How to Make Traditional Shoyu Ramen at Home (Simple Recipe) with The Sushi Man

What's going on, Jun with the Sushi Man, and in this video, I'll show you how to make my simple version of the traditional shoyu ramen, or pronounced ramen in Japanese. You probably know that making ramen from scratch is a very time-consuming process. The broth simmers for hours and hours, usually taking an entire day to finish. But with this easy recipe, you can literally make it in under 15 minutes. And trust me, it's going to taste just as good, if not better than a lot of ramen restaurants out Alright, without further ado, let's get right into it. But first, I just want to give a quick thanks to you. Whether you're new or returning to my channel, thank you for being here. Now, I want to ask you for a simple favor. If you're enjoying my content and you're finding it helpful, then please consider hitting that subscribe button. It really does make a difference and allows me to continue making more creative and better content. So again, I really appreciate you all being here. Now back to our video. Alright, first, let's go over the ingredients for our tare, which is the sauce that's going to be used as our base. We're obviously going to need some shoyu, which is soy sauce. And I highly recommend using Japanese soy sauce, just because you'll get a more authentic tasting soup. I like to use this usukuchi shoyu, which has a lighter color and doesn't make the soup so dark. But that's just personal preference. Next, we have some chicken bouillon powder, mirin, and then a little bit of lard. Now, I know lard isn't as common nowadays, but you don't want to skip this. All ramen soups have some fat content that comes naturally from simmering the meat and bones, but we're not doing that here. Instead, we're going to add a bit of lard to mimic that flavor and give the soup more richness and overall depth to the flavor. Okay, now for the soup base, we're just going to use half part dashi and half part water, a little less than a cup each. And I like to make my own awasedashi using kombu and katsuobushi, but you can easily swap this with some hondashi powder if you want to keep it even more simple. Now let's go over the ingredients for the komi abura, which is an aromatic oil that adds some extra flavor. We need three tablespoons of vegetable oil, some green onion, but we're only going to be using the white parts for this and save the green parts for toppings. Then a couple cloves of garlic, a little bit of ginger, and some sesame oil. Now, that's really all you need to make a solid bowl of ramen, but it's not going to be as satisfying without the toppings, right? Optional, of course, but the toppings will definitely enhance your ramen experience. And one of my favorite is chashu. It takes a little more time to make, but trust me, it's worth it. So for the chashu, we need some pork belly. I like to use these thick cut ones. This one's about a pound or so. And then some soy sauce, sugar, sake, garlic, ginger, and green onions for the braising liquid. Another essential topping is soft boiled egg, which is extremely easy to make. And then I also like to add some menma, which is fermented bamboo shoots, naruto, which is a type of kamaboko or Japanese fish cake, and then some nori. And that's it for the ingredients. I know it seemed like a lot, but again, the toppings are all optional and you can change any of them to your own liking. Okay, now let's move on to our prep. All right, so I totally forgot to add in the actual ramen noodles in the ingredients section, which is a pretty crucial ingredient, obviously. So shoyu ramen uses noodles that are about medium thickness and wavy called chijiramen, but you can honestly use whatever ramen noodles you prefer. I have a bunch of these packs, so I'm just going to use one of these. It's actually made for hiyashi chuka, or cold ramen noodle salad, but it works really great for shoyu ramen as well. Now before we get into our prep, let's check out these really cool boxes that I have. Tokyo Tree and Sakurako, which happens to be the sponsor of this video. Tokyo Tree is a monthly subscription box that's packed with the latest limited edition seasonal snacks straight from Japan. That means you can't find these here in the states or anywhere else besides Japan. It also comes with instant ramen and drinks. Sakurako is also a monthly subscription box that features traditional Japanese snacks that are made from local artisans, so obviously you can't get this stuff anywhere besides Japan either. Each box comes with 20 authentic artisan snacks, including Japanese teas and special Japanese tableware. Now that's really cool. Both are delivered straight to your door and have a different theme every month. These are October's boxes, which you can get if you order by October 15th. All right, now let's see what's inside. Let's start with Tokyo Tree. And I'm assuming by the look of the box... Yup, this month Tokyo Tree's theme is Snacktastic Halloween. Halloween wasn't traditionally celebrated in Japan, but has grown in popularity in recent years. But it's more of a fun dress-up party vibe that's geared towards young adults rather than celebrating the dead or trick-or-treating with kids. There are tons of seasonal Halloween products though, so I'm sure we'll see some in here. And as always, it includes this very convenient booklet that tells you everything you need to know about each item. All right, let's taste test some of these. This one caught my eye. Halloween Pizza Puffs, basically. I absolutely love pizza, so let's give it a try. Itadakimasu. Okay. Yeah, tastes kind of like pizza. Basically a cheese puff, but more pizza flavor. Not bad. Okay, next I'm going to try one of these. Apple Pie Kit Kats. I mean, come on, it's got to be good, right? Itadakimasu. Tastes like an apple pie. That's really good. All right, let's check out the Sakurako box now. Nice. This month's theme is the colors of Kyoto. Kyoto during the fall is absolutely gorgeous. You get the vibrant colors of the fall folias with the beautiful temples and shrines. It's really something you have to see in person to fully appreciate. Though I'm sure the over-tourism issue in Kyoto is even crazier now, which makes this box even more attractive. You get all the goodies sent right to you. No waiting forever in lines or getting lost in the sea of people. Just saying. Anyways, here's the handy-dandy booklet for this month. All right, now let's check out the items. And lastly, the special tableware. I'm always excited to open these. Oh, nice. It's a traditional teacup. That's really cool. Perfect to try out with the sencha, which I'm going to do right now. So comforting. Now, let's see what will go well with this. Honestly, any of these probably will, but I'm going to try this out. Soba boro. I think it's like cookies made from