While I’d never knock a pack of store-bought ramen, it doesn’t exactly make for the fanciest of dinners when you need to impress. When you really want to show your skills in the kitchen and satisfy your dinner guests, few dinners can top homemade ramen. That being said, I’m not going to lie: making ramen from scratch requires time, patience, and a fair amount of effort. It can be a multi-day affair, and if you simply don’t have time for it, it can seem very intimidating. I’m here to help, though.
This shoyu ramen recipe calls for making four important components: dashi and tare for the soup base, and nitamago (marinated eggs) and chashu (pork belly) as showstopping toppings. You can certainly eat a decent bowl of noodles without one or two of these players, but man, oh man, magic happens when they all come together in one bite. Trust me—your patience will be thoroughly rewarded after one spoonful of this homemade ramen. Here’s everything you need to know:
What People Are Saying:
“This recipe is so good! It has been in a constant rotation in our go-to recipes since I came across it! I use scotch fillet steaks, and is loved by everyone that tries it! 5 stars!” – lsg1378
“Absolutely love this recipe! It’s easy enough to do in a couple of hours and doesn’t take any hard-to-find ingredients. The flavor is wonderful, and everyone raves about it! I’ve also made it with chicken instead of pork a couple of times, and that is wonderful as well. Thank you for this.” – rockintardis
How To Make Homemade Ramen
INGREDIENTS
• Chicken Dashi: This is a simple, clear stock usually made with kombu (kelp), katsuobushi (dried fish shavings, aka bonito flakes). Making this takes just minutes because we don’t want to over-extract the intense flavors of these umami-rich ingredients, but if you need an even quicker version, many stores today carry an instant powder variety called Hon Dashi: Just add it to hot broth or water, and you’re good to go.
• Tare: Called the soul of ramen by some, tare is essentially a flavored, concentrated soy sauce. We will be making this once and using it three different ways: as braising liquid for the pork belly, as marinade for the eggs, and as seasoning for the soup.
• Chashu: This is braised pork belly, aka a little slice of heaven for my non-kosher friends. Seared, then cooked gently and slowly in our tare mix, it might quite possibly be the most melt-in-your-mouth pork experience you’ll ever have. Pork belly with skin on is the best cut to use, but if you can’t find that at your local butcher, pork shoulder will do just fine.
• Nitamago: There is nothing more awe-inspiring than an egg done well. In this case, the eggs are soft-boiled, peeled, and left to chill in our tare marinade overnight, for 6 to 12 hours.
• La-yu: This ingredient is a bonus for my garlic-loving spice heads, and it’s totally optional. Inspired by my favorite ramen condiment, found at Chuko in Brooklyn, this is a take on Japanese chili oil with savory pieces of garlic confit gummies and tiny pops of sesame. Just when you thought it couldn’t get better!
• Ramen Noodles: Use your favorite fresh ramen noodles here.
STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS
To make the dashi, bring chicken broth up to a simmer in a pot, then once up to a simmer, remove from heat, let cool for 2 minutes, and then add the mushrooms and kombu. Once they are in for about 5 minutes, add in the bonito flakes, and steep for around 5 minutes. We want to stagger the ingredients so that all of the very pungent, aromatic ingredients don’t add an overwhelming flavor to the broth. Strain everything out, then reserve all of the solids to use in the ramen later.
Blanch the pork belly by adding it to a pot, covering with water, then bringing it to a simmer, and draining the water immediately. We don’t want to cook the meat; we just want to remove some of the not-as-fresh parts. Take the meat off the heat, drain it, and give it a quick rinse once done.
To make the tare and chashu, add low-sodium soy sauce to a pot with the rest of your tare ingredients, and bring to a simmer. Once it is simmering, turn the heat to low, and add the pork. Cover, and let it cook on a low simmer until the pork is completely tender. You want to cook as slowly and gently as possible so that the meat stays tender and melt-in-your-mouth good. Check back occasionally, and give the pork a little turn as needed. To check if it is perfectly tender, I like to use a cake tester to check the tenderness. If it slides in very smoothly (think butter), then it is good to go. Remove the pork once it cools down slightly and let it cool completely before slicing, and reserve the tare for later.
To make the nitamago, make jammy boiled eggs by boiling for around 6 minutes, then peeling them carefully. Place the peeled eggs in a bowl, and pour the strained, reserved tare over the eggs. Add the kombu as a cover to weigh down the eggs, then let them sit in the fridge for 4-12 hours.
Now, we’re going to make the chili oil by adding oil and the mountain of garlic to a pot— bring to a simmer, and keep a close eye on it. Remove from the heat once it has started to reach a golden color, then add the ground chili or chili flakes. Let it rest for around 2 minutes—until the oil is nice and red—then stir in the sesame. Once cooled completely, store refrigerated in an airtight container for around 2 weeks.
After making your noodles and slicing your pork belly, all you have to do is assemble! Add your noodles to the bowl, pour over the dashi, add some spoonfuls of tare, slice and add your eggs and pork belly, and add your toppings! I went with green onions, homemade chili oil, and nori.
Full list of ingredients & instructions can be found in the recipe below.
Recipe Tips
- Don’t skimp on the ingredients. This is a fairly intensive recipe, and one where you will likely need to run to the store in order to acquire all the ingredients. With this in mind, you really want to take the time to select quality ingredients. Since you’re spending all the time and effort anyway, you should make sure you get the most out of your meal. Taking time to select quality ingredients, like good kombu and pork belly, will make a huge difference.
Homemade Ramen Variations
Ramen is one of those endlessly customizable dinners. While this may be the most classic, there are plenty of other options depending on your favorite flavors and proteins. Our vegan ramen with roasted red miso veggies and zoodle ramen are great ways to pack in plenty of flavor and comfort without any of the meat, while our Birria ramen just may become your new favorite fusion recipe. Not feeling like going through all the effort to make ramen from scratch? We’ve got plenty of recipes to upgrade your ramen noodles.
Storage
This recipe makes enough broth and toppings for 4 servings and keeps well in the fridge for a week, so if you’re cooking for one, it’s the perfect thing to make on a Sunday and heat up throughout the week.
