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Ramen, attempt 1

October 26, 2026

Recipe

Source: not recorded. Full-from-scratch ramen: chicken broth, dashi, tare, ramen eggs, chicken chashu, garlic oil, onion oil, pan-fried bok choy, and store-bought noodles.

Broth

• 8-9 chicken backs (about 5 lbs, Whole Foods)
• 8 whole chicken wings, full length to the tip
• Pressure cooker: 6 quart. Backs batches filled to 1/2 with liquid (backs included). Wings filled to 3/4 (wings included).
• Aromatics, added 30 min before straining:
  • 6 inches ginger, sliced lengthwise
  • 1 whole head garlic, halved
  • 1/2 to 3/4 large white onion
  • 8-10 green onions, white parts only, roots included
• Top-up water: 140°F, as needed to hold about 8 L

Dashi

• 8-10 inch piece of kombu
• 25-30 g dried anchovies, heads removed
• 3 dried shiitake
• About 3 cups room temp water

Tare

• 30 ml mirin
• 20 ml sake
• 100 ml dark soy sauce
• 50 ml light soy sauce
• 10 ml Thai fish sauce
• Soy sauce brands: not recorded

Ramen eggs

• 10-12 medium/large eggs, from the fridge
• 2/3 cup mirin
• 2/3 cup sake
• 2/3 cup Kikkoman low sodium soy sauce
• 2-3 tsp brown sugar

Chicken chashu

• 2 large chicken breasts
• 1/3 cup mirin
• 1/3 cup sake
• 1/3 cup Kikkoman low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar

Garlic oil

• 10-12 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup sesame oil

Onion oil

• 1/4 large white onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 tbsp sesame oil

Bok choy

• 1/4 head bok choy per bowl, quartered lengthwise from root to leaf
• Canola oil

Noodles

• “Wet noodles” from Great Wall market, cooked per package directions (brand and cook time not recorded)

Method

Broth

• Day before: pressure cook the backs in 2 batches, 2 hours at high pressure each. After each cook, unplug and let the cooker release naturally for 15-20 min (some pressure remains). This prevents fatty broth from spraying when opened. Put the backs and their liquid in the large ramen pot and refrigerate overnight.
• Day of: pressure cook the wings for 2 hours, with the same 15-20 min natural release.
• Put the backs and liquid on the stove straight from the fridge and bring to a rolling boil. Leave uncovered with a grease screen on top.
• About an hour after starting, begin pulverizing the bones in the pot with a wooden spatula, every 15-30 min whenever near the pot.
• Add the wings and their pressure cooker liquid to the pot.
• Top up with 140°F water about hourly to hold around 8 L, covering the pot until the boil returns, then removing the lid.
• Add the aromatics 30 min before the end.
• Strain, then immersion blend the broth to emulsify the collagen and fat.

Dashi

• Combine all ingredients in about 3 cups of room temp water and refrigerate overnight. Stir in the morning.
• Strain and discard the solids. Add to each bowl to taste rather than to the whole pot.

Tare

• Cook the sake and mirin in a pan until the alcohol is gone. Stir in the soy sauces and fish sauce.

Ramen eggs

• Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Carefully lower in 4-6 eggs at a time.
• Boil 6.5-7.5 min, then move to an ice bath until cold.
• Refrigerate and peel the next day.
• Marinade: combine the mirin, sake, soy sauce, and sugar in a small pot. Bring to a boil (fast), reduce to low, and simmer a few minutes until the alcohol flavor is gone. Chill fully.
• Put the peeled eggs and chilled marinade in a zip-top bag in the fridge for at least 6 hours, ideally overnight.

Chicken chashu

• Marinade: same method as the egg marinade (boil, then simmer on low until the alcohol flavor is gone). Chill fully.
• Bag the chicken breasts with the chilled marinade overnight in the fridge, rotating for even coverage.
• Cook each breast in its own zip-top bag, with the marinade left in the bag, rolling the bag around the chicken for a round shape.
• Sous vide at 150°F for 3 hours.

Garlic oil

• Slowly cook the garlic in the canola oil until dark but not black, going slower near the end to avoid burning. It should taste bitter but not burnt.
• Cool the oil and garlic, then blend with the sesame oil until the garlic is tiny particles.
• Store in a small container in the fridge until serving.

