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Shoyu ramen
醤油ラーメン (shōyu rāmen)
Ramen in a clear chicken broth seasoned with a soy-sauce tare, glossed with chicken fat and topped with sliced poached chicken, bamboo shoots and mitsuba. Chef Shigekazu Takanashi's 'triple chicken' bowl: every part is prepared ahead, so the bowl comes together in minutes.
- Servings
- 3
- Preparation
- 15 min
- Cooking
- 50 min
- Total
- 1 h 5
- Difficulty
- Moderate
Equipment
- Two saucepans and a small pot; fine-mesh strainer
- Skillet for the chicken fat
- Large pot of boiling water for the noodles; warmed bowls
Ingredients
Broth (3 bowls)
Shoyu tare (dark)
Chicken fat
Chicken chashu
Each bowl
Method
Broth: put the chicken mince and water in a pan over medium heat, breaking up the meat with a spatula. At the boil, lower the heat and simmer 20 minutes without skimming. Strain.
Why Takanashi leaves the scum in: it gives the broth a strong, gamey depth that suits ramen.
Timer · 20 min20:00Tare: combine the dark soy, tamari, mirin and sugar in a small pot over high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar, and take it off just before it boils.
Chicken fat: put the skin and the sliced green onion in a skillet over medium heat. When the fat starts to run, lower the heat and cook 5 minutes, then strain.
Timer · 5 min5:00Chashu: bring the water, salt and pepper to the boil, add the breasts, return to the boil, then cook on low for 20 minutes. Drain and slice.
Timer · 20 min20:00For each bowl, put 35 ml tare and 2 teaspoons of chicken fat in a warmed bowl and pour in 300 ml of hot broth.
Cook the noodles in plenty of boiling water following the package, drain well and add to the bowl.
Top with the chashu, menma and mitsuba, and finish with the last teaspoon of chicken fat.
Why The fat helps the broth cling to the noodles.
To drink & serve with
- Iya soba
Another Japanese noodle in broth, made from buckwheat.
Substitutions
- Dark tare → Takanashi's light version: 150 ml light soy sauce, 2 tsp mirin, 2 tsp sugar and 1 tsp umami seasoning such as MSG.
- Mitsuba → Celery leaves, as the source allows.
Common mistakes
- Letting the tare boil: take it off just before.
- Under-draining the noodles: water dilutes the broth.
Storage & reheating
Keep broth, tare, fat and chashu separately in the fridge; broth 2 days (UK FSA), chashu 5 days (Takanashi). Cook the noodles only when serving.
Safety
Chicken must be cooked through, with no pink meat and clear juices (UK FSA). Soy sauce contains wheat and soy; many ramen noodles contain egg. Cool the broth within 2 hours.
Allergens
Gluten · Soy · Egg
Check labels: stock, bacon and sauces can contain further allergens.
A chef's ramen, built from parts
Ramen bowls are assembled from separate elements: a broth, a seasoning base called tare, an aromatic fat, noodles and toppings. Shigekazu Takanashi says the tare gives each chef's ramen its character; his favourite shoyu tare is simply soy sauces with a little mirin and sugar. His "triple chicken" bowl uses chicken three ways, as broth, as fat and as sliced chashu.
Unskimmed broth, warm tare, fat on top
The broth is quick: minced chicken simmered for twenty minutes and deliberately not skimmed. The chicken fat is rendered from skin with green onion, and the chashu is breast poached in salted water. At serving time tare and fat go into the bowl first, the hot broth melts them, the drained noodles follow and a last spoon of fat finishes the bowl.
