Recipe for Ichiraku Ramen from ‘Naruto’ by Danielle Baghernejad

‘Have you ever watched an anime and wished you could reach through the screen and taste the food? If so, you’re not alone’, writes Danielle Baghernejad, author of the book Otaku Food, an homage to the comfort food featured in the anime and Japanese manga of which she is particularly fond. 

She created this book as a way of combining her love of Japanese popular culture and her passion for cooking, sharing simple and detailed recipes that allow readers to reproduce the dishes enjoyed by the protagonists admired by otaku, avid fans of computers and anime. Here, she shares a recipe for a bowl of ramen, Naruto’s favourite meal, that she named in a nod to the restaurant he particularly likes, Ichiraku.

‘Naruto has to face various difficulties, but nothing warms his heart like a bowl of ramen. With no mother to cook for him, instant ramen  noodles are his favourite meal, but when he is invited to his favourite restaurant, Ichiraku, one bowl is never enough! Ramen is the soup that cheers his soul, and that’s no surprise. Flavourful, warm, nourishing, and filling, ramen is a classic example of Japanese comfort food to be enjoyed!’ Danielle Baghernejad declares in the introduction to the recipe. 

The author offers one final tip before getting started: ‘You can’t hurry a good ramen! The broth takes a while, but it can be made in advance. What’s more, the broth is even better the following day!’

Ingredients

6 portions ramen noodles, fresh or instant

Soy-marinated eggs

Marinated bamboo shoots

Chopped green onion

For the soy sauce broth

3 l water

900 g chicken bones

450 g boneless pork shoulder or loin

3 cloves garlic, peeled

1 piece ginger, sliced

3 green onions, roughly chopped

250 ml soy sauce

60 ml sake

2 tbsp mirin

For the chashu sauce

160 ml water

80 ml sake

80 ml soy sauce

3 tbsp sugar

Method

Rinse the chicken bones in cold water, then place them in a large pot with the water, pork, garlic, ginger, and green onions.

Bring to the boil, removing the dirt that comes to the surface. Lower the heat and simmer with the pot covered for around two hours.

Remove the pork, then strain off the broth, getting rid of the other ingredients.

Add the soy sauce, sake, and mirin, then leave to simmer with the pot covered until ready to serve.

Mix the ingredients for the chashu sauce in a large pan. Add the pork, then bring to the boil over a medium heat. Cover with a lid, leaving slightly open so the steam can escape, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for around 30 minutes, turning the meat from time to time until just a little bit of liquid is left.

Remove the lid, stay with the pan, and watch the liquid simmer until bubbles start to appear.

Turn the pork to cover it completely with the sauce, then remove from the pan and slice thinly.

When ready to serve, cook the ramen following the instructions on the packaging. Divide the broth into six bowls, then add the noodles, pork, bamboo shoots, soy-marinated eggs, and green onions.

Serve hot.

Otaku Food (2021), a recipe book by Danielle Baghernejad, is published by Mango Publishing.