Ramen with David Chang

I love Ramen!! Any and every-type of Ramen out there! This isn't the time or place to go into a discussion on all the wonderful types of Ramen out there, they're never ending it seems! But, we well however go over the process of making Ramen from start to finish.

Noodles

The type of noodle

There is a very specific type of noodle used in making Ramen: Alkaline!

                      INGREDIENTS

                      3 C (400g) all-purpose flour

                      4 t baked soda

                       1/2 C (100g) warm tap water

                      2 C (100g) cold tap water

making the noodle

1. 
   1: To make baked soda: Spread a half-cup of baking soda on a foil-lined sheet pan. Pop it in a 250°F oven or toaster oven for 1 hour. Store extra baked soda in a jar with a lid indefinitely.
2. 
   2: Put the warm water in a large mixing bowl. Dissolve the soda in it, then add the cold water. Add the flour, stirring and mixing to form a crumbly, pebbly alliance—not exactly a nice dough.
3. 
   3: Turn that crumbly dough out onto a work surface. Knead it together, working the dough for 5 full minutes. (It will be a tougher sparring partner than any flour dough you’ve ever tried to make.) Wrap the dough in plastic and let it rest at room temperature for 20 minutes, then knead for another 5 minutes. (You will curse and sweat.) Re-wrap the dough and put it in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
4. 4: Divide the dough into five or six portions. Roll each portion out using a pasta machine (Italian-made is fine). Progress through the thickness settings one by one. The final thickness of the noodles is up to you, as is the width and shape into which you cut them. I like taking the dough to the second-thinnest setting, then either finely hand-cutting them or cutting them through the finer of the two cutters that came with my machine. Keep the noodles well floured to prevent them from sticking.

Cooking the noodle

5: Cook the noodles in a deep pot with plenty of water. Noodles cut on the thinnest setting will only need two and a half or three minutes to cook. Check the noodles regularly while they’re cooking; if they stick together, rinse them under cold water immediately after straining them from the pot to stop the cooking and rinse off any excess starch.

Broth:

We're going to go with a Tonkotsu-style Broth.

                       INGREDIENTS                  
                       6 liters of Water
                      2 pieces of Kombu/Konbu
                      80g of Dried Shiitake Mushrooms
                      1.8-2kg of Chicken
                      2.5kg of Pork Bones
                      450g-500g of Smoky Bacon
                      5-6 stalks of Spring Onions
                      1 medium sized Onion
                      2 large sized Carrots

Making the broth

1: Add Kombu into water in a large stockpot and bring it to a simmer under high heat. Turn heat off and let the seaweed steep for 10 minutes to allow flavors to infuse. Remove all seaweed and add Shiitake mushrooms into the stockpot. Bring water back to a boil, and reduce heat to gently simmer for 30 minutes. While simmering, preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

2: Remove Shiitake mushrooms from the stockpot
Add the chicken into your stockpot and leave broth on a gentle simmer. Remove any scum that rises to the surface of the broth. You can add additional water to keep the chicken covered. Keep simmering for about 1 hour.

3: While your chicken is simmering, put your pork bones in a roasting pan and place them into the oven for 1 hour (turn them over after 30 minutes to ensure an even browning on both sides).

4: After 1 hour, check that the chicken meat pulls away easily from the bone. If it does, remove the chicken from the broth. If not, continue to simmer until you achieve what is required.

5: Once you’ve removed the chicken, add the browned pork bones (from the oven) as well as the smoky bacon. Continue to heat at a gentle simmer and remove any scum that surfaces. After around 45 mins, remove the bacon.

6: gently simmer the broth for 6 to 7 hours or as much time as you can (it is recommended that you stop replenishing water after the 5th hour)

7: Add the spring onions, carrots and onions into the stockpot and simmer for the final 45 minutes. Remove all pork bones and vegetables from the stockpot. Strain the broth through a very fine sieves The broth can be used at this stage (with the tare, of course) or you can reduce it by half over high heat and keep them in containers.

Bowls:

What kind of bowls should I use?

Well, this is an easy one! Ramen bowls! preferably Japanese style one, 

These bowls are generally characterized as wider, and average depth.