Ramen School 001: Basic Clear Ramen Broth
On my YouTube channel I’m starting a new series on how to make ramen at home. Be warned, it’s not a short process but I wanted to show you the theory behind ramen so that you can produce your own, authentic and unique ramen rather than just following recipes. Hopefully through these videos you’ll understand the basics of what makes a great bowl of ramen.
A bowl of true ramen contains 5 elements:
- Broth
- Noodles
- Tare
- Oil
- Toppings
Let’s start at the beginning with how to make a simple clear broth for ramen. This is a base for so many different types of clear ramen, like shio-ramen and shoyu-ramen.
Ingredients
Meat Stock
2200 g whole old chicken
500 g chicken feet
700 g halved pork trotters
440 g (2pc) brown onions, halved
400 g (2pc) carrots
100 g (1pc) whole head garlic
60 g unpeeled sliced ginger
9000 ml water
Basic Dashi
17 g (2pc) kombu
45 g katsuobushi
3000 ml water
Method
Cut chickens into 6-8 pieces, breaking bones. Cut nails from chicken feet. Place the chicken and pork in a large pot and cover with 9L water. Bring to a simmer. Skim to remove scum, then turn heat to very low (below simmer) and simmer uncovered for 4 hours. Should yield around 7L, but measure. Strain and refrigerate. Skim off solidified fat for use in aromatic oil.
For the dashi, soak the kombu in 3L cold water while chicken stock is cooking. Slowly bring to a simmer, removing the kombu when it steams. Boil, then add the katsuoboshi. Turn off heat. Strain, and mix with the chicken soup. If preferred, you can reduce this mixed soup further to intensify the flavour and texture of the soup.
Top Tips for Clear Ramen Broths
- It’s really important that the broth doesn’t come to a vigorous boil. Boiling will cause fat particles to emulsify into the soup to create a cloudy soup.
- The proportions in this recipe are by no means the only way to make ramen broth. You can change the proportions (and even the ingredients) to vary your broth in many different ways.
- This process is known as the “double soup” method, where a meat-based soup and dried seafood-based soup are mixed together. This is generally the preferred method for making ramen broth as taught by the Yamato ramen school and practiced in the majority of ramen-ya in Japan.
Great informative video, thankyou for sharing this ramen process with everyone, I can really get into it now, just have to source the very evasive Kombu, if anyone has a supplier I would appreciate the contact and dont mind buying bulk. Thanks again
Adam I appreciate your help in bringing this amazing dish to everyone.
best regards
Graham Wilson
Chef
Your first paragraph of the method skips when to add the vegetables to the chicken stock – I assume from watching the video that it’s after scum removal and before the 4 hour simmer…
The vegetables are added after 2 hours, then let it simmer for 2 more hours. This way you get a more complex taste then if you add everytthing at once and let i cook for 4 hours.
Where can I purchase the container you use for the broth—having an issue with finding a container that his that wide of a ‘mouth’ and is freezer friendly.
It is probably better to store the excess stock in 600 ml round plastic take away containers . I just purchased 2 packs of 5 x 600 ml containers at the supermarket for 4 bucks. if you fill each container with 500 ml ( single serve portion ) you can freeze up 5 litres of stock .
at the local supermarket I found packs of 5 600 ml round plastic food containers , like they use in takeaway outlets for soups and curries. I purchased 2 packs of 5 containers, if I fill each one to 500 ml, i can store 5 litres in the freezer that are individual portion size (ie 10 x 500 ml= 5 litres) .
Michael, The container looks to be a Sistema KLIP IT Bakery Storage Container, 2.4 L.
I’m sorry if this is a stupid question, but do you blanch the bones or soak the bones at all before??
I’ve seen a lot of ingredients, most kinds of livestock appears as an option here, but I wondered why beef is not an option, or at least beef bones for preparing a stock (any kind)? I use beef bones (leg and spine mostly) for soups and stews quite often.
Thanks a lot for doing this Ramen School Project its insightful and beautifully made!
I am using beef instead of the pork since a friend of mine does not eat pork in general, it is also totally fine in my opinion !
You can use bones from beef but it won’t be a traditional ramen 🙂
Beef ramen is common in Shimomatsu, Hikari, and Yamaguchi Prefectures in Japan.
Thank you
As far as time goes, do you leave the meat stock on for 4 hours AFTER its been brought to a simmer, totaling 6 hours roughly? Or do you count the time bringing the stock to a simmer in the 4 hours?
It is indeed a long process but it’s worth it! THANK YOU!
In the instructions, it doesn’t say that you should let the dashi sit with the katsuobushi for 30 min before you strain it. Just so nooen misses that who hasn’t seen the film. But if you haven’t – you should!!
Hey Adam,
Im hope you still get this. I love all of your ramen recipes and have tried most of them to cook for family dinners.
There’s one of those coming up again soon, but my cousin is allergic to garlic. Is there something else you’d recommended I replace the garlic with? Help would be much appreciated!
Love
Cynthia