Ramen Bowls from Chef Jane Wild using Pastured Pork Bone Broths
We’re excited to partner with Houston Chef Jane Wild (we prefer to think of her as a magician!) on our bone broths. Here are a few ideas on what to cook!
SHOYU RAMEN BROTH
2 cups water
¼ ounce dried kombu 7g
¼ ounce dried bonito flakes 7g, or a lightly rounded, loosely filled ½ cup dry measure
4 cups pork bone broth
6 tablespoons soy sauce, plus more to taste
1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon mirin
INSTRUTIONS:
1. DASHI: In a medium saucepan, combine cold water and kombu; bring to simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat and stir in bonito flakes; let stand 5 minutes. Using a fine mesh strainer, strain out and discard solids (or reserve for a second use).
2. MISO RAMEN BROTH: Return liquid (dashi) to saucepan and add pork broth, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and mirin. Bring to a simmer. Serve immediately or cool and refrigerate for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 1 month.
NOTES:
You can find bonito flakes (also called katsuobushi: its shaved simmered, smoked and fermented skipjack tuna) and dried kombu online and in the Asian food section of many large grocery stores.
You can substitute any broth for pork bone broth.
For spicy miso ramen broth add 2 tablespoons or more of Sichuan chili oil/chili crisps.
You can substitute coconut aminos, aminos, gluten free soy or tahini for the soy sauce.
MISO RAMEN BROTH
Serves 4
2 cups water
¼ ounce dried kombu 7g
¼ ounce dried bonito flakes 7g, or a lightly rounded, loosely filled ½ cup dry measure (also called shaved katsuobushi)
4 cups pork broth low sodium
3 tablespoons red miso paste or more to taste
3 tablespoons white miso paste or more to taste
1 tablespoon finely grated ginger
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. DASHI: In a medium saucepan, combine cold water and kombu; bring to simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat and stir in bonito flakes; let stand 5 minutes. Using a fine mesh strainer, strain out and discard solids (or reserve for a second use).
2. MISO RAMEN BROTH: Return liquid (dashi) to saucepan and add pork broth, and ginger. Add both miso pastes to a sieve and set just below the surface of the broth; use the back of a spoon to work the miso through the sieve, dispersing it into the broth. Cook and stir over medium heat, until mixture comes to a simmer. Serve immediately with your favorite ramen bowl toppings or cool and refrigerate for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 1 month.
CHASHU PORK
Serves 6
½ cup water
½ cup soy sauce
½ cup mirin
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons coconut oil or avocado oil or other high heat, neutral flavored oil
1 pound pastured pork belly skin-on or skinless (if skin on, score the skin in a diamond pattern about 1-inch apart)
2 large garlic cloves crushed and peeled
3 green onions cut lengthwise into 2-inch pieces
2 inches fresh ginger root thinly sliced (peeled if desired)
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 250˚F.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together water, soy sauce, mirin and sugar until sugar dissolves. Set aside.
3. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a Dutch oven or other heavy, oven-safe pot until shimmering, but not quite smoking. Add pork belly and sear on all sides, about 2 minutes per side. Remove from heat.
4. Flip pork belly if needed so that the fat / skin side is down. Pour soy sauce mixture over (the liquid should come about halfway up the side - add a bit more water if it doesn't)
5. Add the garlic, green onions and ginger to liquid. Cover pot and place in the center of preheated oven. Cook for 1 ½ hours; then flip pork belly to meat side and cook 1 hour more.
6. Let pork belly cool in liquid, then transfer to a smaller container, pouring cooking liquid over the top; cover and refrigerate overnight.
7. The next day, scrape the fat off of the braising liquid and transfer pork to a cutting board. Strain solids from braising liquid and save for another use. With a sharp knife, cut into thin slices and pan fry until lightly golden in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Serve as desired.
NOTES
Use this recipe for skin-on or skinless pork belly. The main difference you'll notice is how much more fat renders from the skinless cut. Look for a thick cut of pork belly with even thickness. Very thin cuts will cook faster, and you'll need to reduce the overall cook time. I recommend checking it every 15 minutes or so once you've flipped your pork belly.
With skin-on pork belly, scoring will prevent the belly from curling and allow it to lay flat. Skinless pork belly is less likely to curl, and you can just flip it completely, following the recipe instructions. Either way, you'll need 2 ½ hours total cook time unless your pork belly is thin (see recipe note above).
Use the braising liquid to drizzle over any kind of meat or seafood, to flavor stir-fries, rice or ramen broths.
I recommend enjoying this in any Ramen bowl, but goes great on a brioche slider bun, on rice, or with steamed vegetables.
SOY SAUCE EGGS
Makes 6 eggs
6 large farm eggs
½ cup water
½ cup soy sauce (you can sub aminos, coconut aminos, gluten free tamari)
3 tablespoons mirin
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh ginger root
INSTRUCTIONS
Prepare an ice bath for the eggs.
Add enough water to a medium saucepan to cover eggs and bring to a boil; slowly lower the eggs into the boiling water to keep them from cracking. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook 7 minutes; transfer the eggs to the ice bath.
Meanwhile, combine water, soy sauce, mirin and ginger in a small saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Carefully pour mixture into a glass quart jar; set aside to cool.
When the eggs are cool enough to handle, peel by gently tapping the eggs all over on the counter or cutting board, then rolling with your palm using a gentle pressure. Starting from the bottom peel away the shell and membrane. Rinse off any tiny shell fragments with cold water.
Carefully lower the peeled eggs into the marinade; cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours and ideally 1 day before serving. For the best flavor and texture, enjoy within 3 days.
HOW TO BUILD A RAMEN BOWL
Have bowls ready to fill, ideally somewhere warm.
Cook and/or heat desired toppings (vegetables and meats) so they're ready to add to the bowl and have garnishes prepared and eggs peeled and cut in half if using.
Bring a large pot of water to boil for the noodles (you can also use this to blanch vegetables if you like).
While the noodle water comes to boil, heat broth in a separate pan to simmer.
Drop fresh ramen noodles into boiling water to cook for 2 minutes (dried ramen noodles for 4 minutes).
Ladle broth into bowls (~12 ounces / 1 ½-cups per bowl).
Drain noodles well and divide among bowls.
Arrange hot garnishes like, Chashu Pork and cooked vegetables near the side of the bowl and nestle in egg halves.
Drizzle with seasoned oil around the bowl if using.
Finish with sprinkled seasonings, finely sliced green onion and/or nori if desired and serve immediately.