Midwest Ramen

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Some of you might be wondering why this is called Midwest ramen. Does it contain ranch dressing? The answer to that question is no. I came up with the name as I was searching for ramen recipes to draw inspiration from. Most of the time when I’m making something that is completely new to me I look up several recipes and pick my favorite ingredients from each of them to create my own version. I’m not a very experienced ramen eater unless you consider the countless packages of Maruchan I ate growing up. The conclusion I came to after compiling all the ingredients to shop for was that, I basically had no idea what I was doing, but I was going to make a very flavorful chicken noodle soup. It was at this moment that “Midwest Ramen” was born. I was pleasantly surprised with my end result and could definitely pawn this off as authentic to my fellow midwesterners. Hope you the enjoy the recipe! 
IG- @Unclemitchcooks 

Yield – 4 Servings

Ingredients:
1 Package Udon noodles
Broth ingredients:
2 Quartered chicken, leg/thigh
1/2 Slab spare ribs
1/2lb Oyster mushrooms
5 Green onion stalks, cut in 3 pieces 
1/2 Yellow onion
1 Medium size knob of ginger, cut in half 
1 Bulb of garlic, cut in half exposing all cloves 
1 Large carrot, cut into large chunks
1 Cup Soy Sauce
1/2 Cup Aji mirin
1 Tbsp Sriracha
1 Tbsp Fish sauce
1 Gallon water 
3 Tbsp Canola oil
Toppings:
Green onions, thin sliced on a bias 
Soft boiled egg
Baby bok choy
Toasted sesame seeds
Crushed red pepper 
Directions for broth:
  1. Using a large stockpot heat canola oil and begin to brown quartered chicken and spare ribs, remove from pot and set aside 
  2. Add carrots, yellow onion, green onion, ginger, oyster mushrooms, and garlic to stock pot. Cook until deeply browned.
  3. Add chicken and spare ribs back to the pot 
  4. Add water, soy sauce, aji mirin, and fish sauce. 
  5. Simmer for 5 hours, then strain all solids out of the broth, set chicken and spare ribs aside, discard remaining solids 
  6. Return broth to pot to reduce by 1/4th, skim top for solids 
  7. Follow cooking instructions on noodles, strain water when cooked 
Directions for soft boiled egg:
  1. Boil water
  2. Gently place eggs in boiling water, cook for 6 mins
  3. Remove and place in bowl of ice water 
  4. Once fully cooled, peel then set aside until ready to use
Directions for constructing ramen bowl:
  1. Cut spare ribs into pieces, add to broth to heat
  2. Add large piece of chicken to broth to heat
  3. Cut one baby bok choy in half lengthwise, add to broth to cook
  4. Add oyster mushrooms to broth to cook 
  5. Add serving of noodles to bowl
  6. Ladle enough broth to almost cover noodles 
  7. Remove spare ribs and chicken once heated and arrange on top of the noodles
  8. Remove bok choy once it achieves a bright green color and place at the edge of the ramen bowl 
  9. Cut soft boiled egg in half, place at edge of ramen bowl next to bok choy
  10. Remove oyster mushrooms once fully cooked, place next to the soft boiled egg at edge of the bowl
  11. Top bowl with thinly sliced green onions and toasted sesame seeds 
Enjoy!
Broth – Step 1.
Broth – Step 2.

Broth – Step 3.

Broth – Step 4.

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