Zero Waste Ramen

Name: Zero Waste Ramen
Yield: 2-4 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: Veggie scraps perfectly washed and clean; 2 boneless chicken thighs; Fresh or dry ramen noodles; 1 Roasted Nori sheet; 2 eggs; 1/2 cup soy sauce; 1/2 cup chicken stock or dashi stock; 1 clove garlic; 1 inch slice of fresh ginger; 1 scallion; 2 tsp brown sugar; 1 tsp rice vinegar; 1/4 cup mirin; 1/4 cup sake or dry white wine; Toppings of your choice; to taste Salt and pepper

Nani Alba @cook_4777744

So I was trying to come up for a recipe that my friend would like, and I decided to combine a few little tricks I've learned over the years.
Since I live in an apartment, I don't have a backyard, or anywhere to compost, and all my veggie scraps would always go to waste. So, after a while, I started to make veggie broth out of them. This recipe uses veggie scraps broth as a base.

Nani Alba @cook_4777744

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Ingredients

4hs

2-4 servings

Veggie scraps perfectly washed and clean
2boneless chicken thighs
Fresh or dry ramen noodles
1Roasted Nori sheet
2eggs
1/2 cupsoy sauce
1/2 cupchicken stock or dashi stock
1 clovegarlic
1 inchslice of fresh ginger
1scallion
2 tspbrown sugar
1 tsprice vinegar
1/4 cupmirin
1/4 cupsake or dry white wine
Toppings of your choice
to tasteSalt and pepper

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Steps

4hs

1

Put veggie scraps in a large heavy pot and cover with water. Add around 2 tsp of salt, and bring to a boil. Boil them in high heat for about an hour tops.
2

Remove the pot from the fire and strain the veggie scraps, reserving the resulting broth. It will be very bland. Don't worry, you can adjust the seasoning later.
3

In a sauce pan mix the chicken or dashi stock with the soy sauce, the mirin, sake, sugar, rice vinegar, smashed garlic and ginger, and scallion. Stir and bring to a simmer. Cook on low heat until the mixture has reduced to about 1/2 cup of liquid. Be careful not to let the soy sauce burn. This will be the Tare, and will adjust the seasoning of the ramen.
4

Boil two eggs, straight from the fridge, for 6 minutes. Start counting once the water starts boiling. The yolk should come up soft, or at least, perfectly yellow with no grayish rim.
5

Add salt and pepper to both chicken thighs. In a skillet, cook the thighs skin side down first, until crispy and golden. Then flip and repeat. Set aside to rest, then cut each thigh into bite size strips.
6

Cook the ramen noodles as instructed in the package. If you can't find any, use fresh spaghetti and replace the salt in the water with baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). Around 2 tsp should do.
7

Fold the nori sheet four times and cut it into little rectangles.
8

Finally, assemble the ramen: place 3 tbsp of tare in the bottom of the bowl, then add the noodles, followed by 4 ladlefuls of veggie broth. Place the toppings on top (the chicken thigh, and the egg sliced in half, and 4 nori sheets). I also added a shitake mushroom, a few slices of carrot, and corn. Be creative, and add any topping you want. Some flavoured oil can also add a great finishing touch (chilli oil, sesame oil, garlic oil, etc).