquid from the pork belly sounds like a great idea since I have so much of it. The dried shrimp is such a great addition for a lot of pork stocks.

    FC88,
    Yes, indeed. Soup in cold weather is always perfection.

    Dmarie,
    A good sign the photo looks appetizing, eh? :)

    Momgateway,
    I didn't know you lived in Japan! Learn something new every day.

    Shuku,
    Looking forward to the feedback if you do!

    TS,
    A belated happy holidays to both of you! You know why I was absent for a while. :(

    Daphne,
    I have no idea how authentic it is, but it tasted good to me.

    Delightful Tastebuds,
    Yes, a pressure cooker should speed everything up? I don't have one so I'm not sure how it'll work on the broth. Ramen broth should be at a roiling boil the whole time to extract as much flavor from the bones. Will a pressure cooker achieve that same effect? It'll certainly soften everything faster, but I'm not sure if that will help extract flavor from the bones in the same way as a long roiling boil.

    Tammy,
    Not homemade noodles but two other kinds of ramen broth. I haven't had much luck making my own noodles yet, despite my mom's recipe for banh canh. I'm curious to see how cellophane noodles are made. I hope you'll blog about it! As for the excess fish and shrimp, I learned that from previous attempts because if a little is good, a lot should make it extra flavorful, right? Eek. A little overpowering.

    Darren,
    Just a spoonful of butter isn't half bad in ramen broth. But I hope you do try making this some day. It's worth the work.

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