Chicken, miso and mushroom ramen
Tom Kerridge's chicken ramen gets the most from each ingredient. Poaching chicken on the bone makes an instant stock, while miso and dried mushrooms really ramp up the umami. Ready-cooked noodles are easy to use, but you can always cook them separately from dried first.
Each serving provides 535 kcal, 49g protein, 37g carbohydrate, 20g fat, 5g fibre.
Ingredients
- 1.5 litres/2½ pints chicken stock
- 15g/½oz dried porcini mushrooms
- 1 star anise
- 2.5cm/1in piece fresh root ginger, peeled and thickly sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, lightly bashed
- 3 spring onions, white and green parts separated, finely chopped
- 750g/1lb 10oz chicken thighs, skin removed and bone in
- 2 tbsp white miso paste
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 12 dried shiitake mushrooms
- 400g/14oz cooked ramen noodles
- 100g/3½oz baby spinach
- 4 large free-range eggs, boiled for 6 minutes and cooled
- sea salt and freshly ground white pepper
- 1 red chilli, deseeded and cut into thin strips, to serve
- 1 tsp furikake (Japanese seasoning) (optional), to serve
Method
Pour the stock into a large saucepan and add the porcini, star anise, ginger, garlic, white parts of the spring onions and chicken. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook gently for 25 minutes or until the chicken is tender and cooked through.
Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside. Strain the broth through a sieve into a jug and discard the rest of the contents. Return the broth to the pan and place over a medium–high heat.
Whisk the miso paste into the broth, then stir in the mirin and soy. Add the shiitake mushrooms and cook for 3–4 minutes or until tender. Season with a pinch of sea salt and a small pinch of white pepper.
Add the ramen noodles to the broth and cook until the noodles are warmed through. Remove the noodles with a slotted spoon and divide between four warmed bowls. Shred the chicken, discarding the bones, and place the chicken in the broth with the spinach leaves. Cook until warmed through. Use a slotted spoon to remove the chicken and spinach and divide between the warmed bowls.
Shell the boiled eggs and halve each one. Ladle the ramen broth into the bowls, add the eggs and garnish with the green parts of the spring onions, red chilli and furikake and serve.
Recipe Tips
Let the strained broth cool at the end of step 4 then freeze in a suitable container. Shred the chicken and freeze separately. Defrost both at room temperature, then reheat the broth thoroughly in a pan over a medium heat. Continue as per the rest of the recipe.