Ok so I lied, this is really the same as a recipe I posted a long time ago here. The only difference is the wok use (and I plan on posting a comprehensive view of Sapporo Miso Ramen wok cooking soon).

I am a miso ramen lover at heart, a Sapporo-an till I die, but butter corn ramen is sort of this odd tourist food that not many Sapporo dwellers eat much of.

But they should, it is damn tasty. I concede. The sweet cream butter and the niblets of corn with the musky but fruity miso, it’s a wonderful pairing.

There are only two changes from the initial method I posted long ago. I made some small changes to the tare, but more importantly, I finally procured a wok earlier this year and and as part of the christening, I decided to use it for a Old School Sapporo Miso cook off.

Unfortunately, I was still pretty new to the wok cooking, and little bits of hard cooked onion and such began charring on the bottom because the wok was so new. These didn’t seem to impact the flavor at all (I only noticed them after plating really…), but they created unsightly dark spots in the broth that looked like flecks of pepper. A quick scrub of the wok in between servings will solve this problem (and your wok will heat up to temp no problem).

Or, y'know, using a well seasoned wok would too. But I'm dumb, soooooo.

That’s really the only snag in the chain I had with this go around. So in a way, this is more of an update in detail than anything. But because it's unsightly (and I do take the visual into consideration), this is 100% R&D in my book.

But let’s discuss:

Broth:

I use paitan with my butter corn. That’s super atypical; most miso ramen is made with lighter broths. Honestly I just ran with it one day and it worked. You can use whatever broth method you like (go light, go extra heavy, up to you!) I just like the extra umph the chicken-y paitan adds, and chicken is far more accessible than pork bones. Chicken paitan is like tonkotsu, but easier, so I highly recommend going this route before a [22 hour tonkotsu boil-a-thon.]() Here are the ingredients:

• 2 lbs chicken feet, toes and dark blemishes removed
• 4-6 lbs total chicken carcass (one large chicken, broken down, breast removed) I had bones frozen that I used.

Optional: Onion, garlic, ginger.

That’s it.

Cover your chicken parts with water by an inch. Bring to a boil, skim any initial scum, and then let cook at a rolling boil on high heat for 6 hours minimum, longer if you can stand it. Top off with water as needed. Cook until the meat has fully separated from the bone and the bones are dark. This suggests that they have been fully leached of their mineral content. At the last hour, you can add your aromatics if you are so inclined.

Tare:

This tare differs a little from my standard miso ramen recipe, it uses less sesame and has butter in it to compensate. I also blitz some corn and add that to the tare, to help layer the corn flavor subtly through the dish. The raw ingredients cook JUST enough in the wok that the sharpness is minimal.

The below are estimates, and your milage may vary. Miso ramen for me is very personal and I make the tare entirely by taste, so I honestly can only guess these amounts. This is very anti-science, and anti-consistency, but that’s just how I roll with miso. All you can do is taste it, see what it needs, and adjust accordingly.

Ok, here are the steps.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups miso (this bowl uses a blend of all white misos, but for butter corn, I like to aim for more fruity/lighter miso in general to not overpower the corn flavor. Nuttier misos would also work. I would avoid red variants personally.)
• 4-8 cloves garlic, grated (I honestly always forget this part...)
• 1 2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated/pureed
• ½ onion, pureed in food processor or grated
• ½ cup canned corn, pureed in food processor or blender
• 1 tbs sesame paste or tahini
• 2 tbsp mirin
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 4 tbs butter, melted

Combine the above in a bowl. Taste, adjust as needed. Curse Ramen_Lord for being bad with miso recipes. Realize that Ramen_Lord tried his best and means well.

This gets better in a day or two (as the salt pulls out the compounds in the aromatics to really distribute the flavor nicely) but it can be used immediately.

I also am intentionally withholding some secret Ramen_Lord techniques in the tare, because I am a jerk. Hate me all you want! I deserve it! But this starting recipe will work just fine, I can assure you.

Noodles

Noodles are Sapporo standard. Higher hydration, good gluten development, nice chew, and good alkalinity. See below:

For one portion (measure everything by weight!)

• 98.5g King Arthur bread flour (12.7% protein by weight)
• 1.5 g vital wheat gluten (aprox 77.5% protein by weight)
• 40 g water
• 1 g salt

• 1.5 g baked soda (more info on baked soda here)

• Optional: .1 g Riboflavin (this adds color, I usually estimate it)

Steps:

1. Add baked soda and salt (and riboflavin if using) to the water, dissolve completely. I like to add one at a time, it seems like the baked soda dissolves better if added prior to the salt.

2. In the food processor, add your wheat gluten and flour. Pulse a few times to combine the two.

3. While running the food processor, add your water mixture slowly, in an even stream. Occasionally, stop to scrape the sides down. You know you're set when you have tiny grain like pieces.

4. Cover the food processor and let this rest for 30 minutes. This gives the flour granules time to fully absorb the water and alkaline salts.

5. Knead it. Currently I use an electric pasta machine to sheet the dough, going through the largest setting, then the 2nd, then the 3rd, then folding and repassing through the largest setting. I repass two to three times, or until I notice the dough is making the machine work really hard. I also like to fold the dough the same direction each time. Some articles I read suggested this kept the gluten strands running in the same direction, which promotes better texture. You'll notice interesting horizontal lines running along the length of your dough if you do it right. If this isn’t an option for you, I used to throw the mix into a plastic bag and step on it repeatedly, which simulates the kneading process used in an industrial setting.

6. When smooth, cover with plastic, and rest at room temp for an hour. This gives the gluten time to relax, and “ripens” the dough according to Japanese cooks.

7. Pull out your dough. Portion into workable sizes (around one serving's worth), and roll out to desired thickness, using potato starch or corn starch as you go to prevent sticking. Do this with a pasta machine, it is borderline impossible without a machine. An electric one will save you an incredible amount of effort.

8. Cut your noodles to your desired thickness. You rule your ramen.

9. To get the wavy effect on the noodles, take your finished noodles and squeeze them together like making a snowball, then shimmy them around. This creates indentations and texture, which I enjoy and is standard to Sapporo noodles.

10. Ideally you should make these noodles in advance, they’re really nice after about two days in the fridge. They firm up a bit, and most recipes for noodles online discuss this resting phase prior to use. The general rule for this cure is that the higher the hydration, the longer the wait.

Aroma Oil

This has no aroma oil! You use the wok to aromatize lard with onion and beansprout, or cabbage if you prefer. A cast iron skillet also works nicely here. The process is simple, but important!

1. Add your onion and beansprout to a heated wok with lard (about 1tbsp or so)
2. Stir fry on high heat until just begining to wilt, around 40 seconds to a minute
3. Add your paitan stock, slightly more than you think you’ll need
4. Add your miso tare, whisk to combine.
5. Continue whisking until the contents is just shy of reaching a boil.
6. Pour OVER your cooked noodles in the bowl. Optionally, you can hold back the vegetables to have them mound on top.

The whisking action incorporates some nice emulsification, boosting the body of this dish. I like it. I’ve been using this technique regularly for miso.

You could also forgo the wok frying entirely, in which case, just add some butter or fat to a pan with onion, and cook at a low bubble for 15-30 minutes. Use this, added to the bottom of the bowl with your tare.

Toppings:

Top with your favorites. This is topped with hanjuku tamago (egg cooked for 6 min 30 seconds then shocked and peeled) and Chashu (seared then braised at 225 in soy/mirin/sake for 3 hours), some canned corn, a dollop of butter, and green onion.