Beef Ramen Bowl
Ramen has been all the craze the last number of years. I’m not talking about the 59 cent packages that I used to eat when I was a cook just starting out, living on my own at 18 years old. I’m talking about fresh ramen noodles inside a bowl of amazing umami broth. I am no “expert” on ramen but I will say the key to a fantastic noodle bowl is the broth. Now, I do know a little something about making good broths, and most of what makes a great broth/stock is time and good ingredients (bones). Once you have your broth then it is a matter of just adding the noodles, protein, and veggies to round out the bowl. You can substitute any protein or vegetable you have on hand. Have fun with it, here is the recipe I hope you enjoy it!
Recipe Ingredients
1 lb of fresh ramen noodles (whole foods sells them and asian markets, or make your own)
1 lb of snap peas blanched
4 cups of red cabbage, green cabbage, zucchini, cilantro mix
1/3 cup of chopped green onions
3 tbsp of chopped cilantro
chive blossoms
2 lb of ribeye cut thinly
1/3 cup of soy sauce
1 tsp sambal
1 tsp of sesame oil
Ramen Broth
1 ginger (3 oz) sliced
1 onion sliced
1 leek sliced
8 cloves of garlic sliced
1 serrano sliced
2 carrots chopped
8 cups of really good chicken stock or if you don’t have stock use chicken bones and/or beef bones
1/2 cup of soy sauce
1/4 cup of mushroom soy sauce or dark soy
2 tbsp of fermented soy bean chili paste
2 tbsp of fermented black bean paste
1 tsp of sambal
2 tbsp sesame oil
Recipe Instructions
For the ribeye,
Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Set aside to marinate for at least 45 minutes
For the ramen broth,
If you don’t have a good homemade chicken stock (box chicken stock is not great) try save the bones from the rotisserie chickens you buy from the market or cook yourself. A tip would be whatever meat that you buy on the bone, don’t throw those bones out. Even if they are cooked! Save them. That being said when making a broth/ or stock and you want it to be clear, you don’t caramelize or roast the bones. if you want the broth to have a caramelized or brownish tinge to your stock/broth then you want to cook your aromatics (vegetables ) and bones so the broth has deep dark flavor and color. Place ginger, onion, leek, carrots, in a pot with sesame oil and cook for 10 minutes. Then add serrano and garlic. Cook for another 3 minutes and then add your the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Turn down and simmer for a few hours. Once you have a deep, rich, flavorful broth then its ready. If it doesn’t taste great, you can reduce it more, or adjust the seasoning.
To finish,
Place your fresh ramen noodles into a pot of boiling salted water. Cook for 4-5 minutes until noodles are done. Meanwhile in a wok add sesame oil and marinated ribeye. Cook on high heat for 3 minutes or medium rare. Drain the noodles and evenly distribute between 6 bowls. Then add a little slaw, snow peas, ribeye to the bowl. Cut the hot soft boiled egg in half and add it to the bowls. Then ladle a few ladles of hot ramen broth over the top of everything. Finish with green onions, sesame seeds, cilantro, and chive blossoms. Serve and enjoy!
