Braised Pork Ramen Recipes

BRAISED PORK BELLY (红烧肉/HONG SHAO ROU/RED COOKED PORK)

Steps:

• Bring a pot of water to boil. Add the ginger, scallion, and blanch the pork belly pieces over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
• After five minutes, clean the pork under running water and keep them dry with cloth or kitchen towel. Reserve some blanching water and pass it through a wire mesh strainer.
• Heat the sugar and oil in a nonstick pan. When the sugar turns to amber color, add the dried pork pieces into it.
• Pan-fry the pork for two minutes until all the sides are sear and colored.
• Add the pork, soy sauce, ginger, scallion, wine, star anise, and blanching liquid enough to submerge all the pork pieces to a pot.
• Braise the pork over low heat with the lid on for 1 1/2 hours or until the meat is soft and tender. Turn the heat to medium and boil it uncovered until the braising liquid has reduced to a thick sauce.
• Dish out and garnish with thinly sliced scallion. Serve.

BRAISED PORK RAMEN

Steps:

• Mix brown sugar with Seasoning. Rub on pork. Refrigerate 1 hour or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Heat oil in Dutch oven on medium-high heat. Sear all sides of pork. Add 4 cups stock to pan. Cover. Cook in oven 2 hours.
• Remove from oven, place on stove. Remove pork from liquid, set aside. Mix soy sauce and cornstarch in small bowl. Add remaining stock to Dutch oven. Slowly whisk in soy mixture. Bring to boil. Boil 1 minute. Serve broth with sliced pork, ramen noodles and desired toppings, such as bean sprouts, corn, scallions, and soft boiled egg.

BRAISED PORK RAMEN

Steps:

• Preheat the broiler. Rub the onion halves all over with 2 teaspoons vegetable oil and place cut-side up on a small foil-lined baking sheet. Broil until completely charred on top, about 12 minutes; set aside. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.
• Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the pork and cook, turning, until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes. Add 3/4 cup water, the soy sauce, mirin, 2 scallions, one-quarter of the ginger and 3 smashed garlic cloves. Bring to a boil, cover and transfer to the oven. Cook, turning the pork every hour, until tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Transfer the pork to a plate or cutting board. Skim off the fat from the cooking liquid, then strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl; set aside.
• Meanwhile, make the stock: Bring 10 cups cold water, the chicken wings and bacon to a boil in a large pot. Boil vigorously for 3 minutes, then skim off any foam and reduce the heat to a gentle simmer; cook 1 hour. Add the broiled onion, dried shiitakes, remaining ginger, 4 scallions and 4 smashed garlic cloves. Simmer 1 more hour, skimming occasionally as needed. Strain the stock through a fine-mesh sieve into another pot; you should have about 8 cups (add more water if necessary). Stir in the strained pork cooking liquid; season with salt. Keep hot over low to medium heat.
• Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Gently lower the eggs into the water and adjust the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook 7 minutes for soft-boiled or 10 minutes for medium-boiled, then drain and run the eggs under cold water to stop the cooking. Peel the eggs and set aside.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook as the label directs. Drain well.
• Thickly slice the pork. Carefully halve the eggs lengthwise. Divide the 3 minced garlic cloves and the noodles among bowls. Ladle the hot stock into each bowl. Top with the sliced pork, an egg half and assorted toppings.

PULLED PORK RAMEN

Steps:

• For the ramen broth: Put chicken bones, kombu, mushrooms, ginger, soy sauce, vinegar
• bonito flakes, scallions, carrots, celery, garlic, tomatoes, lemon and pig foot
• in a large stock pot. Fill with water and bring to a boil, then simmer on low heat for about 36 hours. Strain out solids.
• For the braised pork butt: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Sprinkle salt and pepper all over the pork butt and pan sear in olive oil over high heat to brown all sides. Transfer to a baking dish and add the stock, ginger, bay leaves, celery, garlic, tomatoes and onion and bake for 2 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours.
• For the ramen: Cook noodles in salted boiling water to desired texture, 4 to 6 minutes. Heat 12 ounces broth in a pot. Put lard in a bowl and add hot noodles, then pour heated broth in bowl. Place pork belly and 4 ounces pork butt on top and add bamboo shoots. Top with arugula and spinach. Add hard-boiled egg if desired, and garnish with green onions.

BRAISED PORK BELLY

Steps:

• To prepare the pork belly, place an 11-inch sauté pan over high heat. Add the vegetable oil and heat until the oil just begins to smoke. Using tongs, carefully place the fatty side of the pork belly in the pan and cook until it turns golden brown, about 2 minutes. Turn the pork belly over and repeat on the other sides until nicely browned all over. Decrease the heat if the oil begins to smoke again.
• In a 4-quart saucepan, combine the seared pork belly, the cold water, sake, and smashed ginger, and place over high heat. Bring the liquid to a boil, then decrease the heat; simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes.
• To make the braising liquid, combine all the ingredients in a 4-quart saucepan.
• Drain the pork belly and discard the liquid, then add the pork belly to the braising liquid in the saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cover. Braise for 1 1/2 hours, or until the pork belly is very tender.
• Transfer the pork belly and braising liquid to a container and refrigerate, uncovered, until cool, then cover and chill overnight.
• The next day, assemble a steamer on the stove top. You can use a perforated pan, steam basket, or bamboo steamer. Fill the bottom with water, cover, and set over high heat. Decrease the heat to medium once the water comes to a boil.
• To prepare the garnishes, discard the outer leaves of the iceberg lettuce. Place 3 large leaves in a bowl of cold water along with the cucumber slices. Set aside. (I like to soak cut vegetables in cold water for 10 minutes because it helps them retain their freshness and crispness.)
• To make the sauce, combine 1/2 cup of the chilled braising liquid and the hoisin sauce in a small saucepan and set over high heat. In a bowl, mix the water and cornstarch until smooth. When the sauce just begins to boil, whisk in the cornstarch and cook briefly, just until the sauce begins to thicken. Make sure that it doesn't thicken too much-the sauce should run in a steady stream when poured. Set aside.
• To make the mustard sauce, mix the mustard powder and water in a small bowl. Set aside.
• Remove the pork belly from the remaining braising liquid and cut into 8 slices, each 1/4 inch thick. (You'll have leftover pork belly after you cut these slices. See below for other uses.) Place the slices in a single layer side by side with the halved buns on a plate small enough to fit in the steamer (don't put the buns directly on the steamer because they will stick to it). If you have a large steamer you can do this in one batch, if your steamer is smaller, just steam the pork belly and buns in several batches. Set the plate in the steamer, cover, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until soft and heated through.
• While the pork belly and buns are steaming, finish preparing the garnishes by draining the lettuce and cucumber and patting dry with a towel. Cut the lettuce into pieces the size of the steamed buns and stack in 4 small piles. Top each pile with 2 slices of cucumber.
• To serve, assemble a braised pork "sandwich" by placing the lettuce, cucumber, and 2 slices of pork belly on half of a bun. Drizzle the sauce over the meat and top with the other half of the bun. Serve the mustard on the side. Repeat for the remaining 3 buns.
• Ideas for Leftover Pork Belly
• Any leftover pork belly and remaining braising liquid can be frozen for up to 2 months. The braising liquid can be used in the Shoyu Ramen broth (page 24) and the pork belly can be used as a garnish for various ramens or for fried rice.