What is ramen, features of making Japanese noodles. TOP 4 recipes for making ramen. How is the dish served and eaten? Video recipes.
Ramen noodles are a dish of oriental origin that is now very popular all over the world. Many consider it "fast food", although it takes a lot of time, effort, special knowledge and skills to make high-quality ramen. These noodles are hearty, tasty and nutritious, and with the variety of broths and fillings, there are many different varieties and flavors to sample.
What is ramen?
Pictured Japanese ramen noodles
Japanese ramen, called "Chinese noodles" in the Land of the Rising Sun, is also popular in China and Korea. Remarkably, in China, the noodles, on the contrary, are called "Japanese", and in Korea they are simply called "ramen".
Ramen is a relatively young dish that came to Japan from China around the beginning of the 20th century. In all countries, noodles are prepared in their own way, and in each recipe you can track the responses of the cultural characteristics of the country.
There is also the well-known instant noodles, thanks to which ramen has gained its fame as "fast food". It was invented in 1958 by Japanese Momofoku Ando, and his invention is still considered one of the most important inventions of the 20th century in Japan. The noodles were a dried dough product pre-fried in palm oil. Initially, it was a huge success, but over the decades acquired the status of "food for the poor."
Features of cooking ramen
Ramen is a noodle drenched in broth with all sorts of ingredients. There can be hundreds of recipes for ramen, but there is still a common cooking technology that is followed all over the world. The ingredients for the dish are prepared separately and then put together in one plate.
Ramen broth
The base of any ramen is the broth that gives the flavor to the whole dish. It can be cooked on pork, chicken, beef bones, on the basis of fresh fish or dried bonito tuna, as well as on the basis of vegetables, seaweed, mushrooms. Broths can also be mixed and are often seasoned with salt, sauces, and various condiments.
Several types of ramen broth:
- Shoyu or Shoyu … Light broth (assari) with soy sauce. One of the oldest and most popular types. It is the sauce that gives it its characteristic color and taste. They usually cook on chicken, beef, pork bones or fish. Nori, boiled eggs, green onions, kamaboko (a dish based on fish puree), bean sprouts, sesame oil go well with such a broth. Also, slices of pork or beef are often put in it. Ramen made from such a broth is especially popular in the center of Japan, or rather, in the Kanto region.
- Shio … Light broth, which is usually salted abundantly (from the Japanese "salt"). Most often it is prepared on the basis of chicken, vegetables, fish or seaweed. For toppings, the same light ingredients such as chicken, pickled Japanese plums, kamaboko and seafood are usually selected. Originally used in the original Chinese recipe, this broth is most popular in the southern city of Hokkaido, Hakodate, where the influences of Chinese culture are felt.
- Miso … Ramen broth with miso soy paste is light yet rich and rich. Spicy bean spreads or chili oil go well with it. Foods such as sweet corn, green onion feathers, bean sprouts, white cabbage, and fried minced pork are often used as additives.
- Tonkotsu … A very thick, rich and rich broth (cotteri) cooked on pork bones. It is boiled for about 8 hours so that it thickens enough. The soup is served with boiled eggs, sliced pork, herbs, lard and other ingredients. This broth is considered the most popular and frequently used in the classic ramen recipe.
- Curry … Usually a thick broth cooked with pork bones and vegetables, generously seasoned with curry spice. Thin slices of marinated and fried pork, nori seaweed, mung bean sprouts, onions are placed in such a broth.
Ramen noodles
Ramen is called not only a dish, but also the noodles from which it is made. For its preparation, white refined flour, water (sometimes carbonated - kammizu), salt and eggs are used. It has a long, thin, cylindrical or flat shape and is yellowish in color. Due to this composition, the noodles are dense and do not boil in the broth.
There are several types of ramen noodles:
- Hosomen (thin noodles);
- Chu hosomen (medium thin noodles);
- Chubutomen (medium thick noodles);
- Futomen (thick noodles).
