Most people would say that food and fun are two things that are impossible to overindulge in. Having just returned from an extended weekend in Vegas, I can say that it is not only possible, but rather highly probably in the City of Sin. I arrived home to a cold and gloomy New York early Monday morning with a haggard liver and an extra fold in my gut. After a day in the office, my body screamed “comfort me” while my mind raced with thoughts of butter poached lobster and marbled kobe beef.
I found my solace in a steaming bowl of miso ramen with long chewy noodes swimming alongside crispy bok choy, piquant chili garlic chives and a small mound of sweet pulled pork. This magical bowl of noodle soup coddled my stomach, quieted my mind, while warming me from the inside out.
Ramen is really quite a humble food and yet it takes hours of care to make. It’s rich, complex and unctuous, and yet in Japan, it’s a comfort food much like mac and cheese is here. It’s by no stretch of the imagination healthy, and yet it manages to strike a soul-satisfying truce between protein, vegetables and carbs. Put simply, ramen is a bowlful of contradictions.
Miso Ramen, just one of about a dozen different varieties, originated in the northern Hokkaido region of Japan. It’s a beautiful place, but the winter’s can be harsh so it’s not surprising that this hearty ramen originated there. Traditionally made with fish or poultry stock, I’ve upped the ante with a southern Japanese Tonkotsu stock made with a combination of pork and chicken. I started this one with my Tonkotsu Base (which I now make in large quantities and freeze), then layered on the nutty flavours of miso and tahini. To finish it off, I grated a dried scallop on top of each bowl imbuing each bite with just a bit more umami paired with the briny sweetness of the sea.
One of my favourite toppings for miso ramen is garlic chive mixed with some sesame oil and tobanjan (spicy bean paste), but it’s also very good with buttered corn, as well as some of the more traditional ramen toppings such as pork, menma, and eggs.
Units
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups Tonkotsu Base
- 2 tablespoons miso
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 2 cloves garlic grated
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoons pork fat minced (it's easier to mince when it's cold)
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds ground
- ½ batch fresh ramen noodles
toppings:
- scallions (optional)
- chashu (optional)
- garlic (optional)
- chives (optional)
- cabbage (optional)
- sweet corn (optional)
- soy sauce egg (optional)
- menma (optional)
- 2 large dried scallops (optional)
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, heat the Tonkotsu Base. Combine the miso, tahini, sesame oil, and garlic in small bowl, then whisk in the water. Pour this mixture into the hot Tonkotsu Base and whisk together. When it is smooth and creamy and there are no chunks left, add the minced pork fat and whisk it in. Taste for salt and add salt to taste. If the broth is too concentrated for your tastes, you can thin it out with water.
- Split the cooked noodles between two bowls. Add the ground sesame seeds to the tonkotsu soup and whisk one last time before pouring over the noodles. Top with desired toppings and grate some dried scallop over each bowl using a microplane.
- Serve immediately.
Rayosmond says
I’ll marry you!
juju says
It would be great if you could experiment with a vegetarian ramen broth. Tonkotsu ramen is the only thing stopping me from becoming full vegetarian, and I would love to see an alternative to the meat-based broths. I had a miso-based one with mushrooms that was pretty good….do you know of a recipe?
Marc Matsumoto says
It’s obviously not going to taste the same as a broth made with pork marrow, but you can make a good dashi with good quality kombu, daikon peel, dried soy beans, and maitake mushrooms. To make it creamy you can add tahini and soy milk.
ATB says
Hello Marc,
I really excited with Hokkaido style spicy Tonkotsu. Could you share the true Hokkaido style recipe that same taste, flavor like Santouka ramen ? Tks so much.
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi ATB, I live in Sapporo and although Santouka is originally from here, it’s not really typical Hokkaido style ramen, the broth is much lighter that some of the places that are popular here now. It’s been a while since I’ve had a bowl of Santouka’s ramen, but I think there’s a lot less collagen in their stock (no trotters) and they put a lot of ground sesame in their soup.
ATB says
Thank for your reply, Marc san. One more question. Can you share the way How do you do spicy miso flavor that add to Tonkotsu soup base ? Tks you so much.
ATB says
and what is the ingredient to make Shio and Shoyu flavor ?
Marc Matsumoto says
There are a number of ways you can make ramen spicy such as adding chili powder (gochugaru works well), or chili paste (such as doubanjiang). Check out this post for a spicy ramen: https://norecipes.com/blog/kimchi-ramyeon-recipe/
Marc Matsumoto says
Shio means salt and shoyu means soy sauce. Typically most places start with the same broth and then have a mixture of miso with some other ingredients, salt with some other ingredients and soy sauce with some other ingredients that they add to the broth to make the final soup.
ATB says
Hi Marc san,
The keyword that used in ramen shop, Nankotsu , what does it mean ? Is it chicken bone ? or cartilage of chicken ? or pork bone ?
Tks.
ATB says
Tks Marc san. I understand Shio means salt. But sometime I order the shio flavor and I saw the ramen chef add to my bowl firstly with the oil for ramen and then the another liquid that same color of soy sauce but it’s not soy sauce. The question I would like to ask you is what kind of salt used and the process to make Shio flavor like a ramen shop ? Can you sharing your Shio flavor recipe ?
Once more time, I appreciate for your sharing.
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi ATB, every ramen shop has their own specific formula that goes into each type of ramen and it’s a closely guarded secret (many ramen shop owners won’t share their sauce recipe with their own employees). Ingredients can include dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, garlic, garlic oil, ginger, caramelized scallions, sesame oil, white pepper, chashu braising liquid, lard, MSG, dashi concentrate, butter, sugar, soy milk, neri-goma (sesame butter), ground sesame seeds, scallop powder, scallop concentrate, oyster sauce, chili oil, pork stock concentrate, vinegar, etc… I’m more of a fan of tonkotsu and miso style ramen which tend to be more kotteri (rich), so I’ve never been a big fan of Shio or Shoyu which are generally more assari(light).
Marc Matsumoto says
Nankotsu simply means cartilage.
banana says
i want to thank you for this. i almost gave up making ramen as many requires 2 days preparation!
superelastic says
Hi Marc – When I made the Chashu and refrigerated the retained braising liquid, there was a creamy smooth layer of white fat on top, almost like butter. My “cooking instinct” is telling me to omit the pork fat in the recipe above, and instead use the fat from the braise liquid. Is that a bad idea? I suspect it would emulsify much more readily. I should mention that I used pork belly for the chashu, could not get the beautiful pork cheek that you used.