Chicken Dashi Ramen

Tori-Dashi Ramen

Since I grew up in Tokyo, my favorite style of ramen has always been a simple shoyu ramen, or ramen with a soy-based broth, which is considered to be Tokyo’s traditional style ramen. I prefer lighter and soothing broth, rather than often overly reduced very rich broth such as tonkotsu. When I visited Hida Takayama, a northern region of Gifu Prefecture in Japan, I loved their local-style ramen, called Takayama Ramen. Takayama Ramen is also a simple shoyu ramen with wavy thin noodles. The typical broth base is chicken dashi and so soothing. So, here’s my version of chicken dashi shoyu ramen.

Equipment

Miso-shiru Nabe or Classic-style Donabe

I suggest Miso-shiru Nabe or any extra-thick body donabe for making the chicken dashi.
Small donabe is used for making the broth for the ramen.

Ingredients

(For the chicken dashi – about 1-qt/ 1-liter yield)

1 1/4 pounds (600 g) chicken wings
1 teaspoon sea salt
2-qt (1,200 ml) water
1 cup (240 ml) sake
1 piece 4” x 4” (10 cm x 10 cm) kombu
2 green onions (green part only)
1 clove garlic
1 small knob ginger, sliced
6 black peppercorns

2 tablespoons tamari (can substitute with regular soy sauce)
2/3 tsp or more sea salt
2 servings ramen
2 boiled eggs, halved
2 green onions, thinly-sliced crosswise
Freshly-ground black pepper, for serving
La-yu (hot chili oil), for serving

Procedure

To make the chicken dashi, season the chicken all over with 1 teaspoon sea salt. Let it rest in refrigerator for a few hours to overnight.
Combine the water, sake, and kombu in a donabe and let soak for 30 minutes or so.
Pat dry the chicken with paper towel and add to the donabe, along with the remainder of the ingredients for the chicken dashi (green onions, garlic, ginger, and black peppercorns), and set over medium to medium-high heat.
As soon as the liquid starts boiling, remove the kombu. Reduce the heat to simmer, skim, and cook (with the lid on) for 30 – 45 minutes. Turn off the heat and let rest for 1 hour.
Remove the chicken from the dashi. Debone the chicken and set aside. Strain the dashi and measure 2 1/2 cups (720 ml) of it.
Heat the measured dashi in a donabe and bring to a simmer over medium-heat. Add the tamari and sea salt.
Cook the ramen according to the package’s instructions. Drain well and divide into two bowls. Pour the broth and top with some of the reserved chicken, boiled eggs, and green onion. Sprinkle some black pepper and drizzle some la-yu to enjoy.