Last Wednesday was
an unusual day for me. I guess I was feeling adventurous? First I did something
different with my hair when I went to the salon. Then I went to our sushi restaurant (Sake Sushi) and did not order sushi. I always get sushi? But this time, I got ramen off
of the daily specials. It was a first for me. I have never had real proper
ramen, just the cheap packaged ramen. I was really impressed. The broth was creamy looking not clear. And the first bite well it was almost smoky and definitely savory. So good! The bowl was beautiful too, loaded with lots of flavorful toppings; like nori, green onion, fish cake (another first), perfect grilled chicken and a ramen egg. The RAMEN EGG! Oh my gosh! I was so surprised with that savory, salty little egg. It was so good! I can’t wait to
go to a ramen house one day. I really loved it! So when I got home I started to do
some research.
I started by searching for instant pot recipes. Wait! Did I tell you dear sister bought an instant pot during the Amazon Prime Day sale. She is keeping it at my house. [Smile] So that means I got a new toy. I have been using it more than I thought I would. So look forward to more instant pot recipes in the future. This being the very first. Anyway... I knew I wanted to make the eggs and the broth in the instant pot. I found a few recipes but the broth did not look the same. So I kept searching. In the end, I used a little bit of every ramen recipe I
read or watched to make this ramen. I made sure to roast the bones like one
recipe said to do. I added chicken bones to mellow the flavor like another recipe
suggested. I made sure to brown the onions like another recipe insisted. I added dried
mushrooms for umami as one recipe recommended. I made sure to stir the broth
breaking up the bones to get that creamy broth rather than a clear liquid. I
seasoned the broth with the flavors of Japanese soup base as another blog
suggest. I used mirin, tamari, and instant dashi for the kombu and bonito
flavors. It turned out so good! Very close to the inspiration ramen I had at Sake Sushi. I even made the ramen egg too. I need to work on my technique with this one. The flavor is spot on but as you will see in the photos the shape and color was uneven. I made the mistake of putting something on top to weight it down in the marinade. So one side was squished and had less color and therefore flavor. Don't weight it down! I have four in the frig right now secured with a rubber band and hanging from a chopstick across a plastic container. I feel this is going to turn out much better. My favorite parts of this ramen is the broth, ramen egg and chicken; in that order. I think you should definitely make sure to put those ingredients in your bowl. Maybe add some green onion, not too much just a little sprinkle. The chicken was a surprise to me too. The mirin really added to the color and grill marks. I have never had grilled chicken turn out that attractive. I may start adding mirin to more marinades.
This whole experience was a lot of fun. I made six - two cup containers of ramen broth. I put three in the freezer right away. So now I have it just waiting on me to have a craving. This was time consuming not instant as the title might suggest. But the instant pot was an invaluable tool to the process. It let me develop great flavor in less time and really made the broth spectacular. I see myself doing this again real soon. I hope you give it a try. If you have instant pot or ramen tips for me please comment. I would love to hear about your successes too.
Instant Pot
“Sake” Special Ramen
Makes 12 cups
of broth; 6 servings
Ingredients
For ramen
eggs:
3 eggs
3 Tbsp.
reduced sodium tamari (or soy sauce)
3 Tbsp. mirin
9 Tbsp. water
For broth:
2 to 3 lbs.
pork neck bones
1 to 2 frozen
rotisserie chicken carcasses
1 Tbsp. canola
oil
1 large
yellow onion, sliced
3” piece of
ginger, peeled and sliced
2 large
cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
4 green
onions, whole
3 dried black
mushrooms
5 Tbsp.
reduced sodium tamari (or soy sauce)
2 Tbsp. mirin
1 tsp. sesame
oil
1 tsp. miso
paste
1 tsp.
instant dashi granules
For
grilled chicken:
2 boneless
skinless chicken breast
Reduced
sodium tamari (or soy sauce)
Mirin
Sesame oil
Black pepper
For ramen
bowl:
6 servings Ramen
noodles, boiled to package directions
Ramen broth
For
toppings:
Ramen eggs,
halved
Fish cake or
imitation crab, sliced
Toasted nori
Grilled
chicken, sliced
3 green onions,
sliced
Mushrooms, reserved
from broth and sliced
Directions
Ramen eggs:
Combine tamari,
mirin and water in a plastic bag. Set aside.
