Smoked Turkey Stock Ramen

I was talking with a friend of mine at work before Thanksgiving and he mentioned how his family makes stock from their leftover turkey carcass. I remember my mom doing this when I was little. I googled some recipes and it's super easy, so I decided to give it a try.

This was kind of a two part process for me because I wasn't sure exactly how I was going to use it and I didn't really set out to do ramen. We smoked two bone-in turkey breasts for Thanksgiving this year. I would guesstimate that you either need two of these, or an entire turkey carcass. My family prefers white meat, so that's why we had the two breasts rather than one whole turkey. I was a little concerned about the smoke being overpowering, but it wasn't at all.

Smoked Turkey Stock

2 - Smoked bone-in turkey breasts, skin, scraps, etc, bones broken enough that it will fit in your stock pot

2 - Large onions, quartered

4 - Celery stalks, chopped

4 - Large carrots, peeled and chopped

1t Whole black peppercorns

Add all ingredients to your stock pot and add water to cover. Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer and let it ride for about 3.5 hours. Stain using a fine sieve. Chill and store in the fridge. Should yield around 2 quarts.

Ramen with Smoked Turkey Stock

2qts Smoked Turkey Stock

6 - Garlic cloves

1 - Lemongrass stalk, chopped

1 - Jalapeno, sliced

2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and chopped

1 bunch of cilantro stems, chopped

5t Hon-dashi powder

5t Soy sauce

Baby boc choy, quartered

Eggs

Cilantro leaves

Ramen noodles, preferably fresh

Shiitake mushrooms, sliced

Prepare Broth

Combine Turkey Stock, garlic, lemon grass, jalapeno, ginger, and cilantro stems. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for about an hour. Strain broth and discard solids. Add mushrooms, hon-dashi, and soy sauce, keep warm.

Prepare the Eggs

Fill saucepan with enough water to cover eggs but don't add eggs yet.Bring water to a boil and add eggs straight from the fridge.Boil/simmer for about 7.5 to 8.5 minutes. At my altitude in West Jordan, Utah, I let them go for about 8.5 minutes which yields a barely set yolk.Transfer eggs to a bowl of ice water to halt the cooking process.Peel, halve, and set aside.

Prepare Bok Choy

Place bok choy in salted boiling water for about 1 minute. Remove and allow to drain.

Prepare Noodles
Prepare noodles per package instructions. The most recent ones I used called for cooking 1-2 minutes. I'd recommend erring on the short side as cooking too long will result in mushy noodles. Assemble immediately.

Assembly
Add noodles to bowl and ladle broth over noodles. Add bok choy. Add eggs. Add cilantro leaves. Enjoy!