Tonakatsu Broth 1/4 cup sake 3 lbs pork bones - trotters, femur, and knee bones, sliced open 1 lb chicken - feet, wings OPT: 1 onion, 1 head of garlic, white part of 1 leek, 1 inch ginger, flash fried to golden brown, not burnt. Try slow cooked caramelized vegetables too. Or maybe don't cook the vegetables at all before adding to the pot. OPT: unrendered pork back fat. In a pinch, soak salt pork in water. When adding fatback, do so after the second boiling. Cook for 4 hours, then remove, cool, and mince fat finely. Add to heating stock before serving. Soak bones overnight in cold water with sake. Strain the soaking water, then cover bones with fresh cold water and bring to a hard boil. While boiling, remove scum from top layer for about 5 minutes. Turn off heat and cool until easy to handle. Strain water and rinse bones well of blood and other crud. With fresh cold water bring bones and vegetables back to a rolling boil and cover. Remove scum periodically (there really shouldn't be that much) and check that the temperature is correct with the lid on. Stir often during the process for about an hour, agitation is good. Keep to a rolling boil for a minimum of 12 hours, always covered. Add water, preferably hot, periodically. The last hour or so, when the bones are mostly dissolved, let the stock reduce and strain. When finally cooled, the stock will solidify into a big, jello. Skim the fat off the top (or not.) Makes a lot of stock. Use about 3 ladles to 1 serving of fresh ramen.
Ajitsuke Eggs 1/2 cup soy sauce 1/2 cup sake 1/2 cup mirin 3/4 cup sugar 6 eggs Boil sauce ingredients and simmer. Heat water to just boiling. Add eggs for exactly 6 minutes. Shock immediately in ice water. Peel and soak in sauce for 6 hours.
I pretty much followed the ramen recipe from Serious Eats and No Recipe as a starting point, to get a tannish colored soup with an "oily" (as described by SO) or perhaps "silky" texture but not as much body as I would like. I will probably make some adjustments next time as documented above.
The eggs came out perfect, but were not as seasoned as I would like. I would like to amp up the sweetness by a lot, so the recipe above needs to be majorly tweaked for a minimum marinating time. I soaked for 4 hours and the yolk was starting to cure, but will extend the time slightly next time.
1/2 cup butter, softened 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed 1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract 1 large egg
Cream butter and sugar, then mix in vanilla and egg.
1 cup and 1 tbsp AP flour 1/4 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats.
3 1/2 cups corn flakes
Whisk dry ingredients and add to creamed sugar slowly until just combined. Mix in oats, then cornflakes thoroughly. Drop 1.5 tbsp balls of dough on baking sheet lined with parchment and bake 350°F for 14 minutes. Cool on rack.
