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[RECIPE] BASIC SHOYU (SOY SAUCE) RAMEN RECIPE

March 02, 2017

Ramen is on my mind 24/7 and sometimes I forget to stop

and smell the roses. My mind has running at a 100 miles
per hour trying to make complex and unique ramen, but
sometimes the best bowl of ramen is one that is
recognizable with simple and straight forward flavors. That
is why this weekend I took a step back and made a
Tokyo's signature bowl of Shoyu Ramen.

Tokyo Ramen's roots dates back to 1910 with Rairaiken,

which is said to be the first Ramen restaurant in Japan. It
was made by a Chinese cook who used hand kneaded
and pulled noodles with Chari Siu and Menma. The basic
idea of Tokyo Ramen is a light soy sauce based soup that Fight ! Kikkoman
is transparent. The stock is typically made up of a
Japanese type dashi stock with a katsuobushi base and
soy sauce. Some will argue shoyu is the best of the flavors
like these Kikkoman lovers...

Up until this weekend, Shoyu Ramen was my least favorite of Ramen. This was most likely because I have a lot of
mediocre to bad bowls of Shoyu Ramen. Of the bowls that I have had, the great Shoyu ramen that stand out fall into three
categories:

(1) Shoyu Forward - The chef showcases the high quality

soy sauce in the bowl or ramen. The soy flavor hits you
with a big impact, it pulls away to let in the other
ingredients, and leaves you a shoyu after taste.

(2) Fish/Niboshi Forward - Fish is one ingredient that is

used in all of Japanese cuisine and has a strong affinity to
soy sauce. With a fish forward broth, you get punched
with a fishy umami goodness followed by soy sauce
flavors.

(3) Well Rounded Flavors - I like to think of this broth as

the Mario of ramens. For those of you who have played a
lot of Nintendo games, Mario is always the character with
the most balanced skill set. In Mario Kart, he will have
average acceleration, max speed, and weight. It Mario
Tennis, he will have average power, spin and control. A
good well balanced broth will balance the flavors almost
to the point where it is hard to discern where one flavor
starts and another ends.

SIMPLE AND BASIC SHOYU RAMEN

Ramen is complicated, but it doesn't take much to make delicious ramen. This simple recipe breaks it down to the 5 basic
components as outlined in my Ramen Basics.

Dashi Stock (8 servings): DASHI:

2 liter of filtered water (or about 2 qt)
4 (3-inch) square pieces of kombu (about 20 g) 1. Soak your kombu in your water the night before or
30 grams (1 oz) of Katsuobushi (bonito flakes) at least 4 hours. If you are pressed for time, you can
increase your cook time.
Chashu Marinade/Shoyu Tare: 2. We are going to keep things simple and make a
1-1/2 cups (600 g) soy sauce baisc dashi. Place your kombu and water
3/4 cups (300 g) mirin combination into a box and set to high heat. Bring
3/4 cups (300 g) sake the temperature of the water to 175 degrees F (80
1 tbsp brown sugar degrees C) then reduce the heat to the lowest
8 cloves of garlic setting. If you do not have a thermometer, heat until
1 piece of ginger two inches long - sliced the water is just about to bubble at the bottom of
1.5 to 2 lbs of pork belly or pork shoulder the pot. If the temperature is too high you will get a
slimy texture with your dashi. Let the kombu soak
Garlic Oil: for at least 15 minutes. 1 hour is the ideal time to
1/2 cup of a neutral oil (canola, grapeseed, etc) extra the most out of your kombu.
4 cloves of garlic (sliced) 3. Remove the kombu and add your katsuobushi and
give it a good stir. Make sure that your water is still
Toppings: around 175 degrees F. At this point you can turn off
Eggs your stove and let the katsuobushi steep for 10
Green Onions minutes. After the time has past, strain the liquids
Seaweed but be sure not to press on the katsuobushi too
much or you can get bitter flavors.
Noodles:
Fresh Noodles from your local Asian grocery or CHASHU/TARE:
homemade (recipe coming soon)
1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees F (95 degrees C).
2. Heat an oven safe pot that will barely contain your
meat on high heat with a dollop of oil. You want the
meat to be snug in your pot to reduce the marinade
needed to cover the top. Sear meat on all sides to
give it a nice brown. This will start the maillard
reaction and help develop flavors.
3. While your meat is searing, add all of your liquid
ingredients together with the sugar. Once you have
seared your meat, add this mixture to your pot with
garlic and green onions. Bring the liquid almost up
to a boil then place your pot in the oven for 2.5 to 3
hrs or until your meat is tender.
4. Strain the marinade to use as your tare.

