This exquisite chintan - which uses a clear stock - is the first featured recipe on the blog, free the use at your disposal. A more elaborate discription on its preparation however, is featured on the section the five elements in the cookbook Mastering Ramen: unveiling its secrecies and establishing a ground breaking, comprehensive framework for home schooled ramen fanatics, as the recipe requires some basic kitchen techniques.

Shio or salt types of ramen, combined with a light, subtle double fish-animal stock are called tanrei-kei, are becoming more and more popular these days in Japan and even now surpassing the famous tonkotsu, as occured in Japan already, with a lot of kodawari shops that make refined types of ramen. Shio ramen originally was the second style initiated after shoyu chuka soba (i.e. old school soy sauce type), so in this scense this type of bowl can be seen as the modernized version of this archaic type. It is a somewhat difficult type to create because on one hand you need to have a clear transparent assari chintan soup, and on the other it needs to be packed with flavor.

In general the tanrei-style aims to amp up the umami by combining glutamate enhancing ratios of inosinate and guanylate compounds. Furthermore, the tare or seasoning sauce in this particular recipe also utilizes gyokai or fish, next to a blend of different salts salts, hence the name shio, i.e. salt. Specifically it uses shrimp (head and shells), which contain the aminos acid glycin, aspartic acid and lysine, which, when synergistically combined with glutamates and inosinates from the tori chintan or chicken soup, serves to create a very unique and strong lingering umami taste, a.k.a. the fifth or savoury taste. The use of both gyokai niboshi (small dried sardines) stock and gyokai tare (fish tare) gives it and extra depth of flavor. Toghetter with a broad spectrum of toppings like the noodle skin, makes it a really kodowari or refined style of ramen.

Ingrediënts – About 8 bowls

Chicken stock (yields 2,2 L)

• 500 gr chicken feet
• 1 organic whole stewing hen
• 2 chicken carcasses
• 500 gr chicken necks
• 5 slices of ginger
• 2 green parts of negi
• ½ bulb of garlic
• 1 onion, halved and peeled
• 10 cm of kombu i.e. dried kelp

Gyokai stock (yields 1,1 L)

• 100 grams of niboshi

Shio taré (yields 320 ml)

• 150 ml water
• 1 big handfull of prawn shells and -heads
• a small handfull of katsuobushi i.e. shaved bonito flakes
• 80 ml shiro shoyu i.e. white soy sauce
• 40 ml de-alcoholized Chardonnay
• 30 ml alcohol free mirin i.e. rice wine
• 10 ml mild white rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp. cane sugar
• 4 ¼ tbsp. of a blend of Celtic Sea-, Himalayan- and smoked salt

Aroma oil (yields 160 ml)

• 300 gr of chicken skins
• 60 ml of vegetable oil
• 1 green part of negi i.e Japanese scallion, chopped
• 2 slices of ginger, diced
• 3 dried porcini's

Toppings

• Sous vide salt & pepper chicken fillet, sliced
  • 2 chicken breasts
  • ½ tsp salt
  • A- few dashes of freshly cracked black pepper
  • A dash of vegetable oil
• Tori chashu i.e. braised chicken
  • 4 chicken thighs
  • 1/4 cup mirin
  • 1/4 cup usukuchi shoyu i.e. light soy sauce
  • 1 cm ginger, chopped
  • 1/2 scallion, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp sugar
  • A pinch of white pepper
  • A dash of oil
• Ajitama i.e. cured eggs
  • 8 eggs
  • ¼ cup mirin
  • ¼ cup usukuchi shoyu
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp sugar
• 4 white parts of negi, julienned
• Menma i.e. pickled bamboo shoots*
  • 170 gr dried menma shoots
  • 2 cups water
  • 50 gr sugar
  • 1 pinch of chili powder
  • A big handful of katsuobushi
  • 1 cup usukuchi soy
  • ¼ cup sesame oil
• 2 sheets of nori i.e. dried seaweed, cut in 4 pieces

Noodles, thin and straight + noodle skin

• 1080 gr patent flour
• 10 gr egg white powder
• 10 gr glutenpowder
• 4 gr Potassium carbonate
• 6 gr Sodium carbonate
• 10 gr salt
• 386 cl water
• A pinch of riboflavin OPTIONAL
• Potato starch for dusting

 * You could also uses storebought.

