Ramen Style Beef Tortellini, Spiced Beef Consommé, Chili Crunch Soy Marinated Egg

I love tortellini, and I love ramen. So, here we are.

This dish is so incredibly savory, rich in flavor but not heavy, it’s light, satisfying, and packed with the umami-punch any good ramen dish should have. The filling is quite addicting (like I turned my leftovers into meatballs and ate all of them while cooking this dish), and I give most of the credit to the Collected Foods Umami Spice Blend I used. It brought such a great and needed umami-punch to round out the spiced broth and rich egg tortellini.

I used an egg-rich dough for 2 reasons: I wasn’t planning on adding the chili crunch marinated egg at first so it was meant to give the “eggy-ness” of ramen, and also because I find it to be the best dough for ravioli/tortellini — any filled dough for that matter.

Consommé is essentially a clarified and flavored stock, so while it looks beautifully translucent and light, it’s so much richer, smoother, and more flavorful than stock or broth. I love this one particularly, because it’s salty and deep, but the ginger, garlic, and chilis balance out the warming spices and lighten up the overall savoryness of the dish.

While this dish is time-intensive, it can easily and preferably be broken up into days. You can make the consommé up to 3 days in advance and the pasta dough/eggs 1 day in advance. I personally find pasta dough so much easier to roll out by hand if it’s made a day in advance. Just make sure to pull out the dough about an hour before rolling it out to soften it up.

The time this dish takes is worth it, if I do say so myself.

Ramen Style Beef Tortellini with Spiced Beef Consommé, Chili Crunch Soy Marinated Eggs, and Crispy Mushrooms

Serves 6 large or 10-12 small portions, with leftover pasta dough scraps and filling

Spiced Beef Consommé

• 1 lb. ground beef

• 4 quarts beef stock

• 6 egg whites

• 2 roma tomatos, diced

• 1 large onion, 2 large carrots, 3 celery stalks, roughly chopped

• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed

• 5 pieces whole allspice

• 6 cloves

• 6 small red chilis

• 1-inch knob ginger

• 1-2 tbs. light soy sauce (regular soy sauce can be used but will create a foggier/darker consommé)

• Salt, to taste (can sub for more soy)

Using a food processor, chop up the onion, carrot, and onion until they are a rough mince. Add in the egg whites, tomatoes, and ground beef. Add to a tall pot with the cold stock, large enough to fit everything, and mix well. Bring to a simmer without touching it to create the “raft,” all of the meat mixture coming to the top. Use a ladle to create a well in the middle of the raft. Simmer for 1 hour, occasionally ladling the liquid from the well, or “chimney,” over the raft to rotate the liquid and keep the raft moist. Strain through a cheesecloth lined strainer. Place back on the stovetop with the allspice, cloves, chilis, and ginger. Simmer for 30 minutes. Let cool completely with the aromatics in it. Taste, add soy sauce and salt to taste. Keep the aromatics in it as you refrigerate it, if desired for a stronger taste. Refrigerate the mixture until the fat solidifies at the top. Once ready to use, scoop the solidified fat off the top to remove it, remove aromatics, and reheat the mixture before serving. You can make this up to 3 days in advance.

Chili Crunch Soy Marinated Eggs

• 4 eggs - soft boil 6 minutes

• 2 tbs. soy sauce

• 3 tbs. chili crisp

• 2 tsp. sesame oil

• 1/2 tsp. fish sauce

Bring a pot of water to a boil and gently place the eggs in the water. Boil for 6 minutes exactly. Remove and place into an ice bath immediately for 5 minutes. Gently crack each egg once to make a small crack and place them back in the ice bath — this will help peel them easily. In the meantime, place all other ingredients in a saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil. Keep on a simmer until ready to marinate. After bringing the mixture to a boil, peel all the eggs completely (gently!) and place into a container. Pour the hot marinade over the eggs. Let the eggs cool to room temp and then close the container and place in the fridge. Rotate the eggs after an hour. Keep the eggs in the marinade until ready to use, up to 1 day in advance.

Tortellini Egg Rich Dough

• 12 egg yolks (use yolks from leftover

• 2 whole eggs

• 16 oz. flour

• 2 tsp. salt

• 2 tbs. milk

• 1 tbs. olive oil

Mix the flour and salt together well in a large bowl. Create a well in the middle of the bowl and add all the eggs, milk, and oil. Use a fork to beat just the eggs, then slowly beat in the flour until a crumby mixture forms. Use your hands to mix it together more before turning it over to a clean surface and kneading with your hands until a smooth dough is formed and the dough bounces back after gently pressing a finger in it.

Lightly rub with oil, wrap in plastic wrap or place in a plastic bag and let rest for 1 hour and up to 1 day in the fridge. Make the filling (recipe below) before doing the next step.

Cut the dough into 4-6 pieces, whichever is easiest to work with. Using a pasta machine to get thin sheets for tortellini following your machine’s instructions. If you don’t have a machine, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough until it is almost paper thin and somewhat translucent but without any rips. Use a 3-inch diameter glass to cut as many circles out of the dough as you can. Place 1 tsp. of fillling in the middle of each circle. Use a finger to put water around the edges of the dough. Fold the dough over and press firmly to connect the two “sides,” making sure there are no air gaps in the filling. Fold the two corners over to connect them with slight overlap to create the tortellini shape. Place on a sheet try to dry slightly, about 15-20 minutes.

Right before serving: Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Boil tortellini until they float to the top plus an additional 2-3 minutes to ensure the dough is cooked through and the meat is cooked. Test one before removing them all.

Tortellini Filling

• 1 lb. ground beef

• 1 tbs. Umami seasoning

• 1 tsp. cracked black pepper

• 1 egg, beaten

• 1 tsp. soy sauce

• 1/4 cup scallions, minced

• 1 tbs. garlic, minced

• 1 tsp. fresh ginger, minced (optional)

Mix all ingredients together until just combined. Test the filling for seasoning by frying off one in a skillet. Adjust seasoning if needed. Use in the dough recipe above as indicated. You can turn any leftover filling into meatballs and bake at 375ºF until cooked through.

Crispy Mushrooms

• Maitake or shitake mushrooms

• Cornstarch

• Salt/pepper

• Canola oil

Heat oil in pan deep enough to fry the mushrooms. Gently clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel to remove any dirt. Cut them into bite-sized pieces. Toss in a cornstarch, salt, and pepper mixture to coat lightly. Fry immediately until golden brown. Remove to a rack or paper towel-lined sheet try and salt immediately.

To assemble: Place tortellini in the bottom of a bowl, set the fried mushroom on top of the tortellini so that it doesn’t get soggy. Ladle the hot consommé around the tortellini. Garnish with scallions and the chili crunch soy marinated egg (halved or quartered).