Up Your Ramen Game with a Soy Egg
High-end fashion stylist-turned chef and ICE alumna Rasheeda Purdie stopped by our NYC campus to chat with the students about life as a chef, following your passion and the importance of finding inspiration through your roots. While on campus, Chef Rasheeda demonstrated how to make her popular ramen, featuring her “game changer” soy egg.
In honor of Black History month, we’re highlighting the creativity and talent of some of our Black alumni.
Read on for Chef Rasheeda’s soy egg recipe, as well as the background of how this recipe came to be, her thoughts on why it’s so important to her signature dish at Ramen by Rā, and her new venture, Rise+Dine.
Why is the soy egg such an important part of your ramen recipe?
Soy eggs are a game changer! When you have such great quality noodles, paired with a rich broth, the soy egg will take your ramen to another level. I prefer soft-boiled, as the yolk will enhance and add more creaminess to the texture of the broth.
How did you come up with the current recipe?
My current recipe has definitely evolved. In the beginning, I would stick to a classic recipe because my focus was more on broths, but over time I started to notice how much people enjoyed my soy eggs. From there I [started to focus more on] toppings to build more flavor and umami.
How did it evolve?
Nowadays my soy marinade has so many additions into the mix, it gets better and better over time. I treat my soy marinade just like my broth. You can throw just about anything inside the marinade to create magic. The timing is as important too — each hour develops more depth of flavor into the egg that plays as a sponge. Good taste takes time, there's no need to rush.
What does it add to the ramen/broth?
The best thing about ramen is the endless layers of flavor and how one thing adds to the next. You have so much going on in one bowl yet it all works together: crunch for texture, silkiness from the broth, heat from infused oils, and a snapback bite from the Tokyo wavy noodles by Sun Noodles Inc. Those noodles are my go-to — you can't go wrong.
Related Reading:Ramen vs Pho
When you came to do your demo at ICE you walked us through an incredible variety of ramen you’ve put together through the years. Which one is your favorite and why?
Wow! That's a hard question. At the moment, my favorites are from the Rise + Dine ramen brunch series. I truly put a lot of time, thought and research into this experience. “Asa-ra,” aka morning ramen, is very popular in Northern Japan. The majority of the ramen restaurants there operate in the morning and close in the afternoon.
With this research, I started to develop my morning ramen menu and came up with Rise + Dine, a revitalized ramen experience indulged in the form of brunch. Think of your favorite breakfast meals in the form of soup, like bacon, egg and cheese, BLT, gravlax and more. It's an experience for you to enjoy and unwind, relax, drink tea or a hot toddy with your breakfast ramen.
To pick just one is hard, because it also depends on my mood. Some days I go for the steak and eggs ramen and other days I go for the everything egg drop. Lately, I've been enjoying the gravlax, it is breathtaking and so unique. The flavor combinations are next level. Smoked salmon that is so silky and smooth that it melts in your mouth. Imagine having that with a shoyu broth topped with cream cheese foam, pickled red onions, nori, crispy capers and shallots, and last but not least a soy egg. This is my go to for now, a taste of the sea.
In good news, I do have a new ramen coming out for Rise + Dine launching this spring on Sunday Easter in Brooklyn. You have to stay tuned for this one, it's going to be oh so sweet and oh so epic!
Ingredients
- 6 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups of water
- 1 1/2 cups of soy (low sodium)
- 1/4 cup of mirin
- 1/4 cup of cooking sake
- sugar, to taste
(Tip: to reuse, soy marinade lasts up to 2 weeks in the fridge.)
Directions
- Fill a medium-sized pot with water and bring to a boil.
- Once your water comes to a boil, place eggs inside and cook on high for 6 minutes.
- In a separate container, preferably with a lid, place all other ingredients inside and mix well. (Tip: to reduce the saltiness, add more water to your liking.)
- Remove eggs from water and immediately transfer to an ice bath.
- Peel your eggs. (Tip: use the middle area of your thumbs.)
- Place your peeled eggs in the container with a lid. Pour soy mixture inside and cover.
More ICE Alumni Recipes: Chef Shenarri Freeman's Stuffed Collard Green Wraps