Onion oil

• Slowly cook the onion in the canola oil until dark, crispy, and airy to the tooth, but not burned.
• Mix in the sesame oil to taste. Store in the fridge until serving.

Bok choy

• Heat canola oil in a pan. Add the bok choy and move it around to coat the outsides.
• Cook until some caramelization appears, then turn off the heat and leave it in the pan to soften.

Bowl build

• 6 ladles of broth (pink ladle, size unknown)
• About 1/8 to 1/4 cup dashi
• 1/2 tbsp tare
• Noodles, ramen egg, chicken chashu, green onion, pan-fried bok choy, garlic oil, and onion oil

Changes from last time

• First attempt

Process notes

• Day before: backs pressure cooked in 2 batches (2 hours high pressure each, 15-20 min natural release). Backs and liquid refrigerated overnight in the large ramen pot. Dashi started in the fridge overnight.
• Day of, before the stove: wings pressure cooked for 2 hours, with the same natural release. Wings finished about 11:15 AM.
• 10:00 AM: backs and liquid on the stove, straight from the fridge.
• 10:30 AM: rolling boil reached. Pot uncovered with a grease screen from here on.
• ~11:00 AM: started pulverizing bones with a wooden spatula, repeated every 15-30 min.
• 11:30 AM: wings and their pressure cooker liquid added. Pot at 8 L total, with no top-up water added before this.
• 12:30 PM: liquid down from 8 L to 6 L. Wing bones still too hard to pulverize. Added 2 L of 140°F water to return to 8 L. Boil stopped, so the pot was covered until a rolling boil resumed.
• 1:30 PM: added 2 L of 140°F water. Covered until the boil returned (about 5 min), then uncovered.
• Evaporation rate: about 1 L per 30 min, on the big burner at 8 or 9, in a 16 L stock pot covered only by a grease screen.
• Afternoon: topped up about hourly to hold around 8 L (only the 12:30 and 1:30 top-ups were timed).
• 4:15 PM: aromatics added.
• 4:45 PM: broth strained. Final volume not recorded. Total simmer was about 6 h 45 min from the 10:00 AM stove start (about 6 h 15 min from the 10:30 rolling boil).
• After straining: aromatics removed, broth immersion blended to emulsify the collagen and fat.

Result

• Broth: very milky and great tasting. No changes needed.
• Ramen eggs and chicken chashu: both great. No changes needed.
• Bowl: the bowls needed a bit more dashi and ideally double or more tare.
• Noodles: fine taste, but too short, which made them hard to grab with chopsticks.
• Wings: produced nothing for the broth.
• Toppings were great. Melissa wanted something crispy or crunchy on top that is not a vegetable.
• Not recorded: total yield, final broth volume, noodle cook time.

Rating

8/10

Keep or revert

• Pressure cooking the backs before the stove cook: keep. The broth came out very milky and tasted great.
• Wings in the broth: revert. They added nothing to the broth.
• Chicken backs only, at double the amount: try again. This is the planned replacement for the wings.
• Pulverizing bones with a wooden spatula during the cook: keep. Part of the method that produced a milky broth.
• Immersion blending after straining: keep. It emulsified the collagen and fat, and the broth came out milky.
• 140°F top-up water to hold about 8 L: keep. It worked to hold the volume against about 1 L per 30 min of evaporation.
• Aromatics added 30 min before the end: keep. The broth tasted great.
• Dashi added per bowl to taste: keep, but use more. The bowls needed a bit more.
• Tare at 1/2 tbsp per bowl: try again with double or more. The bowls needed more.
• Garlic oil and onion oil: keep, and make more. Always add more.
• Ramen eggs (6.5-7.5 min boil, overnight marinade): keep. Great, no changes.
• Chicken chashu (150°F for 3 hours, marinade left in the bag): keep. Great, no changes.
• Pan-fried bok choy: keep. Toppings were great.
• Wet noodles from Great Wall market: try again with longer noodles. The short ones were hard to grab with chopsticks.

Next time

• Use double the chicken backs and no wings.
• If adding chicken fat (from the Asian market), decide when to add it. Fat seems to burn off in a long cook.
• Find a crispy or crunchy topping that is not a vegetable and will not go soggy quickly (Melissa’s suggestion).
• Get longer noodles.
• Make more tare, garlic oil, and onion oil, and use more tare and dashi per bowl.
• Record the final broth volume, total yield, noodle cook time, and the recipe source.