Want to learn how to make proper ramen? It's probably best to take advice from someone who practically has the dish in their name. In this video from Mind of a Chef, Ivan Orkin, the chef behind New York and Tokyo standouts Ivan Ramen, explains how he came to love the dish and what goes into a bowl of miso ramen.
"Miso ramen's kind of weird because it can easily veer into just tasting like a glorified bowl of miso soup, which is a disaster," Orkin says in the video. "But the more food-obsessed you are, the more you're like, fuck it, there's certain risks you have to take."
The dish isn't too complicated, with the flavor profile coming from blonde and red miso, roasted garlic, honey, sake, and pork fat. Once the noodles are added to the broth, it's all topped with spicy ground pork, burnt scallion oil, and fresh scallion. It's tasty, but at roughly 200 degrees, it's also the hottest ramen you're likely to consume, so be careful.
"Pretty simple, you know, and then every once in a while you burn your mouth," Orkin says. "It's worth it, right? These are grown-up decisions."