Book review: Ramen Forever by Tim Anderson

Tim Anderson burst onto the culinary scene after winning MasterChef in 2011, partly, he says, due to the truffled lobster gyoza ramen he made for the final.

His eighth cookbook, Ramen Forever starts by introducing the complicated and slurpy Japanese staple through his ‘ramen manifesto’, clearly explaining how ramen must consist of a specific type of noodle characterised by the alkaline salts known as kansui – use rice or egg noodles at your peril!

Despite being no noodle novice, having studied regional noodle cultures in Japan and opening a ramen izakaya restaurant in London (which sadly closed in 2021), he calls writing this book an “impossible task”. That said, Anderson does an incredible job of deftly diving into the five key elements that make up a bowl of ramen – the broth, tare, noodles, oil and toppings – as well as walking the reader through ajitsuke tamago (a ramen egg with that iconic rich and jammy yolk).

Whether a professional chef or home cook, there is much detail on equipment and ingredients along with tips and tricks to improve your ramen game – as well as encouragement to keep soldiering on when a bowl of broth and its various accompaniments don’t go quite to plan (it rarely does, he notes).

He expertly covers the classics, including the ever-comforting tonkotsu ramen, tantanmen and tsukemen, as well as providing recipes with inventive twists, such as Christmas turkey ramen with pickled cranberries or leftover Nando’s ramen, which uses the fast-food restaurant’s chicken livers and corn on the cob to make an innovative topping. Another recipe points out that clams make a delicious dashi, which can be combined with butter and tinned sweetcorn to make a speedy dish out of minimal ingredients, while a ‘Nothing Special’ ramen is made from storecupboard ingredients, ready for when cravings strike.

What is clear is that achieving the perfect bowl of ramen is a life-long quest, but for those who fancy giving it a go, Ramen Forever is a great place to start.

Ramen Forever by Tim Anderson (Hardie Grant, £26)