I could talk about ramen for hours. I love all kinds of soups, and my adventure with ramen started a few years ago, when I started to be interested in Asian cuisine. As you know, there are many types of ramen, they have different names depending on the base of the stock. The point is always that you’ve got these delicious noodles with various toppings in an aromatic stock. I absolutely love it and I can eat it every day!
My ramen is quite unique because it is a combination of different types of ramen when it comes to spices. Unlike most recipes, it is cooked without using any animal products.
The most important part of the stock is kombu algae. These are thick, hard and very salty algae that have a lot of flavor and give the soup an amazing flavour. Thanks to them, we can get the umami taste without the need to use meat or bones. The broth itself boils for a good few hours. I often cook it longer than it should – about 4-5 hours, but after 3 hours it will be good for consumption.
As for the toppings to the stock, they vary depending on the base of the stock. I use what I like the most: sprouts, coriander, radish, carrots and of course shiitake mushrooms. Without them my ramen would not be the same.
Additionally, the flavor of ramen can be enhanced by sprinkling the whole dish with roasted sesame seeds, you can make it yourself – roast the seeds in the pan, but you MUST stir them all the time so that they do not burn with the poor pan.
There are quite a few ingredients for ramen, but when you plan to cook it more than once, it definitely pays off to go to a store with Asian products. The ramen itself doesn’t have to be used immediately, it will last for 3 days in the refrigerator, it can also be frozen – in this case, we must remember that it will lose some flavor.
INGREDIENTS
- 1/4 of celery
- 4 carrots
- 3 parsley
- 1 onion
- a handful of kombu algae
- 10-15 dried kaffir leaves
- 5 dried shiitake mushrooms
- ginger – about 5 cm root
- garlic 2 cloves
- 2 tablespoons of sesame oil
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons of rice vinegar
RAMEN – PREPARATION
- The instructions are quite simple, put the vegetables in a pot, fry the garlic and ginger or throw it in a pot right away, add all the spices and pour about 2-3l of water, bring to a boil and reduce the heat to a minimum so that the soup simmers gently, every 30- 45 add a little water so that there is still more or less the same amount of liquid in the pot, cook over low heat for 3-4 hours.
- At the end, strain the stock, put your favorite add-ons and noodles in a bowl, pour hot stock over the toppings and it’s ready!
