Sapporo ramen

Sapporo, the capital of Japan’s most northerly island, is renowned for its miso-based ramen.

Credit: Chris Chen

• serves

  4

• prep

  50 minutes

• cook

  3 hours

• difficulty

  Ace

Ingredients

• 400 g fresh ramen noodles (see Note)
• 1 corn cob, husk removed and chargrilled, kernels sliced from cob
• 200 g can bamboo shoots, drained
• 100 g (1¼ cups) bean sprouts
• 4 nori sheets (dried seaweed) (see Note), cut into strips
• 60 g butter, sliced into 4
• 2 spring onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
• sesame oil and dried chilli flakes, to serve

Chashu pork

• 500 g boneless pork belly
• 125 ml (½ cup) soy sauce
• 250 ml (1 cup) mirin
• 60 ml (¼ cup) sake
• 55 g (¼ cup) caster sugar
• 4 cm-piece ginger, sliced
• 6 garlic cloves, bruised
• 4 spring onions, roughly chopped

Marinated soft-boiled eggs

• 125 ml (½ cup) soy sauce
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 4 soft-boiled eggs, peeled

Chicken stock

• 1 kg chicken bones
• 1 leek, white part only, roughly chopped
• 6 cm-piece ginger, sliced
• 2 pieces kombu (dried seaweed) (see Note)
• 10 g (⅓ cup) dried shiitake mushrooms
• 75 g (¼ cup) white miso (see Note) paste
• 75 g (¼ cup) brown miso (see Note) paste

Instructions

To make chashu pork, preheat oven to 140°C. Roll pork and secure tightly with kitchen string in 3cm intervals. Place soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar, ginger, garlic, spring onions and 1 L water in a casserole pan over high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Bring to the boil, then add pork. Cover, transfer to oven and cook, turning occasionally, for 3 hours or until very tender. Remove pork, cool slightly before slicing thinly. Set aside. Discard cooking liquid.

Meanwhile, to make marinated soft-boiled eggs, place soy sauce, sugar and 125 ml water in a small bowl, mixing to combine. Add eggs, then cover and refrigerate for 3 hours.

Meanwhile, to make stock, place chicken bones, leek, ginger, kombu, shiitake and 2.5 L water in a large saucepan with over high heat and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, occasionally skimming surface to remove any scum, for 1½ hours. Strain stock through a fine sieve and return liquid to pan. Add miso pastes, whisking until combined.

Meanwhile, cook noodles in a saucepan of boiling water for 2 minutes or until just cooked. Drain, then divide among 4 serving bowls and pour over hot stock. Serve topped with corn kernels, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, nori strips, butter, reserved sliced pork, halved marinated soft-boiled eggs and spring onions. Drizzle with sesame oil and sprinkle with dried chilli flakes.

Notes

• Fresh ramen noodles, nori sheets and miso paste are from Japanese and Asian food shops.

• Kombu (dried seaweed) is used to flavour soups, stocks and simmered dishes. Rinse before using to remove excess salt. It is from Japanese and Asian food shops.

Photography Chris Chen.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.