Guide
The first two weeks of "Schnitz und Drunder"
by Simon Balissat
Ramen inspired by Tenkaippin
17.4.2020
Translation: machine translated
Every day from 11 a.m., we cook together in the YouTube cookery show "Schnitz und Drunder". The show is named after a typical dish from Aargau, a bit of home for me as an exile from Baden in Zurich. This week we're cooking "ramen" like in Japan.
Tenkaippin is a restaurant chain in Japan that serves a particularly chewy, hearty chicken broth. While restaurant chains have a bad reputation here and are frowned upon, in Japan they are a sign of quality. This quality has to be right in every single restaurant. If the customer is served a bad dish, it can mean the end. Tenkaippin itself has stumbled across such a scandal. Instead of serving Japanese spring onions - as stated on the menu - Chinese spring onions were mistakenly served. The scandal illustrates the importance restaurants in Japan place on the preparation of their dishes.
Tenkaippin was the last bowl of ramen I ate on my trip to Tokyo. My friends Abe and Mao were hesitant at first. The soup was very special, they said. They didn't know if I would like it. I insisted on visiting the restaurant with the "muddy" soup. "Muddy" was the mobile phone translation for the Japanese description of the soup. It was great, with a viscous consistency. Very hearty at first, but then light on the finish with a hint of root vegetables. I have now been cooking for three days in my attempt to imitate the soup. I'm still not completely satisfied with the result. Do you think three days is too much effort? It took the founder of Tenkaippin four years to optimise his soup.
I split the recipe into two episodes and do it in a different order to the videos because it's easier then.
Day 1: Tare and Chashu
** Tare seasoning sauce **
- 4 dl light soy sauce
- 1 dl dark soy sauce
- 1 dl sake
- 1 dl mirin
- ½ garlic, only the cloves lightly pressed
- 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, cut into slices
- 1 handful of nibushi (dried anchovies) or dried mushrooms
- 1 handful of katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)
- 1 leaf of kobu (dried seaweed)
Bring everything to the boil and simmer gently for half an hour, then cool and place in the fridge. Strain on day 2 and set aside.
** Roast pork chashu **
- 1 kg pork breast without rind, rolled or squared
- 1 dl sake
- 1 dl dark soy sauce
- 2 dl water
- 50 grams of sugar
- Spring onion, roughly chopped into pieces
- 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, sliced
Broil the pork breast on both sides in a casserole, deglaze with liquid, add the ginger and spring onions and cover with double aluminium foil as a "lid". Turn the roast every 15 minutes and braise until the liquid is syrupy, about 90 minutes. Then leave the roast to cool and place in the fridge. Keep the stock.
** Ramen eggs **
- Cook 4 eggs in boiling water for 7 minutes, then rinse in ice water and peel
- 1 dl mirin
- 1 dl light-coloured soy sauce
- 1 dl dark soy sauce
Place the eggs with the marinade in a sealable bag and marinate overnight in the fridge
Day 2: The soup
You can also start the soup the day before if you don't have a whole day to prepare it.
Cut a soup chicken into small pieces, cutting through the bones as the inside of the bones makes the soup really creamy. Leave the chicken pieces to rest in cold water for three hours, drain the water and remove any dark red or brown bits. - Boil the chicken pieces in fresh water in a large pan and remove the resulting foam and particles from the surface with a slotted spoon or kitchen paper. Simmer for 6 hours, adding water if necessary and repeatedly pounding the chicken pieces so that they fall apart
- 1 garlic cut in half
- 1 piece of ginger in coarse pieces
- 2 spring onions roughly chopped
- 1 onion in coarse pieces
- Brown the vegetables in a frying pan with a little fat over a high heat and add to the soup
- 2 carrots peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
- Add the root vegetables to the soup and allow the soup to simmer gently for two hours
- Sift the soup into a second pan, pick out the firm pieces of meat and vegetables and blend in a blender to a farce
- Add the farce to the soup bit by bit until a creamy consistency is achieved
Conclusion
- Cook bought ramen noodles according to pack instructions
- Place 2 tablespoons of tare in bowls, pour in some soup, add noodles to the soup, place roast cut into fine pieces on top, halve egg and place on top, garnish with chopped spring onions
Itadakimasu and bon appétit!
And here's another gentleman who eats six bowls of soup at Tenkaippin and suffers afterwards. That could be me.
Simon Balissat
Teamleader Editorial
Simon.Balissat@digitecgalaxus.chWhen I flew the family nest over 15 years ago, I suddenly had to cook for myself. But it wasn’t long until this necessity became a virtue. Today, rattling those pots and pans is a fundamental part of my life. I’m a true foodie and devour everything from junk food to star-awarded cuisine. Literally. I eat way too fast.
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