Say What Momofuku?

My early birthday present courtesy of Heather and James wholly inspired me to set out and recreate ramen from scratch - specifically ramen broth; which is typically concentrated pork broth. David Chang, founder of Momofuku and co-author of the book by the same name described such a deep passion for ramen early on in his culinary career. I kinda regret not taking the opportunity to try any of his restaurants on my recent trek to NJ/NY but that just means I'll have to take another trip!

The first part of the book outlines the gory arduous details of making proper ramen broth and I tried to find all the key ingredients to get all the core flavors - roasted pork neck bones and chicken backs, dashi, mirin. I didn't look hard enough to find kombu - which is essentially kelp but I think I got most of the flavors in there. I've always used pork bones to make soup but it was amazing to see how much deeper the broth flavor got from roasting the bones first - good stuff. After about 3 hours simmering on the stove I let it sit overnight.


The next day I further reduced the broth and added bonito flakes to enhance the meaty flavor and give some richness.



I prepped some chasu, shitake mushrooms, scallions, and bean sprouts. Next time I'll try to make my own ramen noodles.


I feel pretty good about my first try:)


and blog posts with Nat are just always more fun! Nat decided to dress herself and celebrate Halloween nearly a month late.