by Amy Kimoto-Kahn
Whether you are cooking for one or twelve, Simply Ramen brings homemade ramen to your table with a delicious fusion of seventy recipes, including soup bases, noodles, toppings, and sides.
Author Amy Kimoto-Kahn shows you how to put together a bowl of piping hot ramen in a myriad of ways with a choice of four soup bases, ramen noodles (homemade or store-bought), and traditional and non-traditional ingredients. Enjoy bowls of pork, chicken, and beef ramen. Or branch out with seafood, vegetarian, and spicy soups–and even cold ramen and a breakfast version topped with bacon and a poached egg. Make your soup base in advance and you have a quick, easy, and special midweek family meal.
Some of the 75 traditional and non-traditional recipes include:
Hawaiian-Style Pork Ramen
Cheese Ramen
Chicken Potsticker Ramen
Vegan Ramen topped with broccoli, kale, carrots, bean sprouts and more
Chicken Meatball Ramen
Beef Curry Ramen
Chorizo Miso Ramen
California Ramen with crabmeat, avocado, and cucumber
Crispy Greens Ramen with Swiss chard, kale, and Brussels sprouts
Breakfast Ramen topped with crabmeat, avocado and cucumber
With easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions and mouthwatering photos, Simply Ramen will turn your kitchen into a ramen-ya for family and friends.
Miso Base
(This recipe can be seen as it appears in the book here and here.
Difficulty: LeveL 1
Serves up to 12
Prep time: 45 minutes
Winters in Hokkaido in northern Japan are severe and the comfort and warmth of a good Miso Ramen have made it a daily staple. The quality of the miso makes all the difference in this recipe, so shop around and taste a variety of miso to find one that will add more depth.
Here, I’ve made a super flavorful Miso Base, or misodare, that can be enjoyed any time. (Please see “Rameducate Yourself” on page 152 to learn about the three components of all ramen.) Store it in the refrigerator, and when needed, you can make individual servings or enough to feed your whole family—this base offers the convenience of a one-person portion or a meal for many, all according to the base-to-stock ratio (3 tablespoons Miso Base to 1 cup/235 ml chicken or vegetable stock). Whether you’re taking it to work for lunch or preparing a family meal, it will be worth the labor because once you make it, it’s practically instant to serve up later. The Miso Base can be refrigerated for up to a week or frozen for one month.
1 medium-sized carrot, peeled and cut into large dice 1⁄2 onion, peeled and cut into large dice
1⁄2 apple, cored, peeled and cut into large dice
1 celery stalk, cut into large dice
3 garlic cloves
1⁄2 cup (120 ml) bacon fat (optional but recommended)
2 tbsp sesame oil, divided
1 1⁄2 cups (340 g) ground pork
2 tsp fresh ground ginger
1 tsp sriracha
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp kelp granules
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp ground sesame seed paste (optional)
3⁄4 cup (175 ml) Shiro miso (white miso, which is lighter and sweeter) 3⁄4 cup (175 ml)
Akamiso miso (red miso, which is darker and saltier)
Low-sodium chicken or vegetable stock—2 cups (475 ml) per serving based on the number of servings
- Add the carrot, onion, apple, celery, and garlic to a food processor. Pulse into a ne chop. It is better to use a food processor but if you don’t have one, nely chop these ingredients by hand.
- Add the bacon fat and 1 tablespoon sesame oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the nely chopped fruit and vegetables and cook until onions are translucent and apple is tender, stirring occasionally, for 10–12 minutes. When done, turn heat down to medium-low.
- Add your ground pork to the cooked vegetable mixture. Cook for about 5 minutes until the meat is no longer pink. Stir in the ginger, sriracha, soy sauce, kelp granules, apple cider vinegar, and salt. Incorporate well.
- Return the entire mixture to the food processor and pulse until pork is nely ground. It is better to use a food processor, but if you don’t have one, nely chop these ingredients by hand.
- Add the sesame seed paste and miso to the ground pork mixture and mix well. It should have the consistency of a thick paste. Your base is done, so remove it from heat and set aside.
- Bring the Miso Base and chicken or vegetable stock to a boil (depending on the number of people you are serving, use the ratio of 3 tablespoons Miso Base to 1 cup (235 ml) chicken or vegetable stock). Lower heat and let simmer until it’s ready to serve. Use about 2 cups (475 ml) soup per serving. Right before serving, crank the heat back up to boil the soup.
- Pour 2 cups soup (475 ml) over each bowl of noodles. Top each bowl with desired toppings. (See How to Build a Bowl of Ramen on page xi for help with timing the orchestration of your ramen components.)
Excerpted with permission from Simply Ramen: A Complete Course in Preparing Ramen Meals at Home by Amy Kimoto-Kahn © 2016. Published by Race Point Publishing.
Simply Ramen: A Complete Course in Preparing Ramen Meals at Home is available at your local bookstore or from Indiebound and Amazon.
Amy Kimoto-Kahn was born in Fullerton, California and now lives with her family in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is Yonsei or fourth-generation Japanese-American and a mom of three. She is a graduate of the Miyajima Ramen School in Osaka, Japan and has taught a popular series of Asian-inspired cooking classes for Williams-Sonoma. She shares her Japanese-American homestyle, kids-will-like-it-too recipes on her blog, www.easypeasyjapanesey.com. When she is not cooking, she runs a mom-focused marketing firm, Fat Duck Consulting that she founded in 2008. Read an interview here
Amy’s review of the classic ramen movie Tampopo is here.
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