The easy Ramen recipe

Ramen: new super popular Western trend

Ramen is a Japanese dish that has conquered the world with its combination of intense flavors, fresh ingredients and a very rich meat broth. Known for its variety of ingredients and seasonings, Ramen is a complex and tasty dish that requires careful and precise preparation.

Ramen is a Japanese dish made from wheat pasta, served in a hot broth and accompanied by various ingredients such as meat, eggs, vegetables and spices. The dish has Chinese origins and dates back to the 19th century, but was only introduced to Japan after the Second World War, becoming a very popular dish in the country and beyond. Ramen has acquired considerable cultural importance, becoming an integral part of Japanese cuisine and a symbol of popular culture. Furthermore, thanks to its versatility and the possibility of customizing the ingredients, Ramen has become a dish spread throughout the world and appreciated by many people.

In this article, we will focus on making Ramen using beef and pork, providing a step-by-step guide to creating a delicious and authentic dish. However, there are many variations of Ramen, each of which may include different ingredients and a different preparation. The important thing is to experiment and find the version that best suits your personal taste.

How do you eat ramen?

Ramen is a dish that is traditionally eaten with a series of utensils that can vary depending on local traditions. However, in general, you use a bowl to serve Ramen, a paddle or fork to pick up the ingredients, and a spoon to eat the soup.

Before you start eating, it is advisable to mix the ingredients in the bowl to distribute the flavor of the broth evenly and ensure that every bite is tasty. Furthermore, in Japan, it is considered polite to make the typical "slurp" sound when eating Ramen, to indicate that you are enjoying the dish and to cool down the hot soup. Some variations of Ramen may include added spices or seasonings, such as sesame oil, Japanese cabbage, chili peppers, peanut butter or lemon juice, depending on personal preference.

Furthermore, it is possible to customize Ramen by adding or removing ingredients such as vegetables, eggs, meat or tofu, to create a unique dish suited to your tastes.

In any case, Ramen is a dish that is eaten slowly, enjoying every bite and appreciating the complexity of the flavors and ingredients. For this reason, it is an ideal dish to share with friends or family, creating a shared and fun gastronomic experience.

Beef and pork for the recipe

Ramen is based on a rich broth that can be prepared with a variety of ingredients. However, pork and beef are often used to create the robust, intense flavor that characterizes the dish. For pork, the recommended cut is the belly, which is soft and tasty, but also fatty and gelatinous, which helps enrich the broth. For beef, however, the recommended cut is breast, which is lean but still very tasty. Both meats must be cooked over a low heat for a few hours, so that they become tender and fall apart easily.

Ramen ingredients: how to find them?

The products for preparing Ramen can be found in many grocery stores specializing in Asian products, but we can now also find them in some large-scale supermarkets. Some ingredients, such as Ramen noodles and soy sauce, can be easily found in any grocery store. However, other ingredients such as pork and beef, seaweed, hard-boiled eggs and bean sprouts can be more difficult to find.

In this case, you can look at stores that specialize in fresh produce, such as online or neighborhood butchers. Additionally, many online grocery stores offer a large selection of ingredients for Asian cuisine, including those needed to make Ramen. In any case, it is important to ensure that the ingredients are fresh and of high quality to ensure the best possible flavor of the dish.

Ramen cooking and duration

Preparing Ramen requires time and attention, but the end result is a rich and tasty dish. First, prepare the broth using pork, chicken or beef. Then add flavorings such as onion, garlic, ginger and kombu seaweed. Let everything boil over a low heat for a few hours, then filter the broth to remove the aromas and waste.

Once the broth is ready, simmer the pork and beef in another pot for about three hours, or until it flakes easily. Meanwhile, cook the hard-boiled eggs and cut them in half.

Cook the Ramen pasta in boiling salted water, following the instructions on the package. Once ready, drain it and rinse it in cold water.

Ramen recipe 4 people

To prepare Ramen, you will need the following ingredients:

For pork, chicken and/or beef broth

• 2 free-range chicken thighs
• 300 g of pork belly or other beef
• 1 kombu seaweed
• 1 clove of garlic
• 4 eggs
• 30 g of fresh ginger
• Niboshi (dried sardines) or fish flakes or other dried fish to taste
• Katsuobushi to taste

Other ingredients:

• 400 g of Noodles or Ramen pasta (fresh or dried)
• 300 g of Sake
• 50 g of soy sauce
• 200 g of mirin or rice vinegar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 star anise
• 1 onion
• 1 fresh spring onion
• Sugar to taste
• Teriyaki or tamari sauce to taste
• Sesame oil to taste
• Black pepper to taste
• Soya sprouts to taste
• Nori seaweed (the one for sushi) to taste

Easy ramen process

First, let's prepare the marinated eggs. Prepare the hard-boiled eggs, peel them and immerse them in the marinade made with soy sauce, sake and mirin, cinnamon stick, star anise and peppercorns. Let it marinate for at least 12 hours in the refrigerator.

Let's move on to the broth. To prepare the broth, put 1 liter of water, the meat in a pot and cover with water. Let's first blanch on high heat for about half an hour, remove any fat that emerges with a slotted spoon. Leave to simmer for about 2 hours, or until the broth is rich and tasty.

While the broth will continue to boil for at least 3 hours, in a separate pot we begin to cook the pork and beef over low heat for about three hours, or until it falls apart easily. We take the pork that we have already blanched in the broth. We prepare the ginger, garlic, spring onion, mirin, sake, teriyaki sauce in another pot and boil together with the pork belly for about 2 hours (while the other broth is ready).

Once cooked, remove the meat from the pan and cut it into cubes or slices and set aside. Add all the bottom of this preparation to the pot with the broth and finish cooking - optionally add the dried sardines in infusion.

Let's prepare the ingredients to compose the dish. We chop the onion, the green part of the spring onion, prepare the Katsuobushi, the bean sprouts and the striped nori seaweed.

In a third pot, cook the Ramen noodles according to the package instructions. Once cooked, drain and rinse in cold water. Prepare the sauce that will be added to the broth by mixing together the soy sauce, sugar and sake.

To serve, spoon the sauce into the bottom of the bowls, add Ramen noodles to one and add the hot broth. Then add the pork, the marinated hard-boiled eggs previously cut in half, the spring onions and bean sprouts. Mix well and serve hot.

Cooking ramen

Ramen is a tasty and complex dish that requires very long, careful and precise preparation. With the right selection of ingredients, careful cooking of each one and the addition of tasty seasonings, it is possible to create a dish that pleases everyone's palate. Try it at home and experiment with different ingredients and flavors to create your favorite version of Ramen.