This is my go-to recipe for ramen broth. It’s a fairly simplistic recipe as far as ramen goes – I’d place it somewhere between a real, multi-day broth cook, and a decent packaged broth. For what it is, my family and I find it to be quite delicious, and it doesn’t require hours upon hours of work, which is sometimes a necessary consideration when you have a toddler and a baby running and crawling around and you have a craving for ramen. I’ve been tweaking this recipe for years, and this is my current version. It’s very adaptable, the base components being the Hon Dashi and chicken broth. Other than those two things, you can do just about whatever you want to it!
Time to cook: About 30 minutes to 1 hourServings: About 4
Ingredients
- 1/2 Medium Sweet Onion
- 1-2 Inches Ginger Root (or 1/2 tsp ginger powder)
- 2 Cloves Garlic (or 1/2 tsp garlic powder)
- 1/3 cup Saké
- 2 cups Water
- 2 tsp Hon Dashi
- 2 tbsp Toasted Sesame Oil
- 6 tbsp Shoyu
- 4 cups Chicken Stock
The Cook
Begin by crushing 2 garlic cloves, 1-2 inches of ginger root (depending on how gingery you want it), and cut up 1/2 a medium sweet onion into larger chunks. You can substitute the ginger root and garlic cloves as listed in the ingredients with ginger powder and garlic powder respectively, should you be low on or out of fresh ingredients.
Pour 2 tbsp sesame oil into a 3-6qt pot. Set the temperature to medium-high and wait for it to begin smoking slightly.
Place the ginger, onion, and garlic into the pot and sear the hell out of it until it begins to caramelize or the onions become translucent.
Pour in 1/3 cup saké to deglaze the bottom of the pot. Stir it around and let it reduce. Then, add your 2 cups of water.
Add 2 tsp Hon Dashi powder. Stir it around to let it dissolve.
Add 6 tbsp shoyu (soy sauce). For a less salty and more bland broth, you can use less shoyu, though I wouldn’t go less than 4 tbsp.
Stir it up and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.
OPTIONAL: While the dashi is simmering, slice up the pork you prepared in advance. This step is optional, but it does add a level of flavor to the broth that really excels the entire meal.
After your 10 minutes is up, add 4 cups chicken stock.
If you’re using the pork, add that to the broth now – all of it.Bring the broth to a near-boil, then let it simmer for 30 minutes. This will infuse all the flavors together.
Once your thirty minutes are up, you can strain the broth. It’s best to use cheesecloth, as that will allow for the cleanest broth. It’s okay if you don’t have any, however – your bits of vegetable should be large enough that they won’t get through the strainer.
And don’t forget to set aside that pork if you’re using it – you’ll be adding it to the final dish.
Add the broth to your prepared noodles…
…add some hard-boiled eggs…
…cut some nori…
…and voila, a delicious, homemade ramen meal!Trust me, your entire family will love it.