GARLIC OIL:

1. Thinly slice your garlic and place into a small pot

with your 1/2 cup of oil. Set the heat to low and
slowly fry the garlic. Keep an eye on the garlic as it
can easily burn. When the garlic turns golden
brown, remove from the heat and set aside.

TOPPINGS:

1. In addition to the chashu you made, toppings are

really your choice. Typical toppings are eggs, green
onions, seaweed, bamboo shoots, and naruto (the
white fish cake with a pink swirl.
2. For my eggs I poke a hole in the flat end of the egg
with a push pin. This will help get the shell off more
easily. I place them in a steaming tray and steam
them for 7 minutes. Steaming is my preferred
method as you can steam a large quantity of eggs
at the same time. When you add eggs to boiling
water, you drop the temperature which often stops
the boil. Cool your eggs and peel them. You can
marinate them in the shoyu tare for an hour if you
like the flavor your egg.

SHOYU RAMEN:

1. For each bowl, add 1 tbsp of garlic oil, 1 cup of

dashi (245 g), and up to 1/3 cup of shoyu tare (80
g). The amount of tare you add will depend on the
soy sauce that you use and the amount that your
tare has reduced. If you are making multiple bowls
at once, you can slowly add your shoyu tare to your
dashi until it is salty enough for you. It is always
better to under season than to over season. *Always
add the oil the bowl and never directly to your
broth. If you boil the broth with the oil in it, it will
suspend the fat into the liquid which will make your
soup cloudy. You want a nice layer of fat on the top
of your broth to help insulate it and to coat the
noodles.
2. Boil your noodles per the manufacturer's direction.
Typically 2-3 minutes for fresh noodles.
3. Add your toppings to your hearts content.
4. Enjoy!

 David Chan /  12 Comments 7 Likes Share

 Recipe
 Shoyu, Ramen, Recipe

 PORCINI AND PARMESAN DASHI [RAMEN THOUGHTS]MISO MONDAY RESEARCH 

Comments (12) Newest First

Preview POST COMMENT…

Tim Perez 5 years ago · 0 Likes

Hey David,

Could you make a list of some essential ramen equipment ever home cook should have in order to experiment
with new recipes in the future?

Much appreciated for the recipe, will be trying this out soon!

David Chan 5 years ago · 0 Likes

Hey Tim! That's a good idea. I'll add try and make a post about equipment soon! I am planning to share
another shoyu ramen recipe, so keep an eye out for that too.

EW 5 years ago · 0 Likes

I tried this recipe yesterday and it turned out awesome! I was wondering if the chashu marinade can be reused to
marinate pork again for another meal?

David Chan 5 years ago · 0 Likes

Yes! You can definitely reuse the marinade. I usually refrigerate or freeze it for future use if I have room. I just
strain the solids out.

EW 5 years ago · 0 Likes

Thanks! If hate to waste that “umami-full” marinating liquid.

One last question - how long do you store it typically before it goes bad?

David Chan 5 years ago · 0 Likes

I would store it in the fridge for maybe up to a week. You can boil it every once and a while
to keep it safe. You can keep it indefinitely in the freezer, but after 6 months of a year, I can
imagine the flavor might not be the same.

I also use the marinade as a sauce in stir frys or soup if you need another use for it.

Rena 6 years ago · 0 Likes

Hi! Is there a video of this? I think this is feasible for me to try, but I also want to see more of it to be confident in
making it :)

David Chan 6 years ago · 0 Likes

There isn't a video of this yet, but please try it and let me know how it goes.

JH 6 years ago · 0 Likes

Do you leave the cover on in the oven?

David Chan 6 years ago · 0 Likes

If you can cover the meat and turn it over regularly. Maybe every 30 mins.

Hirai 6 years ago · 0 Likes

What type of soy sauce do you recommend? Dark or light?

David Chan 6 years ago · 0 Likes

I would do a combination of the two. Light soy sauce is saltier than Dark, but Dark soy sauce has a rich and
sweeter flavor and will add a nice color to your broth.

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