SPICY MISO SESAME RAMEN

MISO SESAME RAMEN

#SIAintheKitchen

I love ramen but I just hate how long it takes to cook. I’ve done a tonkotsu broth from scratch once in my life and have been intimidated ever since to even attempt to try again. I did try making ramen again several years ago, however, it was of the miso variety. Less work and the same impactful flavour I would get like in a restaurant. And this past weekend I made it again - my miso sesame ramen.

I took inspiration from two of my favourite ramen joints in the city - Motomachi Shokudo and Hida Takayama. Although Motomachi Shokudo is known for their black charcoal miso ramen (which I love!), they also have aa wonderfully spicy miso ramen with ground pork and all the fixings. That, along with the creamy sesame miso that I love at Hida Takayama, a gem found in the Robson Public Market food court, I combined the two to make my own. Savoury miso with the nutty and creamy tahini makes for a great combination. Using homemade stock in here with a hint of dashi powder really boosts amount of umami in this dish.

I think the only time consuming parts would be preparing the toppings but it’s really up to you what you want to put on top and in your ramen. For this particular batch, I used scallions, sweet corn kernels, slices of spam, roasted nori, Savoy cabbage, fish cake, chili and soy-dressed mung bean sprouts, ajitsuke tamago, sesame seeds, chili oil and fresh garlic cloves. Oishii!

SPICY MISO SESAME RAMEN - serves 4

Broth

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil

• 1 head garlic cloves, minced

• 1 lb lean ground pork

• 1 tsp gochugaru

• 1/4 cup gochujang

• 1/4 cup shiro miso paste

• 1/4 cup tahini paste

• 6 cups vegetable stock (more if you’d like it thinner)

• 1 tsp dashi powder

• dash white pepper

• 1 tsp kosher salt

Bowl and toppings:

• 200g fresh ramen noodles, uncooked

• 1 bunch scallions, sliced

• 2 ajitsuke tamago, sliced

• 4 pieces of pan-fried spam

• 1 sheet roasted nori, cut into 4 strips (or 8 if you want the strips smaller)

• 1 (540 ml) can corn kernels, drained

• large handful of mung bean sprouts, rinsed

• 1/4 Savoy cabbage, sliced thinly

• 4 cloves garlic, pushed through a garlic press

• 1 Japanese fish cake, sliced

• toasted sesame seeds, as needed

• chili oil, as needed

1. Begin to heat a medium-sized pot over a medium-high flame. Once hot, add the vegetable oil and heat until it is glistening. Add the garlic and saute until you begin to see some colour, about 2 minutes.

2. Add in the ground pork and gochugaru and begin to brown the meat. Once the fat begins to release and half of the meat is cooked, stir in the gochujang until all the meat is coated and it is red. Stir in the miso paste and tahini and slowly add in the stock stirring to ensure the pastes are becoming well-incorporated.

3. Bring the broth to a low boil and add in the white pepper, dashi and salt. Turn heat down to low as you prep the other ingredients.

4. Cook the ramen noodles in large pot of boiling water until desired doneness, drain and set aside. Divide in to 4 bowls. Divide the toppings into separate sections and ladle the broth over top. Serve immediately.