Hey guys,
A long time ago, while sitting in the office 3D modeling things for a video game, a coworker asked me a question.
- Dude, do you want to go to lunch? Im hungry.
- Man, its only 11am. - I said
- Trust me, we need to get there before the line gets big. Have you ever had ramen?
HA HA - I laughed
- No man, seriously. Have you ever had real ramen? Not that instant crap.
Things were never the same after that trip to a real ramen place in San Jose, Ca.
Addiction started instantly.
Well fast forward 12 years, here I am making ramen at least 3 times a month. As some of you might know, there are only 4-5 main types of ramen out there made freshly.
Shio - Seasalt base
Shoyu - Soy sauce based
Tonkatsu - Pork based
Miso - pretty self explanatory 
Each one of those has sooo many varieties through out areas of Japan its crazy. I must say my favorite one is the classic SHOYU, soy sauce based ramen.
Today I decided to make it from scratch, and show you how I do it.
If you have a good Asian style market near you, be sure to visit it for some of the ingredients. However you dont really need to. I've seen similar ingredients at regular grocery stores that will work just fine.
Shoyu ramen is usually made with 3 main parts.
1. The soup Base - your broth
2. Sauce Base (Tare) - together with pork chashu
3. Topings
Of course the noodles should be fresh if possible. If you cant find fresh ramen noodles, seriously them instant ramen noodles will work just fine
I just went shopping and bought all this at a Japanese grocery store we have here in California called Mitsuwa. Here is all you will need for the soup
So lets start with the first part. The Soup Base
For the soup base I prefer chicken. Thighs, legs, backs, necks will work perfectly. For the aromatics we go with simple
1. Ginger
2. Onion
3. Green Onion
4. Dry Shitake mushrooms (any mushrooms will do)
5. Kombu (dry kelp), dry seaweed will work too. But not roasted Nori !!!
6. Katsuobushi (this is dry skipjack tuna flakes), your regular grocery store should have Bonito flakes. Which is basically dry smoked tuna flakes.
7. Dry Sardines (dont have to use those at all if you cant find them) they add a very nice salty seafood touch to the broth
If you do manage get some Kombu (kelp), make sure to soak it in hot (not boiling) water for 15 minutes, and then wash it with cold water.
Get plenty of good clean water, and add chicken, and all the aromatics listed above. Let it simmer for 3 hours on medium heat. Try not to stir it hehehe.
Add 2-3 tablespoons of Sake, any sake will do. Just not fruit flavored.
3-4 hours, let the magic of time do its ... wait I already used the word magic you know what I mean. Dont touch it for 3 hours at least.
Now I will go and make TARE (Sauce Base), and will be back with photos in just a few minutes.
Stay tuned here for PART 2
