Chris Toy returned to our kitchen to show us how to make a slurp-worthy dish from his latest cookbook, Ramen Made Simple which is a step-by-step guide to this noodle dish. He talked about how to make homemade bowls of rich broth and how it’s important to be as noisy as possible while slurping up the delicious ramen noodles.
Signed copies of Ramen Made Simple are available for purchase at Now You’re Cooking. Chris will also be at our Spring into Summer tent sale on Saturday, May 15 from 10am–Noon personalizing his cookbooks—he now has 4 to choose from, Vegetable Stir-Fry just dropped today!
Homemade Ramen Noodles
Makes enough for 4 bowls | Prep Time: 1 hour | Cook Time: 2 minutes
1 C Bread Flour
¼ C Warm Water
1 Tbsp Kosher Salt
1 Tbsp Kansui
In a food processor, combine the flour, water, salt, and kansui and pulse until the mixture forms small pellets of dough similar to uncooked couscous. The pellets should not stick together until a pinch of the dough is pressed between your thumb and forefinger. This should take about 5 minutes. If you don’t have a food processor, mix the ingredients in a metal bowl and knead until it is smooth and does not stick to your hands, about 20 minutes.
Place the dough in a plastic bag or wrap it in plastic. Let it rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.
Divide the dough into two balls. Flatten one with the palm of your hand. Use a pasta machine to roll and cut the dough to your desired thickness and width. Start with the thickest setting and run the dough through twice at each setting, folding the dough in half each time. Rolling and folding the dough with the machine kneads the dough much faster because the rollers exert much more force than your hands. The dough will break up at first but will smooth out as you continue reducing the thickness and folding. If you don’t have a pasta machine, you can knead and roll by hand, but it’s harder, as the dough is very dense. You can make the dough a little softer by increasing the water a bit. Flouring the board as you roll the softer dough will help firm it up as the dough gets thinner.
To cook, heat a large stockpot full of water over high heat and boil the noodles for 1 to 2 minutes. Drain and serve immediately.
Ajitama Eggs
Makes 4 eggs | Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 9 minutes, plus overnight to marinate
3 C Water
4 Eggs, at room temperature
3 C Ice Water
1 C Soy Sauce
¼ C Mirin
2 Tbsp Dark Brown Sugar, packed
In a medium pot over high heat, bring enough water to cover the eggs by 1 inch to a boil. Gently lower the eggs into the boiling water and cook for 5-9 minutes, depending on the size of the eggs.
Remove the eggs and immediately put them into a bowl with the ice water to stop the cooking process.
In a medium bowl, combine the soy sauce, mirin, and brown sugar. Once cooled, peel the eggs and marinate them in the soy sauce mixture. Cover the bowl with a paper towel; refrigerate overnight.
Halve the eggs before adding them to the ramen bowls.
Miso Tare
Makes enough for 4 bowls (about ½ cup) | Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 5 minutes
½ Cup White Miso
1 Tbsp (1-inch piece) Fresh Ginger, unpeeled, crushed, and chopped
3 Garlic Cloves, crushed and chopped
2 Tbsp Tamari or Soy Sauce
¼ C Mirin
1 Tsp Spicy Sesame Oil
In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the miso, ginger, garlic, tamari, mirin, and sesame oil.
Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes until everything is evenly mixed. Serve.
