Kozuyu Chicken Soy Sauce Ramen

Chef: Megumi Tadokoro
In the manga: Chapter 71
In the anime: Episode 26
Cuisine and type: Ramen

Kozuyu Chicken Soy Sauce Ramen is a dish made by Megumi Tadokoro against Ryō Kurokiba during the Tōtsuki Autumn Election's Main Tournament: Quarterfinals.

Megumi created this dish to counter Ryō Kurokiba's ramen dish as she figured that he would make a strong tasting ramen. Though it appears to lack the same impact of Ryō's ramen, under its beauty lies an incredibly strong flavor created from the usage of Kozuyu. Using dried vegetables, the soup is further enhanced creating an elegant but strong dish. Finally, a paitan soup was made to create a whole new flavor that allows her to fight toe-to-toe with the Mad Dog.

Real-world dishes

Ramen

Real facts

Ramen (/ˈrɑːmən/) (ラーメン/拉麺 rāmen?, IPA: [ɽäꜜːmeɴ]) is a Japanese noodle soup dish, with the term being the Japanese-reading for the Chinese term " lāmiàn" (lit. pulled noodles). It consists of Chinese-style wheat noodles served in a meat-based or fish-based broth, often flavored with soy sauce or miso, and uses toppings, such as sliced pork (チャーシュー chāshū?), dried seaweed (海苔 nori?), kamaboko, and green onions. Nearly every region in Japan has its own variation of ramen, from the tonkotsu (pork bone broth) ramen of Kyushu to the miso ramen of Hokkaido. Paitan is a relatively new 2010s born ramen broth inspired by the likes of tonkotsu ramen, being milky and rich bone broth soup of other varieties of meat. One such new meat used is that of chicken. Its name originating from Cantonese Chinese, it simply translates to "White Broth". Kozuyu is a Fukushima Prefecture specialty soup dish, and is more specifically known within Japan to come from Aizuwakamatsu of the westernmost Aizu region. Historically renowned for its refined samurai culture and historic importance as Japan's Treasure House of Food, Kozuyu is one such dish that originates from the region, classically made with dried ingredients, specifically preserved seafood, such as scallops and katsuo, vegetables, such as taro, carrots, and shittake mushrooms, and wheat dumplings known as mamefu. A most beloved soup for celebrations and the depths of winter by samurai and nobility, its battlefield ration origins help give a hearty and robust yet light and yet deep taste from its northernmost Tohoku birthplace. The use of Aizu Chicken helps highlight this, which is a chicken breed prided not unlike the famous Nagoya Kochin. Notably, Aizu is also the region which one of the Three Famous National Towns of Ramen of Japan is held, Kitakata, being only a few miles north of Aizuwakamatsu. With a large feature of over 200 ramen restaurants in its city, ramen culture and cuisine is paramount to where the term soba refers instead to ramen de facto than its traditional buckwheat noodle variety. Combining both the richness of newborn paitan ramen with the traditional beloved taste of kozuyu, the dish comes to fuse both dishes significant of the Aizu region into a revolutionary ramen soup.

Dish details from the Shokugeki no Sōma Wiki (CC BY-SA).

Official manga recipe

Kozuyu Chicken Soy Sauce Ramen

Difficulty
Total time: 2 h
Hands-on: 2 h
Cost: ¥¥¥¥
Servings: 4

Equipmentpot, fine sieve

Tasteumami, light, comforting

Ingredients

4 bundles ramen noodles
100 g carrots (dried vegetable)
100 g shiitake mushrooms (dried vegetable)
100 g burdock root (dried vegetable)
100 g string beans (dried vegetable)
200 g taro root
15 g wood ear mushrooms
2 tbsp sake
2 tbsp white soy sauce
2 tbsp light soy sauce
3 tbsp mamefu

[A]

1 bone-in chicken leg
1000 ml water
2 thin slices ginger
½ leek (green part)

[B]

60 g dried scallops
1000 ml water

Method

1
Put the [A] ingredients into a pot and bring to a boil. Once bubbling, skim the scum off the top. Reduce to low heat and simmer for approximately 40 minutes. Remove from heat and strain the liquid through a sieve.
2
Put the [B] ingredients in a different pot and also bring to a boil. Once bubbling, reduce to low heat and simmer for approximately 20 minutes.
3
Rehydrate the wood ear mushrooms in a bowl of water. Trim off the base and chop into bite-sized pieces.
4
Peel the taro root and chop into bite-sized pieces.
5
Pour the strained stock from step 1 into the pot with step 2. Then add the sake, dried vegetables, and wood ear mushrooms. Then simmer on low heat for 15 minutes. Season with white and light soy sauces to taste. At the last minute, add the mamefu.
6
Pour everything into a bowl. Boil the ramen noodles, shake off all excess water, and then add to the bowl.

Tips

Slice the shiitake mushrooms thinly. Cut the carrot in half lengthwise, and then chop into thin half-moon slices. Slice the string beans in half diagonally. Chop the burdock root into slim strips, and arrange everything in a single layer on a sheet of aluminum foil or butcher paper and set outside in the sun on a sunny day for about 5 hours. Cover with a cheesecloth or fine netting to keep insects at bay.

Food safety

Cook poultry until the thickest part reaches 74 °C / 165 °F (duck breast may be served pink at 57–60 °C if it is whole-muscle and from a trusted source).

Official manga recipe

Pickled-Plum Chicken

Bonus side dish

Difficulty
Total time: 45 min
Hands-on: 35 min
Cost: ¥¥¥¥
Servings: 2

Equipmentblender

Tastetangy, light, comforting

Ingredients

1 bone-in chicken leg (after use in making the stock)
½ leek (white part)
3 pickled plums
1 tsp mirin
1 tsp sake
5 shiso leaves
1 tbsp sesame oil

Method

1
Slice the leek into thin strips and soak in cold water for 10 minutes.
2
Slice the shiso leaves into thin strips.
3
Cut the chicken meat off of the bone and pull apart by hand.
4
Remove the pits from the pickled plums and mash into a paste with the flat part of the knife you’re using. Add the mirin and sake and mix until well-blended.
5
Mix everything together along with the sesame oil well. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Food safety

Cook poultry until the thickest part reaches 74 °C / 165 °F (duck breast may be served pink at 57–60 °C if it is whole-muscle and from a trusted source).