Ramen Burgers

[annabelle]

Thanks!

[huiray]

http://www.trademarkia.com/ramen-burger-86027910.html

http://www.goramen.com/

http://chicago.eater.com/archives/2013/09/16/opening-tonight-new-burger-bar-offers-ramen-burger.php

[heidih]

I have to admit the concept does not appeal to me at all, but......it is fun to watch others have a go at it.

Today Serious Eats featured ramen as pizza crust - using the word pizza more than loosely http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2013/09/how-to-make-ramen-crust-pizza.html?ref=excerpt_readmore

[teagal]

Thanks Glorified Rice for your detailed instructions. Made them for dinner tonite and I am a believer. My husband not so much! The texture is great, and as a noodle lover I was quite happy. Definitely messy, but worth it.

[sandrew834]

I loved these ramen burgers! I included one of the seasoning packets in with the noodles and they had TONS of flavor. I also mixed the chopped green onions into patty. So delicious - and not really a burger as much as a mix of all those incredible Japanese flavors: soy, sesame, onion, and noodles. Surprisingly tasty!

[Shelby]

Another ramen burger link:

http://peegaw.tumblr.com/post/61187393966/making-ramen-burger

I still haven't tried to make this. But, someday I will. Oh yes, I will.

[David Hensley]

I was just thinking that I'd also like to revisit the idea....maybe some pics this time...lol

[MRE]

I'm really intrigued with ramen noodle bun (lot's of possibilities). My suspicion though is that their buns aren't made with the dried noodles from packets that my teens seem to thrive on, but with fresh ramen noodles. From the video, and pictures that I viewed, the buns seem to be cooked like the Shanghai style pan fried noodles commonly served in Chinese restaurants. The fresh noodles are briefly cooked in boiling water, drained, rinsed, and tossed with a little oil, (I'll shape and chill them until I'm ready cook). I'll cook them pretty much in the way I'd make hash browns. A little oil on the griddle, don't touch them until they are nice and golden crispy on the bottom, turn them, and brown the other side. I need to stop by my local Mitsuwa and pick up the noodles this afternoon. I'll report back with my results.

[annabelle]

Shelby, I think that's the best one yet. I may actually break down and make one.

[MRE]

I did a little more Googling and found Ramen Burger's FaceBook page: https://www.facebook.com/RamenBurger Keizo Shiamoto readily divulges his meat and noodle sources.

He uses fresh noodles from Sun Noodles, who makes ramen noodles for just about every ramen shop in the US. Here's a link to a Serious Eats story on Sun. The slide show is really informative. I always wanted to know how they got the waves in the ramen noodles and now I do.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/09/behind-the-scenes-sun-noodle-ramen-factory-la.html

I picked up noodles at Mitsuwa earlier today and have them formed and chilling in the fridge. I'll cook them up sometime this evening. If they work out ok I'll do the complete package tomorrow.

[huiray]

If one looks at the goramen.com link I posted above (the second hyperlink) and clicks on the "Ramen Dreams Short" link in the menu bar at the top of the landing page one goes to Keizo Shimamota's website and a video showing his passion for ramen - and shots of what goes into that broth used for a bowl of ramen!! His Facebook page is also linked to from that webpage. Oh, under 'Popular Posts' is a link to "Ramen Burger^TM Debut" which has, at the bottom of that webpage, "thanks" being given to Sun Noodles and Burger Maker, which pretty much tells one what he used. ;-)

[MRE]

My initial attempt didn't yield the tightly bound noodle bun that I hoped for. It was repurposed into breakfast:

Edited October 30, 2013 by MRE (log)

[MRE]

Here's what I put together this morning:

Chilled bun ready to griddle.

Another look.

Fresh off the griddle.

Teriyaki glazed chicken, bread & butter pickles, furukaki, lettuce, and scallions on a ramen bun.

[GlorifiedRice]

http://www.eonline.com/news/450975/is-the-ramen-burger-the-new-cronut-here-s-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-latest-food-craze

Yeah but in that official pic you can clearly see that the noodles are vivid yellow from egg, i dont think the type of noodle matters as much as using egg to bind...

MRE? I assume that stuck together? Was it too crunchy?

ps- How bout that Guy Fieri today huh? lol

[MRE]

GlorifiedRice, they did stick together quite nicely. Crisp on the outside, and soft & chewy inside. I didn't use any egg as a binder. I cooked the fresh ramen in salted, boiling water for 3 - 4 minutes, drained, and then immediately pressed into the ramekins (very lightly rubbed with black sesame oil). I let them cool, and then wrapped and left them in the fridge over night. They were pretty nice little hockey pucks when they came out, and were easy to handle and cook. One thing that I noticed though is the noodles didn't soak up any of the chicken juices (like a bread bun would), and so the sandwich can get soggy on the bottom. Wrapping in paper is probably a must.

The yellow shade of RB's noodles may be from egg yolks, but often lye water is added to the dough which gives the noodles a yellow color and stretchiness that we want in ramen. I'm fortunate to live in San Jose, and we have numerous large Asian food stores here. The choices in fresh noodles available is considerable. From my experience I don't really find much difference between those that are deeper in color than the lighter ones. Next time I'll get some of the more yellow ones, and give them a go.

A friend suggested that I try using rice noodles for a gluten free version. I've got some rice sticks around that I use for pad thai and I'm going to give it a try. I can't imagine why it wouldn't work.

[GlorifiedRice]

[heidih]

I have no desire for one but saw that L & L has them now when I rifled through the weekly circulars.

 

http://blogs.ocweekly.com/stickaforkinit/2014/04/ramen_burgers_l_l_hawaiian_barbecue.php

[MRE]

I was in San Francisco's Japantown this weekend to take my daughter and her friend to the J-Pop Festival. As a part of the festival they were featuring a ramen festival as well. They were had four different ramen shops set-up out on the street. Three were from LA, and the fourth was from Japan. Lines were two blocks long, and the wait was anywhere from 2-4 hours. I tried one line but gave it up pretty quickly. Good ramen is not hard to find in San Jose, where I live, so I found good food without the wait at one of Japantown's other restaurants. 

 

One of the booths was featuring a ramen burger. I made my way behind the booth to get a good look at what they were doing. Pretty much as some of us speculated, the ramen was fresh, cooked and pressed into a mold, left to set, and then grilled on a flat top as needed. They looked pretty good.

 

Thinking about these this morning made me want to try something different. I had a package of ramen in the fridge, so I made my buns, and decided to fill the bun with tuna salad. It was really good. The crunch and the chew of the ramen bun really went well the tuna. 

 

I think that the next thing that I'm going to try is a burger made from my pork and shrimp pot stickier filling, glazed with teriyaki sauce, served with arugula and homemade bread & butter pickles.

 

 

- Mike

Edited July 24, 2014 by MRE (log)