Ramenized

Birria Ramen❤️❤️

-Shred the meat until it's fork soft, then put your ramen dish together. You can choose between udon, traditional ramen, or buckwheat if you're gluten-free. You'll have everything you need for umami flavor when you add the fresh toppings, an egg, and a squeeze of lime. However, if you want to go above and above, add some onions, cilantro, and your favorite cheese to the leftover chuck. To take the mashup to a whole new level, put everything together into a taco and dip it into your ramen.

Ingredients:

FOR THE BIRRIA STEW:

5 guajillo peppers, deseeded, seeds discarded
2 tbsp. chipotles in adobo
1/2 c. water
2 tbsp. vegetable or other neutral oil, divided
2 lb. boneless chuck roast
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 medium onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. dried oregano (Mexican preferred)
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
5 whole cloves, ground
Pinch ground cinnamon
1 tbsp. smoked paprika
1 (14-oz.) can crushed tomatoes
3 bay leaves
1/4 c. mirin
1 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
8 c. beef broth

TO ASSEMBLE THE RAMEN:

4 packages (3-oz. each) ramen noodles
4 large eggs (soft boiled, about 7 minutes)
1 c. freshly chopped cilantro
1 c. thinly sliced cabbage
1/4 c. sliced green onions, for garnish
1 radish, sliced, for garnish
2 limes, cut into wedges, for garnish

Directions:

-In a small sauce pan over medium-high heat, bring two cups of water to a boil, then stir in the guajillo peppers. Turn off the heat and let peppers soak for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, drain (discarding the soaking liquid) and place in the blender with chipotle peppers and 1/2 cup of water. Blend the adobo until smooth, then add to a large Dutch oven and set aside.

-In a large deep skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil on high heat. Season the beef with salt and pepper, and sear in the pan about 5 minutes, flipping occasionally to reach all sides. Transfer the beef to the Dutch oven with the adobo.

-Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the skillet and reduce heat to medium. Add onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, and paprika, and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the tomatoes, bay leaves, mirin, soy sauce, and vinegar, and heat through, about 1 minute. Scrape everything into the Dutch oven with the beef and adobo.

-Add broth to the Dutch oven, give everything a stir to combine, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook from 3 to 4 hours, or until meat is fork tender. Once tender, shred the meat in the pot using two forks, and remove bay leaves from soup.

-In a separate medium-size pot, cook noodles according to the package directions. Place servings of noodles in bowls, and top with birria. Garnish each bowl with eggs, cilantro, cabbage, scallions, radishes, and lime wedges to serve.

Tottori Gyukotsu Ramen

Without a doubt, our favorite ramen is gyukotsu ramen, the signature style of Tottori prefecture.

Tottori is a little-known destination, at least among foreign travelers. But this underrated prefecture in the Chūgoku region has a rich culinary tradition. Some of Japan’s most popular dishes have their roots in Tottori. It is where the idea of shabu-shabu was born and where the tastiest crabs and shrimps are caught.

While the rest of the world is in love with tonkotsu ramen, whose broth is made from pork bones, Tottori uses cattle bones in their gyukotsu ramen. We have been to almost 30 prefectures so far and only Tottori uses this ingredient as base for their broth. It’s rare, yes, but not exactly surprising, given the prefecture’s affinity with beef. It is also home to Tottori beef, believed to be the precursor to other celebrated beef brands like Kobe beef and Matsusaka beef.