SUNDAY’S MONDAY RAMEN

Chicken Broth & Dashi with Crispy Gochujang Chicken & Miso Mushrooms

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INGREDIANTS

  • 2 chicken Legs

  • 500ml chicken broth / good quality stock

  • kombu (postcard sized)

  • 2 heaped tbsp spoons katsobushi Flakes

  • 300g mushrooms

  • 1 tbsp white miso paste

  • 2 eggs

  • 2 tbsp dark soy sauce

  • 2 tbsp light soy sauce

  • 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

  • 1 tbsp gochujang korean chilli paste

  • 1 tbsp sesame oil sake

  • 1 tbsp honey

  • sesame seeds

  • vegetable oil

  • spring onions

  • ramen noodles

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Chicken Stock

  • 1 chicken carcass with the skin and fat

  • 2 carrots

  • 2 onions halved

  • 5cm ginger

  • 5 bulbs of garlic (crushed with the back of your knife)

  • water

  • small bunch of thyme

So if you enjoy eating ramen you will know it’s usually fast, you order it and it’s with you moments later,you eat it as fast as you can to make sure the noodles don’t overcook in the broth. Sadly making it properly isn’t fast in the slightest. I spent over 90 hours making Shio Ramen (worth it), so I wanted to make something that is great for leftovers and a bit more approachable. I’ve been developing this recipe for a while now and I thought I would share it with you so you can try it yourself. Yes the ingredients list is long, but if you have a good Asian larder then you should be alright. The whole point of this for me was the use up chicken from a Sunday roast.

So here we go…

  1. Have a Sunday roast!

  2. Preheat your oven to 190c.

  3. I would suggest making the chicken broth/stock but you can use good quality stuff if needs be, although you will be lacking the fat. But if you want to make use of that leftover carcass this is what you do! When you’ve taken all the meat off your chicken, take the bones and any skin / fat and add it to big pan. A cooked carcass will give you a darker colour, a fresh carcass can also be used, just remember to keep the fat as you need this for the mouth feel in your ramen. Add carrots, onion, garlic, ginger and celery, as if you were making a stock. Cover with water and bring to the boil (if you are using raw meat remember to skim off the scum that rises to the top) and cook this for a few hours, just let it simmer away on a low heat for the evening, topping up with water if it gets too low. When it’s ready, strain it and freeze for another day or keep fresh if your going to make your ramen the next day.

  4. Time to make your dashi. Start off my wiping your kombu and add to a pan with 300ml of water and 2 tbsp of katsobushi flakes. Bring this to the boil and leave to stand for 10 minutes. Strain and the put this to the side until you need it.

  5. No bowl of ramen is complete without an egg! This method never fails to give you a perfect gooey yolk, just be patient. Bring a pot of water to a boil, poke a pinhole in the bottom of your eggs and then drop them into the boiling water. Set a timer for 6 minutes 10 seconds and stir them gently for the first 2 minutes, then make an ice bath. When the time is up plunge them straight into the bath to stop them cooking. Stir them in the ice bath for another minute and then put to one side.

  6. For your miso mushrooms you need to combine a tablespoon of miso paste and a little water. Thinly slice your mushrooms, approx 0.5cm thick and lay out flat on a baking try. Brush the mushrooms with your miso marinade and place in the oven at 190c and keep an eye on them. They should be ready in around 15 minutes, when they are nice a crispy.

  7. For your crispy chicken add some vegetable oil to a frying pan and start frying off the cooked chicken. You need to add, 2 tbsp light soy, 1 tbsp sake, 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar, 1 tbsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp of gochujang and 1 tbsp of honey. Cook this until the chicken starts to caramelise and begins to stick to the pan. Whilst this is cooking you can get everything else ready.

  8. Time to start putting it all together. Reheat your chicken broth in a pan and then add your dashi. Season with dark soy and rice wine vinegar to taste.

  9. Fresh ramen noodles take only seconds to cook so make sure everything else is ready to go! Pour two and half ladles of your broth to your bowls, and add your noodles. Then quickly add all your toppings! The flavour of your broth completely changes when your mix everything together as it takes on the heat from the gochujang and sweetness from the honey, making everything turn a rich red colour. Hopefully you enjoy this as much as me!