Leftover Turkey Ramen

Hello Friends! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend. I took a short respite from the blog and social media over the weekend to cook for my family and friends. As much as I intended to document every dish and share it all with you here, I was just too caught up in the moment to stop and take pictures! I have a fun recipe today though, an unexpected way to enjoy those turkey leftovers: Leftover Turkey Ramen.

The Stock

If you made a turkey I hope you simmered that carcass with onions, carrots, celery, lemon…or anything else you may have stuffed into the cavity for added flavor. I love to have this broth for soups now, and later. We had smoked turkey and that adds a wonderful smokiness to the finished broth. I simmered the carcass with 12 quarts of water and cooked it down to about 6 quarts of stock. Today, I am using about 10 cups of that stock to make the ramen broth.

Simmer the 10 cups stock with one cup dried shiitake mushrooms, one cup bonito flakes and kombu. I have a 6″ strip of kombu. Let that simmer for as long as you like. The stock is already full of turkey flavor, so I let this simmer for about an hour with the lid on for about 35 minutes so it didn’t reduce too much.

Flavor Booster

While the Dashi (shiitake, kombu and bonito) broth will make up the backbone of the flavor, ramen gets an extra boost of flavor from a combination of miso, soy sauce, Mirin and a little vinegar. There are all kinds of ramen flavor boosters, some are purely soy sauce, vinegar and Mirin. I like the miso-based variety because the miso gives the broth a nice body and richness.

Combine about 2 -3 tablespoons of miso (I am using light sweet miso, but you can use dark or red miso) with 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons rice vinegar (turns out, I am out of rice vinegar, so I used apple cider vinegar). Then I added 1 tablespoon Mirin.

Mix those ingredients and set aside. When the stock is well-flavored with the shiitake, bonito and the kombu, strain the stock into a bowl and then return it to the pot. I opted to reserve the shiitakes to slice up and use as a topping. If you want to do this, remove the tough chewy stems from the shiitakes, thinly slice, and set them aside.

Keep the strained broth on a low simmer and add the flavor booster. Mix well and let that simmer while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. I have thickly sliced leftover turkey that I lightly sauté in a little olive oil to warm them through and give them a little color. While your turkey slices are lightly browning over medium heat, boil two eggs and cook the ramen noodles.

Leftover Turkey Ramen

Put the drained noodles in a bowl and ladle over 2 cups of the broth. Then top with the turkey, carrots, shiitake and egg slices. I have added a generous spoonful of my favorite chili crunch for texture and heat. Of course, add whatever toppings you like. Scallions are a typical topping. Green beans, broccoli or spinach would be great additions for flavor, color and texture.

Thank you all for spending some of your Monday with me! I hope this recipe for Leftover Turkey Ramen inspires you to try something different with your Thanksgiving leftovers. But if you’re looking for a different leftover recipe, try one of my sandwiches from my Turkey Sandwich Trio post. Remember you can also find me on Pinterest, Instagram and facebook. I will see you again very soon, take care and be well. xo Kelly

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Leftover Turkey Ramen

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Main Course, Dinner – Japanese American

By Kelly Djalali – Serves: 2-5

Prep Time: 20 minutes – Cooking Time: ~1 Hour 20 Minutes – Total Time: ~1 Hour 40 Minutes

Turkey stock gets a Ramen flavor boost from Kombu, Bonito, Shiitakes, Miso, Mirin, Vinegar and Soy Sauce.

Ingredients

• 10 cups Turkey Stock
• 1 cup Dried Shiitakes
• 1 cup Bonito Flakes
• 1 small to medium-sized strip of Kombu
• Ramen Noodles
• Flavor Booster
• 2-3 tbsp Miso Paste
• 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
• 2 tbsp Rice Vinegar
• 1 tbsp Mirin
• Toppings
• Leftover Turkey lightly browned in olive oil
• Carrot Slices
• Medium Boiled Eggs
• Shiitakes

Instructions

1

Simmer the Turkey stock with the bonito, kombu and dried shiitakes for about an hour. Strain the broth and return it to the stock pot.

2

Mix the Mirin, vinegar, soy sauce and miso and add the flavor booster to the strained stock, continue simmering while you prep the toppings.

3

Boil water for the noodles and cook to package directions.

4

Boil water for the eggs. Gently add eggs to the water, cover and reduce heat to low, simmer eggs for 10 minutes.

5

Lightly brown turkey slices with olive oil.

6

Add drained noodles to a bowl. Ladle 2 cups of the broth over the noodles and add toppings.