Chicken Ramen with Crispy Chicken Skin

Lately we've developed a pretty healthy craving on a regular basis for a good homemade ramen. Yes, both of us individually as college students consumed our fair share of totally unhealthy packaged ramen dishes. It kind of makes me swell just thinking of it but what can we say those college days were lean.

We've tried a few different recipes with some mild satisfaction but really we learned making a good broth isn't a quick or super easy endeavor. 

We adapted a few different recipes we found to make the best ramen and broth we've made to date. We started with bone in, skin on chicken thighs. Both the bones and skin really add to the flavor of the broth so we feel this is what made all the difference with this ramen. 

Somewhat mistakenly the skin really stuck to the bottom of the pot and tore away from the chicken. The skin started getting all crispy and we both immediately thought that crispy skin will make a great topping and it did.

Once the chicken was cooked we removed the chicken from the pot and started our broth. Adding onion, ginger and garlic and chicken broth with some dashi seasoning. We also added a bit of soy sauce and sesame oil as well.

While the broth simmered for about 45 minutes we sauteed the broccolini and mushrooms, shredded the chicken and cooked the ramen. And soft boiled the eggs.

Now it was time to assemble the ramen. We started first plating the noodles.

Followed by the broccolini.

And then the mushrooms and chicken.

Finally the broth, eggs and toasted sesame seeds and crispy chicken skin. It was our first time actually making soft boiled eggs. I think they went a minute or two too long, next time we'll cook them a bit less. 

We can't emphasize enough how essential the crispy chicken skin became, we highly recommend using it. We also believe it was the remaining stuck skin at the bottom of the pot that really added the rich essence to the broth. 

Recipe:

Chicken Ramen with Crispy Chicken Skin

Broth:

2 Tblspns olive oil

1 lb. Bone in, skin on chicken thighs

1 white onion, chopped

Salt & pepper

3 Tblspns ginger, peeled and chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced 

4 cups chicken broth

2 Tblspns dashi powder

2 Tblspns soy sauce

2 Tblspns sesame oil

Toppings:

1/4 lb oyster mushrooms

1/4 lb shitake mushrooms

1/4 lb broccolini

4 green onions, diagonally chopped

2 eggs

2 packages ramen noodles

2 Tblspns toasted sesame seeds

Crispy chicken skin

Cook the seasoned chicken thighs in 2 tablespoons olive oil in a dutch oven. As the skin starts to cook pull the chicken away from the skin and let the skin crisp up. When chicken is cooked through remove from pot and finish crisping chicken skin. Pull out as much chicken skin as you can and drain on paper towel and season with salt. 

To pot add onion, ginger, garlic, broth, dashi, soy sauce and sesame oil. Bring to boil then lower temperature and simmer for 30-40 minutes.

While broth cooks saute' mushrooms and broccolini until down but not over cooked. Cook ramen and soft boil eggs.

To large bowls divide noodles. Top with veggies and chopped chicken. Divide broth. Top with eggs, crispy chicken skin and toasted sesame seeds.