Nilsson Tove - Ramen: Japanese Noodles & Small Dishes

I AM A RAMEN ADDICT. Every time Ive travelled abroad over the past ten years Ive looked for ramen joints. What has struck me while queueing outside the best ramen bars is that it seems there are a lot of people just like me who are always on the hunt for their next fix.

It all starts with a large bowl filled to the brim with steaming hot broth thats been simmering for up to 48 hours. The flavour has been boosted with dried mushrooms, seaweed, miso and dried fish, and the broths perfect surface is covered in small droplets of fat. Thin, springy noodles are folded into the deep bowl and topped with chashu pork belly, a soy marinated egg and many other delicious things.

Few dishes are so addictive, and you can be served the simplest to the most complex flavour combinations at the shabbiest joints in Tokyo and the hottest places in LA.

Until a year or so ago, ramen wasnt very common in my native Sweden, either in home kitchens or in the restaurant world with the exception of the small packets of instant noodles that arrived in the 90s. I fell for them too, of course, and cooked them up with extra spices and vegetables, but it wasnt until I started eating genuine ramen that I realised how it should really taste.

When I couldnt find good ramen locally I started cooking it at home. I experimented in the kitchen to develop the best noodles and boiled broth for hours to get the ultimate flavour. When visiting ramen bars, I sat and observed how the chefs worked, what the broth looked like, how long they boiled the noodles for, how many bowls of tare (flavourings) they had, which kind of eggs they served and how well marinated their chashu pork was.

All the knowledge Ive gathered together in this book will hopefully provide a greater understanding of how a dish as simple as noodles in broth can give so much satisfaction and sensational flavour.

There are several specialist cooking tools that will make life easier when it comes to preparing ramen. Of course, you can manage most things with a knife, a saucepan and a frying pan, but it all flows more efficiently and feels more enjoyable when you have the right tools to hand. Youll find the following in Asian shops or online. Some items you might pick up when you travel overseas the authentic stuff you buy abroad is always the most fun to use!

PASTA MACHINE
The easiest way to make noodles is to use a pasta or noodle machine. Ive got a pasta attachment for my KitchenAid, which means I dont have to turn it by hand, but a manual one works well too. You can find Japanese noodle machines online, from simpler plastic ones to pretty expensive ones that knead, roll and cut. If you havent got a machine, you can of course roll, fold and cut the dough by hand, just like you do with udon and soba.

RAMEN LADLE
Good to slurp broth with and to catch the drips underneath the noodles when you eat. A standard tablespoon will work too, of course, or you can drink the broth straight from the bowl.

KATSUOBUSHI GRATER BOX
If youre lucky enough to find a whole katsuobushi block (dried whole tuna) you should also have a specialist grater, as the fish is extremely hard and difficult to grate in any other way. The box is, however, hard to get hold of in the West, and you often have to make do with bags of the ready-grated stuff.

BLOWTORCH
To get an extra tasty surface on chashu pork and other meat you can use a blowtorch. Many ramen joints use this technique: you can colour the meat quickly and heat thin slices up without having to use the oven.

SESAME MILL
The best invention. I always used to crush my sesame seeds with a pestle and mortar to get more flavour out of them, but with a sesame mill you can grind them straight over the noodle bowl. The difference between ground and whole sesame seeds is extreme. Try it: you will never want to eat whole seeds again!

NOODLE STRAINER
If you havent got a noodle basket, a noodle strainer is the next best thing; perfect especially for udon and soba noodles. You cook the noodles directly in the water and remove them using the large strainer.

MANDOLIN
Thinly sliced vegetables like daikon, ginger and onion are best if you slice them on a mandolin. Place the sliced vegetables in ice-cold water for extra crunchiness.

NOODLE BASKET
The best way to cook noodles is to use a noodle basket. You stick 24 baskets into a pan with water on a rolling boil. Each noodle portion is cooked separately, drained thoroughly and then goes straight into the bowl with the broth. Since they are quite rich in starch, the noodles can stick together in the colander if you cook and drain them all together. To ensure that the noodles dont stick together while cooking, stir with chopsticks until they separate.

ROLLING PIN
A small Asian rolling pin is good for rolling udon and soba dough. A smaller rolling pin means that its easier to use your own body weight to work the firm dough.

LADLE
You need a proper soup ladle for ladling the broth into serving bowls.

OKONOMIYAKI COVER
To make the perfect okonomiyaki you should fry it covered with a lid so that the cabbage softens. You can buy special okonomiyaki covers in Japan, but for the home kitchen you can also use aluminium foil or a standard lid.

KNIFE
When cutting your noodles, you will need a knife with a flat edge, such as a cleaver, so that you get an even cut in the dough. I buy my noodle knives in Asian shops. There are also specialist udon and soba knives.

CHOPSTICKS
The obvious choice for eating ramen and also useful as a stirring tool when cooking the noodles.

Most ingredients needed for ramen can be found in large supermarkets these days, but do venture into an Asian shop if youre lucky enough to live near one. Specialist Japanese ingredients can be particularly difficult to find, for example dried bonito (katsuobushi), Japanese mayonnaise and okonomiyaki sauce. You can also find many of the following products online.

WHITE AND RED MISO PASTE
There are a handful of different kinds of miso; I mostly use white and red. The white is slightly milder and sweeter, whereas the red has a bit more of a punch. They can be combined to make a nice blend.