How To Make Ramen at Home Like a MICHELIN Bib Gourmand Restaurant

Add the kombu to 1L of water and let it sit at room temperature for about 1 hour.

In a large pot, add the vegetable oil and ground chicken. Heat and sauté until the chicken is thoroughly cooked.

Add the kombu-infused water to the pot, along with the garlic and onion. Simmer on medium heat for 45 minutes.

Strain the soup through a fine sieve, removing all solids.

If the resulting broth measures less than 700ml, top it up with water until it does.

Optional: If your soup feels a little flat, Yamamoto advises adding a small amount of consommé soup base.

300ml soy sauce

2.5ml vinegar

5g sugar

15ml Japanese sake (or red wine if unavailable)

In a pot, combine all the ingredients. Bring to a boil and then immediately turn off the heat.

Ensure the sugar is fully dissolved. Once cooled, the tare is ready.

Heat 300ml of your broth in a pot, making sure to include a little of the oil floating on top.

In a ramen bowl, add 20–30ml of your soy sauce tare, then pour the hot broth over it.

Add freshly boiled ramen noodles (drained well) and stir gently.

Taste and adjust the ratio of tare to soup to your liking. Add a touch of black or white pepper if desired.

When it comes to the noodles, Yamamoto admits that making noodles at home is challenging and says fresh or dried ramen noodles from a supermarket are fine but recommends avoiding soba, udon or pho noodles.

For toppings, vegetables, chicken or eggs are best, seasoned lightly to avoid overpowering the soup. Ideally, the final seasoning should be low in salt to highlight the natural umami of the ingredients.

Keep it fresh: “While soup bases containing artificial flavoring like consommé can be used as substitutes, if possible, I recommend making the soup from fresh ingredients at home. This will undoubtedly result in a tastier soup.”

Ensure you’re prepped with the right equipment: “A large pot, a strainer for draining noodles, a fine mesh sieve to remove soup impurities, measuring cups and measuring spoons are necessary.”

Taste as you go: “If simmered meat no longer has any flavor, it’s a sign that the umami has been fully extracted into the soup.”

Try the kombu soak: “We soak kombu in water overnight in the refrigerator to slowly extract its umami.”