I don’t make ramen year-round – if I did, we’d all get pretty tired of it. As good as ramen is, eating the same thing every day year-round can lead to palate fatigue, so I reserve my major ramen production for the fall-winter months. Yesterday was the first day ramen was specifically requested (mostly due to the cold weather and dreary flooding all across the south), so we have our first served ramen of the fall! Luckily, our friends Eric (shouldersofgiantmidgets.blogspot.com) and Kat came over to hang out, so we had some guests to try out a ramen experiment on.
The ramen itself was based off my quick ramen recipe, only instead of making a dashi out of Hon Dashi, I decided to make it using actual kombu and bonito flakes. This tends to lead to a less synthetic, earthier soup. The broth was made with chicken stock, garlic powder, and ginger paste. The taré is why I almost didn’t make ramen that night, as the only shoyu I had on-hand was a saltier, VERY dark brew. I need to go to the market and pick up some light shoyu. Lastly, I topped it with eggs, wakamé, and some refrigerated noodles we got at the grocery store. I decided not to make any pork simply to save time, as we decided on ramen for dinner fairly late in the game.
However, our first serving turned out to be a success, and everyone enjoyed it!
Today, I’m going to have to hit the Asian market for some supplies as we start gearing back up for ramen experiments. Here’s to the fall/winter months!
