Ingredients (4 people)
- 1 large free range chicken breasts (skin on)
- 1 litre of great chicken stock
- 8 to 10 dried shiitake mushrooms (fresh if you can get them)
- 4 cloves of good garlic
- 4 slices of root ginger
- 1 tablespoon of mirin
- 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce
- 4 or 5 spring onions
- 4 pak choi
- 2 outers of buckwheat noodles
- Salt and pepper
- 4 eggs
- 2 red chilis
- A sprinkle of seaweed flakes (for show and a bit of saltiness)
Season the chicken breasts and seal in a sous bag along with a bit of butter (or better still, chicken fat, a byproduct of making chicken stock at home). Give them an hour to an hour and a half in a 60ºC (140ºF) water bath.
The chicken fat has a fantastic colour and lots of chicken flavour.
Put the mushrooms in a bowl and add lots of boiling water to reconstitute them. This takes about 30 minutes, an hour does no harm.
My traditional method for reconstituting dried mushrooms.
Slice the ginger and peel the garlic. Cook the noodles (these were 3 minutes in boiling water). Warm the stock and add the mirin, soy sauce, whole garlic cloves and ginger slices.
The mushrooms add bite and flavour. They are a great store cupboard staple.
Rinse and slice the mushrooms. Add them to the stock. Warm the stock to a gentle simmer. Now for the tricky bit. Cook the eggs to get them medium soft. Place the eggs into gently boiling water and leave them there for 5 minutes. Take them out and add to an ice bath. This stops them continuing to cook.
The really tricky bit is peeling them. I cooked 5 for the 4 that I needed.
Peel the eggs. Slice the chilis and the spring onions. Heat a frying pan and place the chicken on, skin side down. Brown the skin until crispy. Add the noodles to the stock and place the pak choi on top. Cover the pot with a lid and wait for the pak choi to wilt. Slice the chicken. Spoon the stock, noodles and pak choi int a large bowl and gently place the sliced chicken and egg on top. (In this case, the chicken came first).
The assembly is important as the ramen needs to look as good as it can.
Slice the eggs in half place them in the bowl, gently. Sprinkle on some chili, spring onion and seaweed. Serve immediately and enjoy.
Traditionally, I go for lots of natural flavour. It worked this time.
I really can’t over-emphasise the importance of the stock in this dish. If you don’t have an excellent stock, you CAN’T have an excellent ramen. Organic Irish free range chicken, free range Irish eggs and locally grown Irish pak choi help keep this traditional too. It’s as traditional Irish a dish as I have created in a while and worth the bit of effort. Give it a go.
Mad Dog | 28th November 2017
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I’m sure there’s something in Tampopo about Ramen being invented by the Irish!
It looks delicious and beautifully presented.
Conor Bofin | Author | 28th November 2017
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Thanks MD. Glad to get the confirmation!
katechiconi | 28th November 2017
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If by traditional homestyle cooking he means generous portions of beautifully cooked, imaginative dishes from fairly straightforward but high quality ingredients, I think he’s correct. If he was trying to prove his superiority, then all he’s proved is that he’s an eejit. I’ll take your Irish ramen over his whatever any day. I think Mad’s right and ramen originally came from Ireland. After all, Mirin is definitely an Irish saint’s name (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Mirin)…
Conor Bofin | Author | 28th November 2017
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Thanks Kate,
Excellent to see the evidence mount up in my favour. Even I didn’t know about St. Mirin. Your kind words are welcomed too.
Best,
C
Móna Wise | 28th November 2017
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yummy in my tummy .. we have a Vietnamese student living with us this year … so eating a lot of yum like this!
Conor Bofin | Author | 28th November 2017
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Hi Móna,
Great to hear from you. Having somebody from Asia with you must really be menu-expanding. Thanks for the kind words. I hope all goes well with you in Galway.
Best as ever,
Conor
Lisa @ cheergerm | 28th November 2017
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I have always thought you weren’t traditional enough, you need to add in a few more potatoes and leprechauns to your recipes. To be sure, to be sure, to be sure….
Conor Bofin | Author | 28th November 2017
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I might just have to sous vide a leprechaun so. If only I could find one…
Simon | 28th November 2017
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Didn’t Saint Patrick chase all the potatoes out of Ireland?
Conor Bofin | Author | 28th November 2017
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Given that most of our potatoes come from Greece and other place now, I think you might be right!
Simon | 28th November 2017
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Conor, I’m totally on board with supporting local independent butchers, here in Australia we have a duopoly supermarket chain of Coles and Woolworths (yes, really) that really bring the hurt to independent producers, chasing the lowest cost with no thought for quality and forcing many of the smaller farmers into bankruptcy. Please don’t forget that the same is true for greengrocers and for dairy producers. Deciding to avoid supermarkets for meat, fruit and veg, and dairy, should be enough to help restore balance to the force. I find that people become independent grocers and butchers because they have a passion for it, yet within the supermarket system it’s just a job. I’m in no way a hippie at all, but as I enter my 50s it’s becoming more obvious. People, rise up against corporate tyrrany and visit your Sunday markets, with cash in pocket!
Conor Bofin | Author | 28th November 2017
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Excellent sentiment Simon. Having recently visited a free range turkey farm with a small group of quality butchers, I see that the independent trade is becoming very dependent on the smaller producers. This relationship is symbiotic and both benefit by strong ties. The butcher gets to sell higher quality, local produce and the producer gets a supply chain built on partnership and trust. It works well when it gets going.
Great to see I am not alone in giving this a bit of a lash.