Method of Preparation

The 1^st day make the noodles by mixing the solids and liquids separately. Slowly add the liquids to the solids and mix. Let it rest. After a half hour knead it together in a plastic bag. Cut it into 10 to 20 cm squares, cover and let it rest again for half an hour. Roll the dough out manually and then with a machine, gradually going from the widest setting to the fourth widest. Combine the dough and follow the steps again until the sheets are 1.2 mm in thickness. Rest it for half an hour and cut the sheet into square noodles- except for one portion for the noodle skin, which doest need to be cut into noodles but sheeted into 0,8 mm and cut into 5*5 cm sheets. Flower, fold, place, cover and keep the noodles airtight in the fridge. Next, cut the chicken toes. Soak the cut chicken parts overnight in cold water, except the whole hen, and keep in the fridge. Make the taré by first bringing the shrimp to a boil in a small saucepan. Next put in all ingredients, except the katsuobushi in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Ad katsuobushi, and immediately turn off the heat. Stir until the salts are dissolved. Sieve out the solids and place liquids (i.e. tare) in a container and keep in the fridge. Boil the eggs for 6,5 minutes in boiling water, while turning them in the beginning. Shock them in a water bath and cool them for 5 minutes. Peel them and then brine them in the marinade. Keep them in the fridge. Mix the ingredients for the chashu marinade together with the chicken thighs. Place them in an airtight freezer bag and keep in the fridge. Lastly, cook the bamboo shoots in the water for half an hour. Then strain them and add the rest of the ingredients, except the katsuobushi. Boil for thirty minutes and place together with the katsuobushi, in a freezer bag in the fridge to further marinate.

The 2nd day wash the chicken parts, except whole hen, for the stock and fill the pot with cold water again and bring it to a boil. Throw away the water and fill the cleaned pot again with cold water. Lay the feet on top. The ratio has to be between 1:1 animal parts versus water. Slowly increase the pan on a stove to 90°C, measured with a food thermometer. Don’t ever stir, keep the lid on. If any foam builds up, just let it sit there. This takes from 6 to 8 hours. Meanwhile, prepare the dashi stock by making a cold brew on a 1:1 ratio of niboshi, kombu and shiitake to water. Let it sit overnight in the fridge in a sealed container. If the water level drops below the original level, carefully add water. In the last hour carefully slide in aromatics. Carefully ladle through a strainer—add kombu when the stock is cooled down to 80°C—and immediately cool the filtered stock in ice cold water. Keep stock in the fridge.

The 3rd day skim the solidified layer of fat of the stock. Your stock is now ready for reheating and assembling its final form. Next make the sous vide chicken by seasoning the chicken and adding oil. Vacuum seal the chicken and put it in a 63°C bath for one hour, maintaining its temperature. Meanwhile make the tori chashu by frying it on both sides for 2 minutes in an oiled hot frying pan. Then turn the fire on low and keep on the lid for about 8 minutes. Slice both cooled chicken with a meat slicing machine or sharp knife. Meanwhile, make the chi-yu by putting the chicken skins in a pot with a dash of vegetable oil to let the chicken skin start to release its fat. Keep stirring at a low temperature for about 1 hour or until the skins have released all their fat. Take out the skins. Notice that if you fry the skins until their crispy, it will alter the flavour of the chi-yu in a bad way. After one hour add the remaining aromatics, except dried poricini, for the chi-yu and stir at a low temperature for another 30 minutes, also before the aromatics become crispy and brown. in the last 2 minutes add the porcini. Filter chi-yu and set aside. Next make the negi, by julienning the white parts and put them in water so they can curl up nicely. One hour before your chintan is ready, make the niboshi stock by placing it in a big pot with water (again 1:1 ratio) and bring it to a boil. After fifteen minutes, filter the stock from disposing the niboshi. Meanwhile, heat up the tori chintan and prepare other toppings. Remove menma and ajitama from the marinade. Cut nori into squares. When your stocks are ready, strain the niboshi stock directly in the tori chintan stock. It should hold a 1:3 ratio gyokai versus chintan. Bring it to a slow boil. Fill another big pot with water and bring it to a boil for cooking your noodles.

For the final assembly arrange your working place and heat up the ramen bowls. When ready, cook your noodles and noodle skin and stirr noodles frequently. Meanwhile, put in 40 cl of taré, 10 cl of chi-yu and 400 cl of the stock in an emptied bowl per person. After 50 seconds sieve the noodles and dumpling skin, shake off the excess water and slide in the soup carefully. Fold the noodles. Top the ramen soup as depicted with one ajitama, a handful of juliened negi, menma, 2 slices of sous vide salt & pepper chicken,  2 slices of chashu, dumpling skin, another of 10 cl of chi-yu and nori. Serve immediately. Itadakimasu!

 If you have any questions please let me know in the comments!