Go to the Recipe: Super Soup Ramen Stock
I'm interested to understand why you chose to construct this from a blonde stock, and not a brown stock? wouldn't the exact same recipe work better with roasted bones/meat ? Also, for the clarification - why use just the chicken breast and not use methocel in addition like in the chicken consomme ?
Great questions! Brown stocks are generally not used in ramen (there are a couple brown stocks in my book, but they're atypical). So, the answer is mostly "tradition," but there's also a misconception that browned stocks (and browning in general) is "better" than blonde stocks (or unbrowned food). In my opinion, ramen made with blonde stock tastes "cleaner," as Mailard browning can mask the sweeter, more nuanced notes in the stock (and all the stuff in the tare). That's not to say there isn't any Maillard notes in the stock—katsuobushi provides some of those flavors. The answer to the second question is along the same lines, but basically it's because the shops this recipe was based on tend to use just lean chicken breast with no other additions. At home, I'll throw in negi and garlic scraps into the raft for added aroma (and to reduce waste), but I also thought it was educational—namely that clarification does not require extra binders.
To continue with clarification. If you have access, wouldn’t using a centrifuge be a simpler option with great yield?
I have very little experience with centrifuges, but I asked the chefs, and they say it would give you a crystal-clear consomme (at risk of some color loss maybe). but one limiting factor may be the capacity of the centrifuge’s tubes. high-capacity models would be able to handle ~4-6 liters at a time, but anything smaller would be inefficient.
Would it be possible to get some guidance on making this without a pressure cooker? Mine is only 4qt and I’m not able to get a bigger one right now.
Oh, for sure. Depending on the size of the pot you're working with, you can either do the two-step fortification process, or just dump all the meat for the fortified stock (the ribs, ground pork, pig's foot, chicken wings) into a single large pot. In both cases, you want to bring the stock to a low simmer and let it ride. If you're doing the two-step, 8 hours for the pork, 6 for the chicken. If you're doing it all in one pot, just let all of it ride for 8 hours. (The extended cook time is because the temperature of a simmer—about 206°F, say—is much lower than the temperature in a pressure cooker at pressure—about 250°F. You want to keep it at a simmer, not a boil, to keep the stock as clear as possible.)
You will want to start out with enough water to cover the bones and meat; it may be more than the 4 liters of water called for, depending on the dimensions of your pot. (A tall-sided pot is better for this reason, but also because it reduces the amount of evaporation that takes place.) If your yield is lower, you can top it off with water to hit the final yield; if it's higher, it's totally fine. Otherwise, the procedure is the same: cook the stock with just garlic and ginger, then steep aromatics into the stock after it's cooked for the indicated amount of time. Strain and make ramen (or pursue the clarification step, if you like).
Thank you so much!
Hi Sho, I really liked the recipe!
How common are fortified stocks in good ramen shops? I usually find ramen recipes blander than the best ramen bowls I've eaten out there. Usual ratios in ramen recipes are 1 pound of meat/bones per quart of stock, while this recipe doubles the ratio.
I suspect this may be the reason why I find those bowles much tastier than mine, but wanted to hear your thoughts about it.
Thanks, Toni
Sort of hard to answer—there are a lot of good ramen shops! My understanding is that it's relatively rare for ramen shops to fortify their stocks because it's an added step and added cost. I think the "usual ratios" in ramen recipes may be skewed by ramen recipes generally being for home cooks? For example, the basic chicken stock in the Motenashi Kuroki cookbook is 22 lbs of minced chicken to 19 quarts water, whereas the stocks in my cookbook mostly adhere to a 1:1 ratio of pounds of meat:quarts of water (although a couple approach 1.5 and 2 parts bones to 1 part water. That's a long way of saying I think good ramen shops probably just use a larger proportion of meat/bones to water. There are all sorts of other considerations, too, like the strength of the dashi, the quality of the ingredients, and, of course, MSG. One example of other techniques ramen shops use: Some (good) places will put blanched bones in the bottom of the pot that's used to serve the strained stock, which contributes a little "fresh" flavor and aroma to the stock as it's dispensed for service.
I guess this a bit of advice for those looking to double this up, or it might just be that I messed something up, but my results from a double batch were a bit disappointing. I needed more than eight servings, so I doubled all the base ingredients and added some pork neck bones (which I always use with my paitan stocks) as well. The resulting stock was quite a bit lower in gelatin than I was expecting and had a poor mouth feel. After chilling, it was still quite thin and did not gelatinize at all.
I have never used a pressure cooker for making my ramen stock before - I've always stuck to the tried and true hours long simmer. I used my 5 gallon Presto canner at 15 PSI (BTW, this recipe calls for 2 bar of pressure, which is something like 30 PSI; a pressure I don't think most home cookers can reach) for 1.5 hours to account for the additional ingredients. If I were to do a double-batch again, I would bump the cook time to 2-2.5 hours per step. Or I would just go with a good, long simmer.
All that said, I'm curious if the author or anyone else has thoughts on getting a proper double-batch, or if they've had a similar experience?
Hi! I have a bunch of ham hock bones leftover from the CS pork terrine. Any thoughts on how or whether to use them in this? Would they be worth adding and would you modify the recipe in any way if so?
Yeah! They're wonderful for ramen stocks—you can use substitute them for some or all of the weight of the ribs. In my cookbook I have a stock recipe that's made with roasted ham hocks, too, if you're interested.
Thanks, Sho! And I'll definitely check out your book.
Very curious to try this recipe soon! And a bit surprised that 3.2 l of water yield 4 l of stock at the end but I guess the meat releases the missing water?! Do you have any experience with a higher pork bone to pork meat ratio in terms of flavour and initial water amount?
The Duromatic achieve 1 bar of pressure at the second level
Yep, the meat dumps its water, and the sealed pressure cooked doesn't allow it to evaporate. Not sure I understand the second question, but yes, I've made stocks with less meaty pork bones. Meat =. flavor; connective tissue = gelatin content. If you use bones with less meat, you are going to see reduced yield, as meat contains water (whereas bones do not). The stock will have less overtly meaty flavor as well.
My mother made chicken stock by simmering a whole chicken with aromatics for several hours. When the chicken was removed, she would pull the meat off to use in the soup she would make later. I loved helping because I could eat as I picked. Not the most flavorful chicken but to this day I do the same thing when I make stock. When I made this recipe I noticed the rib meat around the cartilaginous section above the rib was like a bit like carnitas in texture, Although the flavor was a bit lacking I decided to pull the meat and used it for tacos. I seasoned the meat and crisped it in pork fat (it needs the fat!). With the toppings it made for pretty good tacos with my homemade blue corn tortillas.
Hm, maybe we should've given some ideas for how to use the hammered meat. I'll pitch it for a newsletter!
