A Ramen That Merges Japan and the South
The New York Times
Once thought of as a byproduct of collard greens, brothy, complex potlikker takes on new life as a wonderful base for a Japanese staple.
During a recent lunch service at Ramen by Ra, a five-seat stall on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the chef Rasheeda Purdie hummed along to jazz streaming out of a small speaker as she moved through the restaurant’s tiny kitchen.
Behind her, shoyu-flavored broth simmered away alongside a less common sight at a ramen shop: a pot of long-cooked collard greens, its liquid used as the base for her potlikker ramen.
Potlikker ramen, also called “collard green ramen” or “soul food ramen,” isn’t a new dish — the chef Todd Richards features a version in his 2018 cookbook “Soul.” But it’s now garnering a following on TikTok and at Ramen by Ra, where reservations book up months in advance.
Ms. Purdie’s version is made with Hawaiian Sun Noodles, her favorite brand, and topped with chopped greens and shredded, smoked turkey meat, all delicately placed into the bowl with the precision of a surgeon. It also includes a soy-marinated halved egg, with the soft, bright-yellow yolk adding richness to the broth.
