My husband bought a ramen cookbook. Little did he know what he was getting into! Now there’s chicken feet on the counter. I’m innocent in all this. I’m just following a recipe.

Having worked in a meat department for four years, this stuff doesn’t phase me. In fact, I feel rather accomplished that I can be so creative with the animal parts I use. I’ve expanded my repertoire in an effort to eat nose to tail, or in this case nose to toe.

So anyway, day one was chicken broth, day two pork broth. You simmer everything and then strain.

On day three, I made dashi (mushroom, seaweed, bonito broth) and tare, which is basically the seasoning for the broth that includes soy sauce, mirin, rice vinegar and sesame oil.

We got fresh noodles at Asiana market and some baby bok choy. Delish. We also bought some fresh Yuzu juice. It’s a citrus that is used to make ponzu, which is a lighter more citrusy soy sauce that we always request at sushi instead of soy sauce. We made Yuzu margaritas and Yuzu lemonade and absolutely love the tropical citrus flavor!

I’m still working on reading the soy sauce bottles so I can find a nice fermented one. Like many things in this world, the perfect ramen is a journey- a bowl we are endlessly slurping…