In ramen-ya (restaurants serving ramen), it is customary to cook noodles on your own, less often buying them in specialized stores. There are also several types of noodles, and each chef carefully selects the right one for the broth. For example, thin and flat noodles are added to a rich broth so that it can absorb the rich taste. And wavy noodles are more suitable for miso broth, which better reveals the taste of spicy seasoning.
Ramen toppings
It is difficult to imagine ramen noodles without toppings - fillings that diversify and decorate the dish, give it richness and personality. One bowl of noodles can combine from 4 to 40 ingredients, here are some of the most popular:
- Pork … The most commonly used addition to noodles. There can be many variations, but the main types are chasu (pork stewed until soft in soy sauce and sweet rice wine) and kakuni (pork stewed with soy sauce, mirin, ginger, cinnamon, hot pepper, sugar and garlic). Also often served bacon, minced meat, stewed or fried with vegetables, pork fat.
- Seafood … Additives such as shrimp, crab, mussels, scallops, squid, octopus, etc. are usually placed in light fish broths. Kamaboko topping is also quite popular, it is thin slices of a roll made with surimi (white fish puree). Also closely related to ramen noodles are bonito tuna chips and hondashi paste, based on it.
- Eggs … Boiled eggs are almost the main topping for any ramen noodle. They can prepare in a variety of ways. They use, for example, both classic hard-boiled eggs and soft-boiled eggs marinated in soy-myrin sauce (ajitsuke tamago). Sous vide technology is also a popular way to prepare eggs for ramen: eggs are boiled at low temperatures for a long time, due to which the protein becomes tender in taste, and the yolk becomes liquid and viscous. Fresh vegetables are usually served with light broths, and fried ones - with rich ones.
- Seaweed … It is customary to put nori sheets in a bowl of noodles before serving, or to tear them apart and sprinkle on a dish. Wakame and kombu seaweed are often added to a light, salt-based broth, to which they add a special seafood flavor and aroma.
- Hen … Just like pork, in various forms: pickled, stewed, stewed, etc. Thin slices of Peking duck are a frequent ingredient in ramen noodles.
- Aromatic oil … There can be many varieties: sesame, onion, chili, bonito, shrimp, garlic, black garlic oil, etc. They not only impart special taste to the broth, but also, covering it with a film, prevent rapid cooling.
- Ginger beni-sega … It is much spicier than the one that comes with sushi, and is often added to thick tonkotsu broths.
- Vegetables … Beautifully chopped green onion feathers are one of the staples of ramen noodles. They also often include stewed cabbage, komatsuna (Chinese cabbage), leeks, red onions, boiled or canned corn, oxidized bamboo shoots (menma), mung bean sprouts (legumes), and beans.
- Mushrooms … For example, pickled shiitake, kikurage (auricularia auricular) in dried form, which are pre-soaked, or fresh enoki mushrooms, which, when poured with hot broth, give the latter their "earthy" taste with sweetish notes.
- Sesame … Sesame seeds are used both fresh, chopped and roasted. Also, tahini (a paste made from fried sesame seeds with the addition of oil) is often added to ramen noodles.
- Spices … They add a finishing touch to any noodles. They can be placed directly in a bowl or served separately so that everyone can season the dish to their liking. Common spices are black, white, red pepper, curry, dried hot chili powder, roasted or mixed with orange peel, sesame seeds, ginger, nori, and hemp seeds. Garlic paste, made by mixing minced garlic with lard, gives the noodles a delicate spiciness. Lemon is also a popular topping for ramen.
TOP 4 recipes for ramen noodles
Since most people do not have special tools and special ingredients that are familiar to Japan, but unusual for residents of Russia and the CIS countries, the proposed recipes will have more familiar components and a simplified recipe. When choosing noodles, it is better to focus on the original recipe and look for special ramen noodles on store shelves, but in the absence of it, you can easily replace it with ordinary egg noodles, this will not make the dish worse.