buckwheat, which is what soba is made out of. Let's see. Itadakimasu. Mmm. Oh, these are really good. It has a very satisfying crisp to it with a slight sweetness. This should go really well with the tea. Mmm. That is good. Okay, next I'm going to try this. This is actually a very famous treat from Kyoto called yatsuhashi. It's been around forever, and I remember eating these whenever someone went to Kyoto and brought back omiyage. It's been a very long time though, so let's see if it tastes like how I remember it. Itadakimasu. Yep, still the same. It has like this distinct sweet cinnamon spice to it. It's very nostalgic, actually. All right, I better stop and save the rest for my wife and son. They look forward to these boxes every month, and we have so much fun snacking on them. I mean, both Tokyo Treat and Sakurako do a fantastic job of combining the best snacks and really packing these boxes full of goodies. So if you or someone you know is a fan of Japanese snacks, and I mean, come on, who isn't, right? Then definitely check out the link below. And it makes for an awesome gift as well. Again, you can get these exact same boxes if you order by October 15th. And don't forget to use my special promo code, TheSushiMan, to get $5 off your first order for both Tokyo Treat and Sakurako. It's made snack time so much more fun for my family, so I highly recommend it, especially if you have kids. I mean, what simpler way can you experience authentic Japanese snacks from the comfort of your own home? Thank you so much to Tokyo Treat and Sakurako for sponsoring this video. All right, now let's get back to our ramen. First thing we're going to do is cook the chashu, since that takes the longest. And we start by browning the outside of it in a pan over medium-high heat. First, I like to add a little bit of oil. Then starting with the fat side, we're going to brown this until it starts to have a light crisp, about a couple minutes or so. Then you want to turn it over and basically do the same thing for all sides. Looks good. Now we're going to set this aside. And then next we're going to add all the braising liquid ingredients into a medium pot. And then we're going to add the pork belly right in there, which I've cut in half so it fits in the pot. And I forgot to stir the liquid here, which is easier before you put the pork in, but all good. We just want to stir up that sugar so it doesn't burn at the bottom. Now we're going to turn this on to medium-high and wait for it to start boiling. And while we wait for that, let's make our quick otoshi buta, or drop lid. And I just use some aluminum foil and make a really simple one. All you do is fold a sheet of foil and basically just shape it into a circle that fits right into the pot. Doesn't have to be perfect. And then we poke a hole right in the middle. And that's it. Once it starts to boil, turn it down to about medium-low and place the otoshi buta right on there. Then we're going to let this simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour. Now while this cooks, let's get everything else ready, starting with the soft-boiled egg. So start boiling a small pot of water, and make sure to have enough water where the egg is fully submerged. I probably could have added a little bit more here. Once it starts to boil, add in the egg carefully. Now keep it at a low boil, meaning don't turn it up too high where the egg is bouncing around everywhere. I like to cook mine for about 6.5-7 minutes to get a nice soft yolk, but of course you can cook it to your preference. Now in the meantime, make sure to get an ice bath ready. We want to immediately transfer the egg as soon as it's done so that it doesn't overcook. Now once it's cooled down, we just peel it. Now if you want to take this to the next level, you can marinate this in a soy sauce, sake, and sugar mixture to make what's called ajitsuke tamago, or ajitama for short. Typically you'll see it at ramen restaurants and it's super easy to make. All you do is just set the egg in the mixture and leave it in the fridge overnight. But for the sake of keeping this recipe simple, we'll just leave this as is. Okay now let's make our koumi abura. Alright first, we're going to chop up a green onion. And remember, we're only using the white part for this and we're keeping the green part for the topping later. Next let's cut up our ginger and garlic. Now add the oil into a small pan or pot and start heating it up over medium heat. And then add in the chopped up green onion, garlic, and ginger. Now we just cook this for a few minutes while stirring it occasionally. And then lastly, add a little drizzle of sesame oil and mix it all together. And that's it! Now we're going to strain this into a bowl. And done! Alright now time for our soup. First we're going to add in our tare ingredients into a medium pot. Now we add in the dashi stock. And then the water. Give it a quick stir. And then we'll turn this on to about medium heat and wait for it to start boiling. Once it starts to gently boil like this, turn the heat down to low and we're going to leave it like this until we're ready to pour. And that's it! Super simple. Moving on. Alright back to our chashu. Oh yeah that's what I'm talking about. Now I'm just going to transfer this onto a plate and let it cool. Alright time to cut. Oh yeah look at that. It's so tender. Man my mouth is watering. It's not the big rolled up style chashu but it's equally delicious and much easier to make. Alright now all we have left is cooking the noodles. Okay for the noodles, just make sure to follow the instructions on the package because every pack is different. But one thing to keep in mind though is that you want to time it so that the noodles finish cooking right when you're ready to serve. So just make sure you have everything else done and ready to go. And look at that. That's a legit bowl of shoyu ramen right there. And how simple was that? Really the chashu is what takes the longest so if you omit that then you're looking at what 15-20 minute stops? Now of course it's not as quick as instant ramen but it's not going to taste like instant ramen either. Trust me a little bit of work goes a very long way especially when it comes to ramen. Alright enough jibber jabbering. I have to take some photos of this really quick and then I'm going to dig in because I'm starving. Alright I'm excited. Oh yeah that soup hits the spot. So comforting. Just warms up the soul. It's clean yet slightly rich and packed with umami. Such a good balance. Alright I'm going to let you guys go so I can finish this bowl while it's still hot. Thanks for watching and as always feel free to leave me any questions or comments below. And definitely let me know how you like the recipe if you give it a try. Which trust me you're going to want to. I'll see you in the next one. Arigatou gozaimasu.