Place steam
rack inside the pressure cooker. Add exactly 1 cup of cool tap water into the
pot. Place eggs straight from the refrigerator in the center of the pot. Cook
at Low Pressure for 5 minutes*, then quick release (QR).
After quick
release, immediately take out the eggs and soak in ice bath to stop them from
cooking. Let them cool for 5 minutes or longer.
Gently peel
the eggs. Put the eggs in the sauce bag and close tightly. The eggs should be
submerged in the marinade. Marinate for at least 3-4 hours in the refrigerator.
I recommend overnight.
Take the eggs
out of the marinade and discard the marinade. Cut each egg in half to serve.
Enjoy the eggs as is or place them in your ramen bowl as a topping.
*Note: Want to know how to cook the eggs just like you like them. [Click Here] to learn how to cook soft, medium or hard boiled eggs in your pressure cooker.
Ramen
broth:
Preheat oven
to 400 degrees.
Place pork
neck bones in a roasting pan, season with sea salt and black pepper. Roast for
45 minutes, flip bones over and roast 30 minutes.
In the last
few minutes of cooking time, place instant pot on saute. Add canola oil and
sliced onion. Cook the onions until brown on one side then flip to brown on the
other side. Stir to separate into rings and brown evenly. Turn off and add a
little water if necessary to prevent burning.
When pork has
finished roasting, transfer the bones to instant pot with the onions. Immediately pour off fat and discard. Add
1-1/2 cups of the water to the pan, and use a spoon to scrape the browned bits
off the bottom of the pan.
Transfer the pan
drippings to instant pot with the onions. Add chicken bones, ginger, garlic,
green onions, and mushrooms. Add cool water to the max fill line. Set the
instant pot to cook under high pressure for 30 minutes. When cycle is complete
let rest 5 minutes and perform a quick release. Stir the pot really well.
Scraping the bottom of the pot and breaking up bones. Set the instant pot to
cook under high pressure for another 30 minutes. When cycle is complete let
rest 5 minutes and perform a quick release. Stir the pot really well again, breaking
up bones some more. Place the instant pot to saute and bring to a boil. Boil
for 5 minutes or longer. Turn off if broth begin to splash over the edge of the
pot liner.
Let the
liquid cool for a little while. Reserve the mushrooms and set aside. Remove the
other solids and discard, then strain the stock through a fine mesh strainer,
and transferring the liquid to another container. Clean the liner of the
instant pot and pour broth back into pot. Season broth with tamari, mirin,
sesame oil, miso and dashi. Keep warm and allow flavors to blend.
Serve the
broth, refrigerate overnight and remove the fat cap (if you prefer) before
re-heating or freeze for your future bowls of ramen.
Grilled
chicken:
Place chicken
breast in a freezer bag pound to even out thickness. Season chicken with black
pepper, a drizzle of sesame oil and equal parts tamari and mirin to cover
chicken. Marinate 20 minutes at room temperature, flipping and moving around in
the marinade at least once half way through marinating time.
Preheat grill
for 10 minutes, lower heat to medium high. Remove chicken from marinade and
grill chicken for 6 minutes, flip chicken and grill for 6 more minutes or until
internal temperature of 160 degrees is reached. Remove from grill and rest at
least 10 minutes before slicing. Slice chicken for use as a topping.
Ramen bowl:
To assemble
the ramen, cook the noodles (discarding any flavor packets), according to
package instructions.
Divide the
noodles between bowls. Pour the hot broth directly over the noodles, then add
whatever toppings you desire. Serve immediately.
