Ramen Romance

There are many wonderful things about life and one of those wonderful things is a bowl of ramen. It might seem an intimidating task to make a broth from scratch, but rest assured this is a simple recipe that will bring a glorious bowl of noodles and delectable broth one step closer to your table and tummy. 

Over the years I have eaten ramen at way too many different places and probably tried about 20 different methods for making ramen. After simmering those all down, I have come up with the one that yields the most flavour with the least effort. It’s a pretty big win,  if you ask me. 

Ramen is a combination of a rich broth that is seasoned with tare. Tare is defined as a dipping sauce – but for ramen it acts as both best friend and seasoning. However, in my recipe I keep it simple and just use the sauce left over from the soy eggs as the tare. You can also use additional soy sauce or miso to continue to enhance the flavour to your liking. Wahoo! 

The key to this recipe is wonderful pork trotters, and delightful pork bones – just give them a good roast, a long light boil, and my friend – in 12 hours you will have the delicious, healthy base for one tasty bowl of ramen .

Bonus Points: What I like about this recipe is that is has a rich and versatile flavour – I like to add this broth to mashed potatoes, stews, and roasts for an elevated flavour experience. It truly offers that cozy feeling we all look for in a good winter meal. 

Broth Ingredients:
1 pack of pork trotters 
1 pack of pork bones
2 medium onions – quartered – keep the skins on but clean off any dirt)
1 leek – quartered and rinsed
1 or 2 heads of garlic – separated
*I keep a bag of veggie scraps in my fridge from any time I use onion and garlic (which is a lot) – this is a great time to use those up too 

Feel free to get creative and add other additions to the lineup: ginger, green onions, dried mushrooms, dried chilis, etc – if it feels good, try it out! 

Day Before:

Start broth the morning of the day before you want to have ramen – This will insure you have ample time to simmer the broth. 

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. Rinse trotters under water to remove any debris. 
3. Spread trotters and bones onto a large rimmed baking sheet – Make sure they are well spaced so they can roast and not steam – use two pans if needed. Roast for 30 minutes (45 minutes if using two pans).
4. Add onions, leeks and garlic to pan and continue to roast for 30 more minutes. 
5. Once bones and vegetables appear nicely browned all over, remove from the oven (approximately 1 hour total).
6. Place bones and vegetables in a large stock pot and fill with cold water. They should be fully submerged and covered by 3 inches or more of water.
7. Heat the stock pot to medium high and bring to a medium boil, then lower the temperature and simmer for 12 hours. 
8. Strain the broth and let it cool overnight.

Day Of:

1. Make soy eggs (ideally 4 to 6 hours before eating).
2. Skim fat off the top of the broth and keep it in a small mason jar – this is great for cooking and to add back into individual bowls of ramen. 
3. Reheat the broth. Prepare the noodles of your choice in a separate pot. 
4. Season your broth with the sauce from the soy eggs. Add additional soy or miso to your liking
5. Place noodles in a large serving dish. Fill your bowl with noodles, eggs and all your favourite toppings. I like diced leek and sauteed greens, but you can also easily add any meat or veggies. Up on the ranch we tend to just use up whatever meat we might have kicking around – leftover roasted chicken or thinly sliced veal or pork roasts, tossed with soy sauce, are always winners.