I have spent the past month being fascinated with Momofuku, the cookbook by David Chang and Peter Meehan. David Chang has received a James Beard award, and has had articles about him in magazines like the New Yorker and Esquire.  It’s safe to say that his restaurants—Momofuku, Ko and SSaam Bar have been on my radar for a while now.   Raw is the word that came to mind as I read the cookbook cover to cover. It’s in the same vein as Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential, except it’s an actual cookbook.   It’s a great cookbook too—but, this guy is controversial and I’m pretty sure that I wouldn’t work for him…ever.  Wow, does he know what to say to tick people off or what?   For example, he caused a mild furor in San Francisco last month when he said “fuckin’ every restaurant in San Francisco is just serving figs on a plate.”  Now I can understand why he said it—I’ve gone into restaurants where our party has been sent out apple slices and peanut butter as an amuse bouche.  (I mean come on I can stay at home and eat organic apples and peanut butter.)  But he could have phrased it differently.  Oh well.  The cookbook is awesome and the recipes are truly spectacular. After reading the book I was inspired to make Momofuku’s ramen.  Making the broth was a journey.  Locating the ingredients took me to the local Hispanic market and the Asian market as well.  The broth is really fantastic and totally worth the wait!

Momofuku’s Ramen Broth

Makes 5 quarts

Adapted from  David Chang and Peter Meehan

Two 3 by 6 inch pieces of Konbu

6 quarts water

2 cups dried shitakes, rinsed

4 pounds chicken, either a whole bird or legs

5 pounds meaty pork bones (Neck bones are recommended.  I found mine at the local Hispanic market on the recommendation of the butcher in my local grocery store.  He told me that they would be cheaper at the Hispanic market and easy to find.  He was right.)

1 pound smoky bacon (I used a pound of double smoked slab bacon.)

1 bunch scallions

1 medium onion, cut in half

2 large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped

Konbu was essentially the only ingredient that I had on hand when I decided to make this recipe.  The reason that I got it is long forgotten but I was pleased to finally use it up and have a reason to go to the Asian grocery to get the dried shitakes.  Dried shitakes are so much cheaper at Asian groceries than they are at American grocery stores!   I made the mistake of going Nak’s in Menlo Park while I was hungry.  I should never go grocery shopping while I am hungry especially if it is a store that I don’t always frequent.  I left Nak’s with no less than 10 pounds of rice; 5 pounds of long grain brown, 5 pounds of black sticky rice (I do love sticky rice!) 2 bottles of sake,  usukuchi (Japanese light soy sauce), Litchi gummies, wood ear mushrooms….point is I should have lunch then go to the grocery store.  Fortunately I went to Chavez market after lunch or else I would have brought home a slew of dried chilies, tamarind soda and fresh corn tortillas in addition to my pork neck bones and a 4 pound whole chicken.

Ingredients in hand, away we go!

1. Rinse the konbu under running water, then combine it with the water in an 8 quart stockpot.  Bring the water to a simmer over high heat and turn off the heat.  Let steep for ten minutes. (I used the handy dandy alarm on my blackberry.)
2. 2. Remove the konbu from the pot and add the shitakes.  Turn the heat back up to high and bring the water to a boil, then turn the heat down so the liquid simmers gently.  Simmer for 30 minutes, (out came the blackberry) until the mushrooms are plumped and rehydrated and have lent the broth their color and aroma.  I discarded the leftover konbu.  Chang recommends re-using the konbu in a grilled octopus salad.  I didn’t have the time for that!  I was making ramen broth.
3. Heat the oven to 400F
4. Remove the mushrooms from the pot with a spider or slotted spoon.  Chang recommends making pickled shitakes with these babies, and that is what I did.  They were delicious and worth making even if you are not making ramen broth.
5. Add the chicken to the pot.  Keep the liquid at a gentle simmer.  Skim and discard any froth, foam or fat that rises to the surface of the broth with the chicken is simmering and replenish the water as necessary to keep the chicken covered.  After about 1 hour, test the chicken; the meat should pull away from the bones easily.  If it doesn’t, simmer until that’s the case and then remove the chicken from the pot with a spider or slotted spoon.   I saved the meat from the chicken to use in a simple pasta dish for dinner—I couldn’t see just throwing it away.
6. While the chicken is simmering, put the pork bones on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan and slide them into the oven to brown for an hour; turn them over after about 30 minutes to ensure even browning.
7. Remove the chicken from the pot and add the roasted bones to the broth, along with the bacon.  Adjust the heat as necessary to keep the broth at a steady simmer; skim the scum and replenish the water as needed.  After 45 minutes, fish out the bacon and discard it.  Then gently simmer the pork bones for 6 or 7 hours—as much time as your schedule allows.  Stop adding water to replenish the pot after hour 5 or so.
8. Add the scallions, onion and carrots to the pot and simmer for the final 45 minutes.  (Out came the blackberry again.)
9. Remove and discard the spent bones and vegetables. Strain the broth. You can use the broth at this point or if you are making it in advance freeze at this time.
10. Finish the broth by seasoning it to taste with tare.  I didn’t have time to make tare so I just used salt, soy sauce and mirin as Chang suggests.

For the final serving of the ramen, my friend Justine picked up some really good fresh ramen from Japantown for our feast.  I picked up some kim chee, scallions and fried onions for garnishes.  We also added a poached egg and slow roasted pork shoulder to our delicious broth.

This was a complete feat to make, but it was delicious.  The greatest challenge was what to do with the leftover ingredients that infused the broth.  I can’t just throw away food!   I froze some of the broth and loved having it on hand for a quick meal.  Will I make it again? Sure, not tomorrow, but someday soon.

Good Luck!!