# Handmade Ramen Recipe (Fresh Noodles and Shoyu Broth From Scratch)

Source: https://trevorfarias.com/recipes/homemade-ramen
Author: Trevor Farias (Trevor's Kitchen)
Published: 2026-09-13 · Updated: 2026-09-13
Category: Dinner · Cuisine: Japanese

> Handmade ramen starts with alkaline noodles: bread flour mixed with a little water, salt and baked baking soda (a home substitute for kansui), kneaded into a very stiff dough, rested, rolled thin and cut into strands. Serve them in a shoyu broth made by simmering chicken and pork bones with ginger, garlic, scallions and kombu for about 4 hours, then season each bowl with a tare of soy sauce, mirin and sake. Top with sliced pork, a soft marinated egg, scallions and nori.

## At a glance

- Prep time: 1 hour active
- Cook time: 4 1/2 hours
- Total time: About 6 hours (Plus 4 to 12 hours to marinate the eggs; broth and eggs can be made a day ahead)
- Yield: 4 large bowls
- Servings: 4
- Calories per serving: 760

## Ingredients

### For the marinated eggs

- 4 large eggs, cold
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup mirin
- 1/2 cup water

### For the broth

- 2 pounds chicken wings or backs, 900 g
- 1 pound pork neck bones or trotters, 450 g
- 1 3-inch piece fresh ginger, sliced
- 1 head garlic, halved crosswise
- 1 bunch scallions, green parts for the broth, white parts reserved
- 1 onion, halved
- 1 6-inch piece kombu
- 4 dried shiitake mushrooms
- 14 cups water, 3.3 liters

### For the shoyu tare

- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons mirin
- 2 tablespoons sake
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar

### For the noodles

- 3 1/4 cups bread flour, 400 g, plus cornstarch for dusting
- 2/3 cup warm water, 150 ml
- 2 teaspoons baked baking soda, 8 g, see notes
- 1 teaspoon fine salt

### For serving

- 8 ounces sliced chashu or roast pork, 225 g
- 4 slices narutomaki fish cake, optional
- Sliced scallions, nori and toasted sesame oil

## Instructions

1. **Make the marinated eggs.** Lower the cold eggs into boiling water and cook for exactly 6 1/2 minutes, then move to ice water for 5 minutes and peel. Combine the soy sauce, mirin and water in a zip-top bag or small container, add the eggs and refrigerate for 4 to 12 hours.
2. **Blanch the bones.** Put the chicken and pork bones in a large stockpot, cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, then drain and rinse the bones and the pot to remove the scum.
3. **Simmer the broth.** Return the bones to the pot with the 14 cups of water, ginger, garlic, scallion greens and onion. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a bare simmer. Cook uncovered for 4 hours, skimming occasionally. Add the kombu and shiitake for the last 30 minutes. _Tip: Keep the broth at a lazy simmer with just a few bubbles. A rolling boil makes it cloudy._
4. **Strain.** Strain the broth through a fine sieve. You should have about 8 cups; add water if you have less. Season lightly with salt; most of the seasoning comes from the tare.
5. **Make the tare.** Simmer the soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar in a small saucepan for 2 minutes. Set aside.
6. **Make the noodle dough.** Dissolve the baked baking soda and salt in the warm water. Put the flour in a bowl and add the water gradually, mixing with your fingers until it looks like damp crumbs. Press and knead into a ball; it will be very stiff. Wrap and rest 30 minutes, then knead for 5 minutes until smoother, and rest 30 minutes more.
7. **Roll and cut the noodles.** Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Flatten one and pass it through a pasta machine on the widest setting, fold and repeat several times, then roll it thinner to about 1/16 inch (setting 5 or 6). Cut with the thin spaghetti cutter or a sharp knife. Toss with cornstarch and loosely coil into nests.
8. **Assemble the bowls.** Bring the broth to a simmer and warm the pork in it. Put 2 tablespoons of tare in each serving bowl. Boil the noodles in a large pot of unsalted water for 60 to 90 seconds, stirring, until chewy-tender. Pour 2 cups hot broth into each bowl, stir, add the drained noodles, then top with pork, a halved egg, fish cake, scallions and nori. Serve immediately.