Best,
Conor
Elyss | 28th November 2017
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It may be a traditional Irish measure, but I’m English (sorry!) So….what’s an ‘outer’ (of buckwheat noodles)?
Conor Bofin | Author | 28th November 2017
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Sorry Elyss,
I should be plainer in my descriptions. About 125 gms per person will do it.
Best,
C
cookinginsens | 28th November 2017
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Great presentation and perfect eggs.
Conor Bofin | Author | 28th November 2017
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Thanks Rosemary. Though the perfectionist (OCD) in me can’t help focussing on the fact that I didn’t manage to get a smooth edge to the knife cut on the egg. Frustrating…
ayearinredwood | 28th November 2017
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We spent the weekend culling some fowl… so this may well be the time to try something like this!
Conor Bofin | Author | 28th November 2017
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Be sure you use great stock (as I know you will). It will turn out delightfully.
anotherfoodieblogger | 28th November 2017
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Oh my gosh, yes please! I just love a good noodle soup. I can only assume your traditional Irish pak choi is what we ‘Mericans refer to as bok choy. 🙂
Conor Bofin | Author | 28th November 2017
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Exactly that Kathryn. Though this is actually grown locally. We are getting pretty ethnic in our agriculture. That is a great thing.
Eha | 28th November 2017
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I jump up and down whenever I see one of your posts in my morning’s mail: I know I’ll get a laugh [besides a damn good recipe] and today it began with the title! Shall check your Irish ramen against my Australian fusion one and have a great time making it 🙂 ! We’ll pretend ‘sous-vide’ is not there . . . An ‘outer’ is a new word for me also . . . . methinks the photo tells the tale
Conor Bofin | Author | 5th December 2017
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Hi Eha,
Thanks for the sensible approach to outer. In truth, I had jettisoned the pack by the time I went to write up the recipe. The sous vide plays a small role only and I know you can easily recreate this (subject to good stock being available).
Best,
C
Tasty Eats Ronit Penso | 29th November 2017
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Beautiful Ramen!
As for “Traditional cooking” – I don’t see a lot of people reminiscing about a molecular dinner they’ve had, while I do see lots of people who want to duplicate their grandmother’s traditional dishes… I would take it as a compliment. 🙂
Conor Bofin | Author | 5th December 2017
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Thanks Ronit,
Though, I don’t have any dishes from my grandmothers. My Mum and Dad have been the best source of fond food memories. Now, molecular is not something I really want to try.
Best,
C
Eha | 29th November 2017
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Bok choy and pak choi both belong to the Chinese brassica family, one more green in the stems, one white . . . I truly believe in that in this instance you could make use of any of the ten commonly used Chinese leaf vegetables available at every greengrocer’s to achieve the same flavour and nutritional worth. Cannot imagine a day’s cooking without at least one of them . . .
Conor Bofin | Author | 5th December 2017
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They are lovely and easy to prepare. They are easier to get here now that they are grown here.
ladyredspecs | 29th November 2017
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Bit slow arriving at the Irish Ramen Shop, but all I can say is it looks fantastic! I haven’t seen chicken fat that colours since I was a child. With all the hooha about GMOs organic farmers in OZ eschew feeding their fowl corn. We love this style of food but the combined heat and humidity kills all desire for soup
Conor Bofin | Author | 29th November 2017
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It’s 3°c here in Dublin at present. Perhaps tuck this one away for six months Sandra. The carcasses that I rendered that from are from a fantastic free range farm in the lush pastures of County Carlow. The fat is testament to the quality of the chickens.
Tara Sparling | 29th November 2017
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I’ve been out of the loop for a while, Conor, but I had no idea you’d become so famous in my absence, even if it’s for being something you’re not. Although – this might be worth a full chapter in your fully illustrated autobiography, no? In the meantime, can you please do a post on excellent stocks for the laziest cooks in Ireland?
Conor Bofin | Author | 29th November 2017
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For goodness sake Sparling, my chicken stock recipe was posted two weeks ago. It’s linked in this post too. Next thing, you will want me to drop some around to your house. You are a hard woman to please.
Tara Sparling | 29th November 2017
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But I read that post Mr Bofin. I meant a recipe for LAZY people. That stock recipe you posted was full of terrible things like work, and time, and intelligence. It really says something about the state of the nation today that you can’t even get a 5-minute no-effort social media cheat for a decent stock when you ask for one. Sigh.
Conor Bofin | Author | 29th November 2017
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I believe Knor do a stock cube. One of the benefits of using it, apart from convenience, is the added salt. You never need to add any extra to your mug of chicken ‘broth’.
Tara Sparling | 29th November 2017
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But that means I’d have to boil my own water! Never mind. I’ll think of something.
Stefan | 29th November 2017
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It’s mostly testament to their diet (which is a quality diet): corn!
Stefan | 29th November 2017
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Another classic, Conor. I love ramen made from fresh ingredients. Good idea to save the fat from making stock. Did you do anything with the chicken fat from the sous vide bag? It will absorb some of the chicken flavor from the meat (I.e. the fat-soluble flavor molecules). You could also use the fat to brown the chicken rather than putting it in the bag.
Julie is Hostess At Heart | 30th November 2017
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That looks amazing! The chicken looks so moist and delicious!
Debbie Spivey | 30th November 2017
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Hi Conor! I could probably eat this every day. Looks delicious!
FrugalHausfrau | 30th December 2017
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Conor, my mouth is watering at your traditional ramen!
Conor Bofin | Author | 30th December 2017
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Thanks for that. I must try some other ramens in 2018. I enjoyed a delicious beef version only last month. I have the stock in the freezer so should give it a whirl.
FrugalHausfrau | 30th December 2017
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🙂