Ramen Noodles (Recipe)

When most people hear someone say "ramen noodles", they think of the square brick of dry noodles that come in a plastic package with a small packet of artificial powder flavoring. The noodles are boiled for 3 minutes, the powder mixed in and every person who went to college in America has probably lived on that at one time or another, including myself.

This is not the recipe that I'm about to share. This was a scrumptious and oh-so-comforting dish that I experienced during a week-long trip to the beautiful island of Oahu a few years ago, and is my attempt to recreate it. A friend and I were strolling down the boulevard, got hungry and popped into a random Japanese noodle house along our path. The name of the place, sadly, will forever be lost in my memory. But the taste of that big bowl of noodles will be permanently implanted into my mental catalog of great eats.

In my opinion, the most important part of this dish, is the broth. I've never had a more savory or flavorful broth before then or since then, but my attempt is close enough to satisfy my monthly cravings.

First, I start off with 2 cups of homemade chicken or beef stock. To make stock, I take some chicken or beef bones (ok if there's meat on it) and simmer them for 2 to 3 hours with some water, 1 chopped onion, 3 stalks of celery, 1 large carrot, 2 bay leaves and a heavy pinch of pepper corns. Then I strain out and discard all the chunky stuff with a metal strainer and cheese cloth, and all that's left is yummy stock.

Then I make some mushroom and bonito stock. To do this I take 2 cups of water, bring it to a boil and add a handful of bonito shavings and 6 or 7 dried shitake mushrooms (available at your local asian market). After bringing this to a boil, I turn off the heat and let it sit for 20 minutes, strain and add the liquid to my stock. To finish the broth, I add about 1/4 cup of oyster sauce, 1/8 cup of hoisin sauce, 1/8 cup of soy sauce (or more to taste), 2 tbsp. of honey, 1/2 tsp. white pepper and a handful of fresh diced green onion. All these can be found at your local asian market. Now I have a rich and savory broth for my noodles.

For my noodles I tend to choose a fresh egg noodle (this is ramen, typically in the fridge section of the asian market). I boil the noodles as directed in water, remove from the water, place it in a bowl and sprinkle some sesame oil over it. Then I boil whatever else I want in my noodles, such as sliced carrots, firm tofu, soy beans and mushrooms in 2 cups of broth for about 2 minutes (I usually freeze any left over broth for the next use). I've also used half of a hard-boiled egg, zucchini, bok choy, beef, chicken, bean sprouts, etc., etc., etc. Everything goes into a big bowl and the broth poured over it all. Great for a cold June day!