## Equipment

- Large stockpot (at least 8 quarts)
- Fine-mesh sieve
- Pasta machine with spaghetti cutter (recommended)
- Large pot for boiling noodles
- Deep soup bowls

## Notes

- Bake the baking soda at 250°F for an hour before using it in the noodles.
- Simmer the broth gently for a clear, clean-tasting soup.
- Cook fresh noodles for only 60 to 90 seconds and serve at once.

## Why this recipe works

- Baked baking soda makes the dough alkaline, which gives the noodles their springy chew, yellow tint and resistance to going soft in hot broth.
- A very stiff, low-water dough is what ramen noodles need; resting it lets the flour hydrate so it can be rolled.
- Blanching the bones first removes impurities, and a gentle simmer instead of a boil keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting.
- Keeping the tare separate and seasoning each bowl lets you control the saltiness exactly.

## Making ramen noodles at home

Ramen dough is much drier than pasta dough, about 35% water by weight. It will look like crumbly sand at first. Squeeze and knead it into a rough mass, wrap it and let it rest; the flour absorbs the water and it becomes workable. A pasta machine makes rolling and cutting far easier, but a rolling pin and sharp knife work.

To make baked baking soda, spread 1/4 cup of baking soda on a foil-lined pan and bake at 250°F for 1 hour. Store it in a labeled jar. It is more caustic than regular baking soda, so avoid touching it with bare hands and do not taste it on its own.

## Ramen toppings

- Chashu pork: rolled pork belly braised in soy, mirin and sugar, or thin slices of roast pork.
- Ajitama: soft-boiled eggs marinated in soy and mirin.
- Narutomaki: the white fish cake with a pink swirl, sliced thin.
- Sliced scallions, nori sheets, bamboo shoots (menma), bean sprouts and sweet corn.
- A drizzle of chili oil or toasted sesame oil.

## Short on time?

Replace the bone broth with 10 cups of good low-sodium chicken stock simmered for 30 minutes with the ginger, garlic, scallions, kombu and a handful of dried shiitake mushrooms. Or buy fresh ramen noodles and focus on the broth. Either shortcut still makes a far better bowl than instant ramen.

## Storage

- Broth keeps 5 days in the refrigerator or 3 months frozen. Tare keeps 1 month refrigerated.
- Fresh uncooked noodles, dusted with cornstarch, keep 2 days refrigerated in an airtight bag, or freeze for 1 month and cook from frozen.
- Marinated eggs are best within 3 days.

## Variations

- Miso ramen: replace the shoyu tare with 3 tablespoons white miso mixed with 1 tablespoon soy sauce per bowl.
- Spicy ramen: add a spoonful of chili oil or doubanjiang to each bowl.
- Chicken ramen: use 3 pounds of chicken bones and skip the pork.

## Frequently asked questions

**What makes ramen noodles different from pasta?**

Ramen noodles are made with an alkaline agent such as kansui or baked baking soda, which gives them a springy, firm texture and yellow color. Italian pasta uses plain flour or eggs.

**Can I use regular baking soda for ramen noodles?**

It works, but the effect is weaker. Baking it at 250°F for an hour turns it into sodium carbonate, which gives noodles a much better chew and color.

**Why is my ramen broth cloudy?**

It boiled too hard, or the bones were not blanched first. Cloudy broth tastes fine; ramen shops make creamy tonkotsu broth by boiling on purpose. For clear shoyu broth, keep it at a gentle simmer.

**How do I get jammy ramen eggs?**

Lower cold eggs into boiling water, cook exactly 6 1/2 minutes, chill in ice water, peel and marinate in soy sauce and mirin for at least 4 hours.

## Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

- Calories: 760
- Fat: 22 g
- Saturated fat: 7 g
- Carbohydrates: 86 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Sugar: 8 g
- Protein: 49 g
- Sodium: 3100 mg
- Cholesterol: 250 mg

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Recipe by Trevor Farias. Full page with photos: https://trevorfarias.com/recipes/homemade-ramen
Structured data (JSON): https://trevorfarias.com/recipes/homemade-ramen/recipe.json