Chicken ramen noodles
An easy-to-prepare dish for chicken lovers. Ramen at home according to this recipe is simple and quick, requires a minimum of ingredients that can always be found on the shelves of shops around the house. Chicken is rarely used by the Japanese in making ramen, as they consider it to be dietary meat, not as fatty as pork. But for those who do not think this property is a minus, the dish will seem hearty and appetizing.
- Caloric content per 100 g - 350 kcal.
- Servings - 4
- Cooking time - 80 minutes
Ingredients:
- Chicken breast - 300 g
- Chicken drumstick - 3 pcs.
- Ramen noodles - 350 g
- Carrots - 1 pc.
- Eggs - 4 pcs.
- Green onion - 4 feathers
- Onion-turnip - 1 pc.
- Garlic - 3 cloves
- Nori - 1 sheet
- Soy sauce - 4 tablespoons
- Sesame oil - 2 tsp
- Sugar - 1 tsp
- Ginger - 10 g
- Ground hot pepper - a pinch
- Sesame seeds - to taste
How to prepare chicken ramen step by step:
- First you need to boil the broth. Take a pot of cold water (1.5 l), add the washed chicken drumstick, peeled carrots and onions. Bring to a boil over high heat, and after boiling, reduce it and cook the ingredients for about an hour over medium heat. Then strain the broth.
- Add soy sauce, peeled and finely grated garlic, ginger to the broth, season with pepper. We put the pan on the stove again and heat the ingredients for about 5 minutes, after the test, add more soy sauce or sugar to taste.
- Boil the ramen noodles according to the instructions and drain off the excess water.
- Cut the chicken fillet into small pieces and fry in sesame oil until tender.
- Boil the eggs until cooked, hard-boiled or in a bag.
- Now let's "collect" the soup. Put the noodles in portions in each bowl, fill it with broth, put a chicken on top, an egg, cut into 2 parts. Cut the nori leaf into pieces and sprinkle on top with chopped green onions and sesame seeds.
Important! Ramen will not take more than 20 minutes to cook if you boil the broth beforehand, as this is the one that takes the most time.
Ramen with vegetables
The vegetarian version of ramen noodles, despite the abundance of meat recipes, is actively gaining popularity in the East. The dish turns out to be light, but at the same time nutritious, tasty and aromatic. The presence of a variety of ingredients makes the taste bright and interesting.
Ingredients:
- Eggplant - 1 pc.
- Mushrooms - 150 g
- Bok choy cabbage - 250 g
- Eggs or tofu - 2 pcs.
- Leeks - 50 g
- Green onion - 2 feathers
- Fresh hot pepper - 1 pc.
- Miso pasta - 2 tablespoons
- Soy sauce - 2 tablespoons
- Sesame seed - to taste
- Sesame oil - to taste
- Ramen noodles - 200 g
Cooking ramen with vegetables step by step:
- Champignons or other fresh mushrooms should be cut into slices, eggplant - into cubes. Then preheat the oven, put the prepared vegetables on a baking sheet, salt and sprinkle with oil. Bake at 180 ° C for about 20 minutes.
- Choi the bok choy, which can be substituted for Chinese cabbage or spinach, finely chop. Do the same with green onions and leeks.
- Put the chopped hard parts of bok choy and leek in a skillet with butter and fry for 2-3 minutes.
- Pour about 0.8 L of water into a saucepan and bring to a boil. In a bowl, dilute the miso pasta by pouring hot water over it. Add soy sauce, stir and pour back into the pot. Warm up the contents of the pan for 2 minutes, then turn off the gas.
- Boil the ramen noodles until cooked, divide in portions into bowls.
- Boil eggs in any way, cool, peel and cut lengthwise. If the soup is supposed to be purely vegetable, then cut the tofu into cubes and fry in oil until golden brown.
- Cut the pepper in half to remove all seeds, then chop with a knife.
- Pour hot, or better boiling broth into bowls, top with mushrooms, eggplant, fresh and fried cabbage, leeks, green onions, halved eggs or tofu, pepper. Garnish with sesame seeds in the end and serve.
