It took me seven years from leaving Japan to truly appreciate the delicacy and intricacy of ramen.  I have tried many different iterations of ramen, some fish based, some meat based and yes…even veggie based and I believe I have found my favorite combination.  I love chicken based ramen with any type of unctuous meat, be it chicken or pork.  I also realized that the colder the weather gets the spicier I like my food!!!

Ingredients

• Two large pieces of pork belly, about a pound, I like to get pre-marinated pork belly from the specialty store
• 2 tbs sesame oil
• 1 tbs unsalted butter
• 1 tbs fresh ginger, minced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbs soy sauce
• 2 tbs mirin
• 1 tbs white miso paste
• 5 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 cup sliced shitake mushrooms
• 2 tsp kosher salt (to taste)
• 2 large eggs, as fresh as possible
• 1/2 cup scallions, thinly sliced
• 3 oz ramen noodles
• Optional: Siracha for heat

Recipe

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Take the marinated pork belly and place it in a cast iron skillet and cook the pork belly for 30 mins and then reduce the heat to 275 degrees and cook for an hour.  Take the pork belly out of the oven and cool it down in the fridge.  In the meantime, start making the ramen broth.  In a large dutch oven add the sesame oil and butter at a medium-high heat.  Add the ginger and garlic to the pan and saute until soft.  Deglaze the pan with one cup of broth and scrape the bottom of the pan making sure nothing is stuck.  Add the remaining broth, soy sauce and mirin and bring to a boil.  Once it comes to a boil reduce the heat and let it simmer for an hour with the cover on the pan.  Add the miso to the broth and cook for another 30 minutes.  After the miso has simmered in the broth add the shitake mushrooms and cook for another 15 minutes.

Once the pork belly has cooled, slice it into thin pieces and then slightly crisp the pork in a frying pan with a little vegetable oil.

Once the broth is finished make the soft-boiled eggs by filling a pot with enough water to cover the eggs and bring to a boil.   Place the eggs, into the boiling water, straight from the fridge.  If you want to have a slightly runny yoke cook for 7 minutes and for a firmer yoke cook for an additional minute.  Then take the eggs and put them in a bowl of icy water and let sit for five minutes.  Once the eggs have rested in the ice water, peel and slice the egg in half.

While making the eggs cook the noodles by using the directions on the package.

To assemble the ramen place the noodles in the bowl and add the eggs, pork belly, and  shitake mushrooms in the bowl.  Top with green onions and siracha if you want it spicy.  Ladle the broth onto the ingredients and serve the ramen while it is hot.

This dish takes a lot of steps and a lot of time but it is totally worth it!  I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!!!