Boxing Day turkey ramen

Adam Vasey Head Chef and Owner of Schooners Cornwall

Last year just after Christmas I travelled to Japan, I didn’t have much of a plan and my research was pretty thin on the ground. My singular mission was to eat but I wasn’t quite prepared for the full flavour onslaught that lay before me.

My ten day trip quickly blurred into pure indulgence as I ate wobbly umami rich pork belly, sticks of golden grilled chicken from every inch of the bird, high-grade fatty tuna, belly quivering with freshness along with bowls and bowls of salty, porky, lip-blistering ramen.

So this year post Christmas day, sadly I won’t be in Japan eating king crabs claws or oysters the size of a fist, but I will be boiling up turkey bones to in a bid to recreate pre-Covid memories of my trip and what better way to use up turkey leftovers and make something that isn’t turkey curry!

Ramen is not as daunting as it seems, once those dinosaur sized turkey bones have been reduced to a velvety stock , it’s just about noodles and toppings. The great thing about ramen is it’s a vehicle to use up things in your fridge as toppings.

Be warned though it’s not a proper ramen unless you have an egg, the moment when that runny yolk hits the hot broth inadvertently thickening the sauce is pure food porn and it’s not frowned upon to have two!

INGREDIENTS:

(Serves4)

Turkey bones

400g Turkey meat shredded

4 free range eggs (or more)

2 tbsp White miso

1 bunch Spring onions 

1 large Red chilli

150g Bean sprouts 

600g ramen or egg noodles 

50g Sesame seeds 

Chilli oil (optional)

Nori seaweed sheet 

METHOD:

THE BROTH:

Shred all the left-over meat from the turkey carcass and put to one side while you arrange the bones on a flat oven tray and roast hard until dark and golden. 

Grab a big sauce pan and add a splash of sesame or veg oil and on a medium to high heat add the miso and fry in the pan for a minute, then add in the ginger and chopped garlic and fry for another minute until it’s all golden.

Pour in roughly 100ml of water and scrape away the miso, garlic and ginger from the bottom of the pan; this should create a lovely cloudy liquor. 

Add in the roasted bones and cover with water and turn the hob up full-bore.

Reduce the broth to half then refill with more water to cover the bones and reduce again always skimming as you go, this will give you a hearty intense stock, repeat this process a couple of times then strain into another pan and crack on with the toppings.

THE EGG

Boil an egg per bowl of ramen (or two in my case) plus a couple of spare carefully lowering into the water for 6.5 minutes then submerging in cold water once done and peel.

You can add the eggs to the ramen as they are or boil up a tea bag and 2 tbsp of soy in and let it go cold then rest the eggs in it for an hour or so. This will mean that once the eggs are cut they will be dark on the outside and bright white and yellow on the inside and look like proper ramen shop eggs.

THE NOODLES

You can boil the noodles ahead of time because the hot stock will reheat these for us.

THE GARNISH

Spring onions finely shredded lengthways

Pickled chilli cut on the angle and pickled in a 100ml of cider vinegar and 2tblsp of caster sugar

Bean sprouts can be added raw or added to the left over chilli pickling liquor

Sesame seeds add a bit of crunch to the bowl

Nori-with scissors chop the seaweed sheets into four

ASSEMBLE!

Get your bowl then bunch up a handful of noodles and stick in one side of the bowl.

Add the shredded turkey meat to the other side of the bowl. Chop the egg in two and place on top of the noodles.

Heat the broth and pour into the bowl to submerge the noodles and come to the bottom side of the egg. Tuck the nori into the side of the bowl. Top the turkey meat with a nice mound of the shredded spring onions and a couple of slices of pickled chilli and a sprinkle of sesame. Finally add the bean sprouts wherever you can find space.

Slurp away enjoying with an ice cold beer or shot of sake and forget that Christmas ever happened!