The classic pork ramen recipe
There are many ways to make ramen, but the most popular recipe for classic noodles involves making a rich broth with pork bones, which must be boiled for up to 10 hours. If you can spend so much time cooking the broth, it will end up looking as close to the original as possible. In our recipe, a simplified version of boiling pork broth is presented.
Ingredients:
- Pork - 1 kg
- Salt - 20 g
- Sugar - 20 g
- Soy sauce - 200 g
- Pork fat - 30 g
- Ginger - 30 g
- Greens to taste
- Green onions - to taste
- Ramen noodles - 0.7 kg
How to prepare the classic pork ramen step by step:
- Cut the pork into pieces and put in a saucepan with boiling salted water, boil for about 30 minutes. Then transfer the pork to a bowl, and strain the broth, removing foam and impurities.
- Take a clean, thick-walled saucepan and place the ginger on the bottom, place the pieces of pork on top, pour in the soy sauce and pour in a little broth so that it completely covers the meat. Season with salt and season to taste. Cover with a lid or plate so that the meat does not float, pressing down on top with a load, turn on the heat and simmer the meat on low heat for about 4 hours.
- Cook the ramen noodles according to the instructions, usually 5 minutes is enough for boiling. Drain off excess water, rinse with cold water, mix with oil and set aside.
- Boil 1 liter of clean cold water in a saucepan, then pour in the broth, boil for about 5-10 minutes. Dilute the rendered pork fat before turning off the gas.
- Divide the noodles into bowls (ingredients per 5 persons). Pour in broth, add cooked pork, sprinkle with chopped herbs and green onions.
Ramen with seafood
Ramen broth with seafood will be prepared on the basis of dashi - dry fish concentrate. If desired, you can replace it with dried bonito tuna chips with kombu seaweed or ordinary fish, such as hake, pollock or haddock, by boiling broth from it.
Ingredients:
- Soy sauce - 4 tablespoons
- Dashi - 1 tsp
- Eggs - 2 pcs.
- Rice wine, vodka or mirin - 3 tablespoons
- Green onions to taste
- Nori sheet - 1 pc.
- Ramen noodles - 200 g
- Sesame oil - 1 tablespoon
- Garlic - 1 clove
- Ginger root - 20 g
- Water - 250 ml
- Seafood cocktail - to taste
How to prepare seafood ramen step by step:
- Boil 1 liter of water and dilute the hondashi granules in it.
- Prepare the sauce by mixing rice wine with soy sauce and pouring into the broth.
- Peel the garlic and ginger, grate on a fine grater. Place a skillet of sesame oil on the stove and brown the ingredients. Pour the contents of the skillet over the broth.
- Throw the thawed seafood cocktail into the broth and cook until tender, then remove the ingredients with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Cook the ramen noodles in a separate pot of water as instructed. After removing excess water, place in each bowl in portions. Pour in hot broth.
- Boil the eggs, remove the shells and halve them.
- Spread the seafood and eggs on top of the noodles, sprinkle with green onions and place half a nori leaf on the side.
- Serve hot flavored ramen immediately.
How is ramen noodles eaten?
Japan has always been distinguished by its reverent attitude towards the execution of the prescribed rules and the observance of cultural orders. This also applies to the culture of food consumption. Although ramen is a young dish, which is about 200 years old, certain rules of use also apply to it.
The soup is served in wide bowls with chopsticks and a wide broth spoon. You can also serve spices, sauces and oil separately.
Ramen should be eaten immediately after cooking, before the noodles and other ingredients have time to boil and lose their flavor. They start eating with a sample of the noodles, then move on to the rest of the ingredients, at the end they drink the broth (with a spoon or from a bowl).
At the same time, you need to eat quickly and not tear yourself away from the food for other things until the bowl is completely empty. To show special gratitude to the chef for a delicious dish, you need to eat loudly and with appetite.
