Tonkotsu Ramen
This Tonkotsu is the real deal, after many batches and test runs, this broth is it.
The perfect richness and creaminess one desires in a bowl of tonkotsu ramen.
This broth requires 8-12 hours of cooking, so plan out your day accordingly. There isn’t a ton of active cooking time, most of the process is monitoring your broth.
Just gather your ingredients and boil away!
The smell will inhabit your home, and might even have your neighbors drooling.
Do your best to keep the broth at a continuous boil (with a lid, slightly ajar) throughout the entire process! I know that goes against every French technique of slow simmering stocks, but this Japanese technique is essential for emulsifying the fats and producing that creamy broth.
The pork belly chasu is traditionally served with tonkotsu ramen, but if you’d like a leaner meat, substitute pork loin, or even chicken, for a slightly lighter bowl. Having leftover pork belly is never a bad thing, I promise you’ll find a use for it!
The broth will be ultra rich, velvety and creamy. Having a coat-your-mouth feel that resembles a thin gravy.
My ideal toppings are pork belly, soft boiled egg (recipe below), menma (fermented bamboo shoots), scallions, sliced nori (dried seaweed sheets used for sushi), and enoki mushrooms.
Customize your bowl to your liking! Sub roasted chicken thighs for pork belly, add corn, use sesame or chili oil, your bowl; your choice!
***
If you’re reading this recipe…
and wondering “where the heck am I gonna find this stuff?”
Check out your local Asian Mart or Asian Grocery Store, they will have all of these standard Japanese ingredients!
***
Yield: 3-4 Quarts
Prep Time: 1 hour active (12+ hours boiling)
INGREDIENTS:
Broth:
10 lbs pig trotters (feet), skin on, ideally sliced crosswise into disks
2 chicken carcasses
1 lb pork fatback, fresh not salted
2 bunch green onion (white part only, save greens for garnish)
2 leeks
1 lb shiitake/cremini Mushrooms
4 inch knob ginger
2 yellow onions
8 cloves garlic, peeled
water to cover
Toppings:
Tare: ‘Ramen Seasoning’
Combine all ingredients:
1 cup dashi (recipe below)
3/4 cup soy sauce
2/3 cup mirin
1/4 cup braising liquid from pork chasu (optional)
To make dashi:
Combine (3) 2-inch pieces kombu, 1/2 cup (packed) bonito flakes, 1 cup water in a medium sauce pot, bring to a simmer, remove from heat and strain.
** I use 1/2 cup Tare per 1 Pint Broth, add more or less depending on your desired salt level
Soft Boiled Egg:
Bring medium pot of water to boil over high heat. Once boiling reduce heat to a slow simmer, add eggs and cook for 6 minutes.
After 6 minutes, rinse eggs under cold water under sink, cracking the shells to allow water to penetrate. Gently peel eggs and slice in half, if desired.
Cooked Ramen Noodles
Thin Sliced Green Onion (green parts only)
Enoki Mushrooms
Menma (Bamboo)
Pork Belly Chasu (recipe directions below)
Nori
ESSENTIAL! Before you start! Tips and Tricks!
Blanching the pork and chicken bones and rinsing them of coagulated blood and other impurities ensures the final result is pale and creamy. If you skip this step the broth will be a deep dark brown.
Once you bring your bones to a boil, you’ll see what I mean, all the impurities will rise to the surface. After boiling for 10 minutes, dump the entire pot into the sink. Thoroughly rinse (under cold water) and scrub away any dark particles of blood, meat residue, or organs. Anything that isn’t white or beige colored needs to be rinsed off.
Charring the aromatics (ginger, garlic, onion) adds a depth in flavor and complexity to the broth.
Be sure to monitor your broth when it first begin simmering, after 15 minutes establish a safe rolling-boil.
Keep the lid on the pot whenever you aren’t checking the status of your broth. Keeping the lid on helps emulsify the fat and collagen that releases from the bones.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Broth:
**Special Equipment Required: Large Stock Pot with Lid, Fine Mesh Strainer
Add pig trotters and chicken carcasses to a large stock pot. Fill with water until it covers 2 inches above the bones. Bring up to a rolling boil for 10 minutes. Skim foam that forms on the top with a mesh strainer and discard.
After boiling 10 minutes, dump entire pot of bones and water into your (cleaned) kitchen sink. Rinse bones under cold water and thoroughly clean any dark colored bits of blood, organs, or marrow. You want to remove anything that isn’t white/beige colored that could discolor the broth. Using your hands, rub and rinse off all scum from bones, clean stock pot, and return rinsed bones to the pot.
Next, prepare your aromatics to add to the pot.
Peel onions, and garlic, then chop into large 1-2 inch chunks. Chop ginger into the same size large chunks. (no need to peel ginger)
Heat a large sauté pan over high heat, and add 1 Tbsp oil. Once pan is hot and nearly smoking; add chopped onions, garlic, and ginger. Char until blackened on all sides, tossing occasionally to obtain an even blackened color. Once fully charred, add to stock pot with rinsed bones.
Chop leeks into 1 inch pieces, rinse under water, and add to stock pot.
Add mushrooms, green onion bottoms (white parts), and pork fatback to pot.
Once all ingredients have been added to pot, add cold water, enough to fully cover the entire contents of pot. Place lid on pot, just slightly cracked, to allow some steam to escape and help to prevent evaporation. Heat to a boil, over high heat. Once broth is rapidly boiling, lower temperature so it maintains a steady rolling boil.
After the first four hours of boiling, remove the pork fatback, and set aside in the fridge to cool.
Continue boiling for a total of 12 hours, with the lid on, and slightly cracked. Stirring pot every now and then (once an hour or so) to prevent pork from resting at the bottom. Throughout the process, if the broth level lowers below the bones, add water to top off as needed.
At the end of your 12 hour boiling process, you should aim to have 4 quarts (1 gallon) of broth. Carefully strain stock through a fine mesh strainer. Discard solids.
Very finely chop the pork fatback that you removed after 4 hours of boiling. Chop enough to produce 1 cup, and add it directly into the finished broth.
Serve hot, with your desired toppings and condiments. When serving, add 1-3 tbsp of Tare to the base of each bowl, prior to pouring in broth. This seasons the broth.
Pork Belly Chasu:
**Special Equipment Required: Kitchen Twine
INGREDIENTS:
2 lb slab of boneless pork belly, skin-on
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 cup sake
1 cup mirin
1/2 cup sugar
1 bunch scallions, rough chopped
5 whole garlic cloves, peeled
One 2-inch knob ginger, rough sliced
1 whole shallot, sliced in half, peeled
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit.
Lay pork belly on cutting board and roll up lengthwise, with skin facing out.
Using butchers twine, tightly tie and secure pork belly in three separate sections.
In a large pot or dutch oven (something large enough to hold pork belly, with lid on) heat 1 cup water, soy sauce, sake, mirin, sugar, scallions, garlic, ginger, and shallot over high heat until boiling. Add pork belly (it won’t be submerged, don’t fret) . Cover with a lid, loosely ajar, to allow some steam to escape. Transfer to oven and cook, turning occasionally, until pork is fully tender (about 3-4 hours). To check doneness, insert a cake tester, or thin knife into the center, the knife should meet little resistance as its entered. This easily inserted cake tester, or knife tells you the pork is tender and fully cooked to perfection.
Transfer contents of pot to container and allow to fully cool.
When broth is ready, and you are serving the ramen, remove pork belly from braising liquid and strain. Slice pork belly into thin rounds.
Reheat the pork belly slices in the soup broth with other accompaniments. Alternatively, sear off slices of pork chasu in a sauté pan, crisping one side for texture.
