Grace Abounds I read last week that our all-time favorite ramen restaurant is finally open for take-away and delivery. I was tempted to order but then the shipping cost would be too much since it is only available on selected branches. And what do we do when we’re craving for our favorite but do not have the means to procure it? We make our own!
I’ve attempted lots of times to cook our own ramen – reading several foodie and notable chef blogs and even bought Japanese noodles and mirin in an effort to make my noodle soup as authentic as it can be. Pretty ambitious ha!
But, today’s ramen attempt, though not perfect, was successful! By the way, my success meter is based on how fast and how well my family would consume what I put on the table. Well, the husband was happy, Kid #1 ate with gusto and Kid #2, who used to be picky, couldn’t wait to dip her spoon on our ramen bowl.
It took a long time to cook our bowlful of goodness. Big thanks to my husband who helped out in cooking lunch today. I couldn’t get too close to the stove because I got splattered with boiling water while cooking the spaghetti noodles that we used for the ramen. So I had to guide him as he cooked the rest of the ingredients that I have prepared. Roughly, here’s our cooking process. It’s kinda long so if you want to do it, it would require a great deal of patience.
- Soup base was broth from pork belly that we had a couple of days ago. Pork seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic was simmered for an hour. Liquid sifted to remove impurities. Cooled then placed in the freezer because I wasn’t sure when exactly we can make ramen.
- Mungbean sprouts (togue) were sprouted from monggo three days ago was stir fried in sesame oil with salt and pepper. Carrot sticks and cabbage strips were cooked separately in the same way as togue then set aside.
- Was hoping to make soft-boiled eggs and turn them into Ajitsuke Tamagotchi but my timing isn’t perfect so we settled for hard-boiled ones instead.
- Pre-cooked spaghetti for ramen noodles because that’s what we have.
- For the soup base, we added approximately two cups of water to our pork belly broth, two tablespoons of soy sauce, two tablespoons of brown sugar and salt to taste. To intensify the flavor, we threw in a piece of Khorr Pork Cubes. Thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms were added to the soup along with a tablespoon of sesame seeds.
Here’s what the bowl looked like prior to adding the soup.
We had a hearty and fuller meal! It was a meatless ramen but it was flavorful. Next time, I would make it more legit and incorporate mirin (we ran out of it), spring onions, silk tofu and perfectly timed Tamago.
Go ahead and try to make your own!