Chicken Ramen

• Chicken Ramen
• 

Servings	Prep Time	Cook Time
4 bowls	30 minutes	135 minutes

Ingredients

• 900 grams chicken bones
• 450 grams chicken wing tips
• 1 small leek cut into 4 pieces
• 4 centimeters ginger - fresh sliced into 8 coins
• 4 large cloves garlic unpeeled
•  vegetable oil for frying the aromatics
• 7 centimeters dashi kombu
• 10 cups water
• 1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
• 3 scallions white part only, minced
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 cup soy milk
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 4 portions ramen noodles boiled according to package directions

Servings:  bowls

Units: American (Metric)American (Imperial)MetricJapanese 

Instructions

1. Bring a kettle full of water to a boil. Lay the wing tips and chicken bones in a clean sink, then pour the boiling water over the chicken. Wash the chicken with cold water, scrubbing off any clumps of blood. This step solidifies some of the blood on the chicken so you can wash it off and it doesn't end up in your soup.
2. In a small saucepan, add the leeks, ginger and garlic, then cover with vegetable oil. Gently fry over medium low heat until the aromatics are dark brown, but not burnt (about 30-40 minutes).
3. Add the kombu, wingtips and bones to a pressure cooker and cover with 10 cups of water. Bring it to a boil uncovered, then skim off the scum that floats to the top. Continue skimming until you don't see any more scum. Remove the kombu and discard, then add the fried leeks, ginger and garlic. Seal the lid, then cook under high pressure for 1.5 hours.
4. When the stock is done cooking, let it cool to room temperature. Pour it through a large strainer into a large bowl. Squeeze the solids with your hands to extract as much liquid as possible. You'll notice that the liquid starts turning a creamy white. This is what gives the soup its body so be sure you get every last drop. Pour the strained soup through an extra fine sieve (such as a tea strainer) into a clean container. You can either stop here and refrigerate the stock or keep going.
5. If you refrigerated the stock, it should be fairly easy to scrape off the excess fat with a spoon. If not, use a fat skimmer to skim off the extra fat and set the fat aside. In either case, you want to leave a little fat behind. Measure your the soup. You should have about 6 cups, if you have more, you should boil it down to 6 cups, if you have less, add water.
6. To make the caramelized scallion oil, add the sesame oil along with about 2 tablespoons of chicken fat that you've skimmed from the soup to a small saucepan. Put the saucepan over medium heat, then add the minced scallions. Fry the scallions until they are medium to dark brown in color. Turn off the heat, then carefully add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce. The oil will sputter, so be very careful. This caramelizes the soy sauce, giving it a wonderful toasty aroma.
7. 
8. To make the soup, add the 6 cups of strained stock to a pot, add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of salt, and the soy milk and gently heat.
9. Boil your noodles according to the package directions or make a batch of homemade ramen noodles.
10. To finish the ramen divide the noodles between four bowls, pour the soup over the noodles then top with your choice of toppings. I served this with a soft boiled egg, menma, shredded scallions, and chicken chashu, but what you top it with is up to you. Boil your noodles according to the package directions. Put the boiled noodles in the bowl and add the toppings. Cover with the hot soup, then drizzle on some of the caramelized scallion oil. Serve immediately.