Recently, “The Ramen Girl” featuring the late Brittany Murphy has become one of my favorite “food” movies of all time. It’s just a lovely, fun movie about love, life and Japanese ramen. For those who are not familiar, “ramen” is a Japanese noodle dish. It is served in a meat or fish-based broth, often flavored with soy sauce or miso, and uses toppings such as sliced pork, dried seaweed, kamaboko, green onions, and occasionally corn. Almost every locality in Japan has its own variation of ramen, from the tonkotsu (pork bone broth) ramen of Kyūshū to the miso ramen of Hokkaidō.

Not that I’m about to tell you that I cooked ramen, lol. I was just inspired by this movie to cook a large pot of soup and create my own broth. I also tried my best to “cook from the heart” … and felt kinda silly at first doing it, but eventually when tasting the final result of my slow-cooked broth, I’m pretty sure I felt something deeply emotional inside. Most comforting feeling of satisfaction. It warmed me up. And I felt a surge of happiness inside. It’s all about the broth… 🙂

To start off, I poured 2L of chicken stock (or vegetable stock) over a whole chicken and a few pieces of pork spareribs, 2 large onions chopped in half, and a tablespoon of chopped garlic. Let this simmer for approx. 1 hour.