Chashumen is just one way for you to build a plate of ramen that will take delicious, and you should learn how to make this plate of ramen for all the people around you who love Asian cuisine. There are many people who want to learn about these plates because they want to do something more sophisticated. You might have heard of these fancy styles of ramen, and you should use these recipes to make it that much more fun to make dinner every day.
Moyashi Ramen
Moyashi ramen is the ramen that incorporates the bean sprouts to give you a little crunch. You might find that people like to add bean sprouts because that helps make the ramen plate much more beautiful. This is a really nice way to add some color and texture to your plate, and it is just one step in making your family better food every day.
Negi Ramen
Negi is the duck and scallion ramen that is very common in Japan. The meat in the broth is softened by the very hot broth that is made from traditional stock. You have to let the meat sit in the broth because it was barely seared when you were cooking it. You will find that you could make some amazing Negi ramen with some small cuts of duck that you have thrown in with some scallions. Anyone who wants to make this meal could easily make this three-piece dish with the simple ingredients in their fridge.
Ramen in Japan
Ramen in Japan takes on many forms, and it is very easy for you to make something that looks like the bowls that you would get in Japan. There are many restaurants around the world that make this very same kind of bowl, and it is nice for people to try this ramen because they can have the broth, the noodles, and a variety of proteins.
This means that you could experience so many types of ramen that you would never have seen otherwise. You are taking yourself through a journey that will change the way that you feel about Asian food. You could learn to make these ramen dishes on your own, and that will take you to the chasumen ramen bowl.
Chashumen vs. Ramen
This is the braised pork version of a ramen bowl that includes the traditional stock, scallions, and other additions that you might like to make. You have invested a lot of time and energy in a bowl such as this, and you need to start adding things to the bowl that make it that much more fun to eat. You are adding flavor. You are adding texture. You are adding items that dazzle the person who has this bowl in front of them.
The Recipe
Chashu requires that you braise a pork belly to perfection, add the spices, the texture, the noodles, and a little broth if needed. You have multiple options when putting this recipe together, and every step of the recipe shows you how you could stop right there if you did not want to add more ingredients. The completed chashu is very complex, and it is a meal that anyone can enjoy at the end of a very long day.
Ingredients:
- One lb pork belly
- Red pepper flakes
- Sesame oil
- One quart vegetable or chicken stock
- Chili paste
- One onion
- One clove of garlic
- Soy sauce
- Rice wine vinegar
- One carrot
- One scallion
- One package ramen noodles
- One can water chestnuts
You must slice your pork belly as thin as possible on the bias. The pork belly will cook quickly when you have cut it this thin, and you can spread a bit of sesame oil across the pan so that you have a hot surface to cook on. You must cook the pork for one minute on each side, and this is the time to dash a bit of rice wine vinegar on the meat while the flame is very hot. Flip over the pork belly, cook the over side, and pull it to the side.
The ramen noodles you have must be cooked for no more than three minutes in boiling water. You do not need to add any seasoning packets that are included, and you can go about making your broth. The broth must be heated with a bit of soy sauce, an onion minced, and one clove of garlic minced. These things must linger on low heat for as long as possible. Your pork belly is cooled to the point that you can cook it for the second time, and you can go back to the pan to make your sauce.
Scoop one teaspoon of chili paste into the pan, add a tiny bit of sesame oil, and rice wine vinegar. You should use this chance to cook up the pork with the flavoring, and you must allow the pork to cook on low heat after you have added all the flavor to the plate. You will get a thick sauce that sits in the pan, and you will have cooked ramen noodles in your other pot.
You must remove the noodles from the pot and strain as soon as possible. The noodles will take on too much moisture if they are in the water for too long. You must remember that the noodles can cool down, and they could sit in a bowl on their own while you complete the dish.
Chop your scallions, shred long sections of carrot for the dish, and set them aside because they add texture to the dish. You can lay your pork onto a plate and top it with the carrots or water chestnuts. You might add some bean sprouts if you want, and you could move all that to a bowl to make the soup version of this dish. Someone who pours the pork into the soup will get the flavor from the pork along with the flavor of the broth.
You might add bean sprouts to your bowl, or you could take out any of the fresh items so that you have nothing more than a soup. You might sit the noodles in a tiny amount of broth so that there is some liquid for the diner. You might want to make a salad that has no broth at all, or you could offer both options to all the people who sit down at your table.
I like a dash of sriacha on top along with a few extra scallions or diced red onion to complete the dish. Sometimes I even dollop a little duck sauce on the side just for fun.
Conclusion
There are many people who will make chashumen ramen in their own home in the style of what you might find in cafes in America and all across Asia. You could make a soup that makes you feel warm in the winter, or you could make a salad that has the braised pork on top of the textural crunch from the vegetables and bean sprouts. You will impress anyone you serve this to, and they will ask you how you learned to make something with so much flavor that is so simple.
