J Allan Miller once said (that's me) -
A good day starts with breakfast, a great day starts with ramen!
I thought I would share with all of you what I had for breakfast this morning and some of the weekend toiling I did.
First off, Saturday was a trip to the local Asian market here in Phoenix to pick up some chicken, beef, and pork bones to start on the grand endeavor of making homemade bone broth. I had that craving again you see, that dark, rich, flavorful bowl of noodle-ey goodness with all the wonderful toppings was beckoning me. I could hear the sounds of deep, loud slurping echoing down the halls. Opening the freezer I almost screamed in terror at what I saw, the last quart of pork bone broth had vanished without leaving so much as a trace!
It was time to make more! Homemade bone broth is not difficult to make but it is a labor of love. It must simmer for hours on end to acquire that rich flavor you get when you visit a quality ramen shop. Most butcher shops or Asian markets will have bones for sale of various types and sizes, I even tried some lamb bones once, but while it was wonderful for stews and soups it really didn't work for ramen.
Bone broth is packed with nutrients and is very healthy. Loaded with collagen it helps build healthy hair and nails as well as help to restore collagen levels in joints increasing mobility.
I'm going to give a rundown on how I made the chicken bone broth since it takes the least amount of time. All bone broths are basically the same process, it doesn't matter if it is beef, pork, chicken, or lamb. It's mainly the length of time it cooks that varies. Chicken can go as little as 6-8 hours while beef gets better with time and requires a minimum of 12-16 hours to get all the collagen and richness the bones have to give (I go 24 hrs on mine). Pork runs somewhere in between these two.
So simple broth can be made with nothing but bones, salt, and pepper.
Just roast the bones first in a 400-degree oven for about 30 minutes before adding them to your stockpot. Add water till it is about an inch over the bones and bring to a rolling boil, reduce the heat to a slow simmer till you can just barely see the liquid moving up from the bottom (if it is bubbling it is too high). Cover and let it go for the desired amount of time WITHOUT curiously removing the lid to look inside! That's it! Simple huh?
Now, this is where it gets interesting -
I like to build flavors into my broth, you can use whatever you like to do this, herbs, veggies, spices, they all work and there is no wrong way, it's all about what you like!
As you can see here I am adding carrots, onion, sliced fresh ginger, and whole garlic cloves which I feel gives it a nice Asian quality when using it for ramen or egg drop soup (which I also love). I cook these over high heat in some canola oil for 5 minutes or so until I can smell the garlic and ginger releasing. Now I add the roasted chicken bones.
Now cover all that goodness in water and let it simmer (6-8 hours remember?).
When it's done pour it through a wire strainer into another pot, skim off the fat, and either can or put it into plastic quart containers. Freeze until you get that craving for slurping goodness.
The picture above is finished pork broth but it gives you an idea of what they should all look like when finished. Bone broths are not light and clear like normal broths and stocks, they tend to be slightly cloudy. I have kept bone broth in the freezer for up to 3 months but others have told me it will last up to 6 though I can't imagine anyone not using it up before that!
As for the ramen part, well there are literally NO RULES to ramen! Use whatever you have on hand. For noodles, I like ramen or rice noodles but have used plain old fettuccini noodles when I forgot to restock the pantry. I like to add cabbage, mushrooms, bean sprouts, scallions, and shrimp or chicken, sometimes a soft-boiled egg cut in half. It's all about you so YOU do YOU!
A note on flavoring - When I do pork broth for ramen I like to add either fresh or dried shitake mushrooms and dried seaweed (go easy it can be strong) to give it some rich deep flavor. For beef, I tend to do simple stock or add just carrot, onion, and celery since I use it more for soups like minestrone.
Bone broth is generally expensive to buy in the markets here in Arizona (about 5-7 dollars a quart for organic). I made 8 quarts of chicken, 7 quarts of pork, and 9 quarts of beef all from $10 worth of bones I bought! As popular as it is I am seriously thinking about canning and selling it at the farmers market on Saturdays.
Hope you all enjoyed my post - until next time.