The Kyuri Kup with Shiso Furikake Rim
Chapter 5 — Drinks & Desserts
Restaurant-style ramen is an endurance sport. The eighteen-hour rolling boil, the heavy emulsion of pork fat, the alkaline snap of the noodle—these elements coat your palate in an impenetrable layer of umami. To survive the bowl, you need a reset button. In an authentic American ramen shop, that reset is a highly acidic, freezing cold beverage. This sake-based cucumber-yuzu lemonade serves exactly that purpose, but the real genius lies on the rim: a violently tart, savory crust of homemade red shiso furikake. Don't insult the hours you spent on your tonkotsu by skipping the rim.
Before you start
Massage half of the 20 grams of kosher salt aggressively into the dried shiso leaves to extract the dark, bitter liquid, then squeeze dry.
This dark liquid is the 'aku' or astringency; discard it completely.
Repeat the vigorous massage with the remaining 10 grams of salt, squeeze the leaves bone-dry, and discard the second round of liquid.
Pour the umezu over the squeezed leaves and massage gently until they react and turn a brilliant crimson, then cover and let sit for one hour.
Spread the leaves in a single layer on a parchment-lined tray and dry in a sunny window for two to three days until completely brittle.
If you live in a humid climate, dry them in an oven set to its lowest possible temperature (around 170°F) for 1 to 2 hours, checking constantly.
Grind the bone-dry leaves coarsely in a food processor or mortar, then stir in the remaining two teaspoons of kosher salt.
Do not process it to a fine dust; leave some texture for aromatic integrity. Store in an airtight jar.
Ingredients
- fresh red shiso leaves200 g
- kosher salt20 g
- umezu60 ml
- kosher salt2 tsp
- Japanese cucumber1/2 med
- simple syrup1 1/2 oz
- fresh lemon juice1 oz
- fresh lime juice1 oz
- yuzu juice1/2 oz
- sake4 oz
- fresh cucumber slices2 small
Method
- 01
Run a lime wedge around the lip of two chilled rocks glasses and press them firmly into a plate of your homemade shiso furikake.
- 02
Muddle the chopped cucumber and simple syrup aggressively in a cocktail shaker to extract the botanical juices.
- 03
Add the lemon juice, lime juice, yuzu juice, and sake to the shaker, fill completely with ice, and shake violently for 15 seconds.
The violent agitation is just as important as the rolling boil of your tonkotsu—it chills the liquid to the bone and slightly dilutes the aggressive acids.
- 04
Double-strain the cocktail through a Hawthorne strainer and a fine-mesh sieve into the rimmed glasses filled with large ice cubes.
- 05
Garnish with a fresh cucumber slice and serve immediately alongside your ramen.
Notes
Sourcing fresh red shiso requires vigilance; it makes a brief appearance at Japanese markets around June and July.
If fresh shiso is absolutely impossible to find, mix store-bought commercial Yukari with coarse kosher salt for the rim.
It will lack the profound tartness of the homemade version, but it serves the structural purpose in an emergency.