Chicken Ramen

Almost 10 years ago we went to Japan, to visit my brother who was living around Nagoya, right in the middle of the main Honshu island. We terribly enjoyed the food, the culture and the feeling of really being in a uniquely foreign land.

Time passed and then one day, we watch the Netflix Chef’s Table episode with Ivan Orkin …. and I was hooked again to the ramen. Just watching that episode reminded me of the little ramen shops we visited in Tokyo and how incredibly good, yet simple it seemed. The strong meat and chicken flavours combined with subtle vegetables, and rich champignons and spices… just an explosion of flavour.

This is not an easy dish to cook… takes some 30-40 min in total and requires strong coordination to be able to prepare the different ingredients in parallel… so we normally wait for the weekend to have our ramen session.

So here it is, my recipe of Chicken Ramen:

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Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts

2 spring onions

2 pak choi

1 carrot

1 tbsp butter

2 tsp vegetable oil

2 tsp fresh ginger,

3 tsp fresh garlic

3 tbsp soy sauce

2 tsp teriyaki sauce

4 cups rich chicken stock

1 handful dried shitake mushrooms

1–2 tsp sea salt, to taste

2 large eggs

1 packs dried ramen or rice noodles

the chicken:

Start preparing the chicken by letting it marinate in 2 tsp teriyaki sauce and 1 tsp water for 10-15min. Melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add the chicken, and cook until golden brown and releases easily from the pan. Then transfer the chicken to a plate and cover until ready to serve.

the ramen broth:

Prepare the broth ingredients by re-hydrating the mushrooms and cutting the garlic, ginger and the spring onion

Clean and cut the pak choi along its length. Then peel the carrot, through the thickness until you have enough layers of carrot available.

In a pre-heated pan at high temperature, add a tsp of vegetable oil and add the chicken breast with some of the marinade. Lower the temperature to medium, and keep an eye to make sure that the chicken is well cooked but crispy on the outside.

In parallel, heat 2 tsp vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat, until hot. Add the garlic and ginger, and cook for a few minutes until softened. Add the soy sauce and the chicken stock, cover, and bring to boil. Remove the lid, and let simmer uncovered for 5 minutes, then add the mushrooms. Simmer gently for another 10 minutes. Add the pak choi and the spring onion for another 5 min and season with salt, to taste.

boiled eggs:

Fill a pot with enough water to cover the eggs, and bring to a boil. Gently lower the eggs (still cold from the fridge) into the boiling water, and let simmer for 7 minutes (for a slightly-runny yoke) or 8 minutes (for a soft, but set-up yoke).

Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with ice water. When the timer finishes, transfer the eggs to the ice bath to stop the cooking process. Wait at least 5 minutes, or until cool enough to handle, then carefully peel away the shell and slice in half, lengthwise. Set aside until ready to serve.

Assemble the ramen bowls:

Cook the ramen noodles in boiling water. Cook for 3-5 minutes, until soft, then divide the noodles into two large bowls. Add the sliced chicken, the champignons and the ramen broth. Top with the carrot and the soft boiled egg sliced by the long axis. Serve immediately.

Ramen bowl with rice noodles

Ramen bowl with mie noodles.