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Tonkotsu Ramen 🍜

A deep and intense pork broth that needs a full day of boiling for ideal results.
Prep Time1 hour
Boiling time8 hours
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Japanese
Servings: 4 bowls

Equipment

  • 1 very large pot with a lid
  • 1 large mesh strainer for straining the broth
  • 1 additional medium to large pot for straining the broth into
  • 1 fine-mesh skimmer

Ingredients

Broth

  • 1.5 kg pork bones legs or back
  • 600 g pork hock with skin
  • 3 l water
  • 1 head garlic
  • 1 knob ginger large

Dashi

  • 500 ml water
  • 1 sheet kombu
  • 2 shiitake mushrooms dried
  • 5 dried anchovies or some katsuobushi

Tare

  • 2 tbsp sake
  • 2 tbsp mirin
  • 4 tbsp soy sauce light
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 1 sheet kombu
  • 25 g salt

Seasonings

  • 1 onion medium
  • 2 green onions
  • 10 g katsuobushi
  • 2 tbsp sake
  • 2 tbsp rice vinegar

Instructions

Make the broth

  • Rinse the bones and pork hock under running water.
  • Soak them in a bowl of water for a total of 15 minutes, replacing the water completely every 5 minutes.
  • Peel the outermost layer off your head of garlic, then cut the entire head in half crosswise.
  • Slice the ginger into thin slices. No need to peel.
  • Place the cleaned bones, garlic, and ginger into a very large pot and add 3 liters of water. The ingredients should be fully submerged.
  • Set to high heat and keep the lid off for now.
  • Once it boils, reduce the heat to medium-high and keep at a rolling boil.
  • Remove the scum using a fine-mesh skimmer. You'll need to do this multiple times (over the first half hour or so) before it stops gathering at the surface.
  • The broth takes about 8 hours from here on out, but you need to check back regularly. Make sure that the broth is boiling (not just simmering) for a majority of that time.
  • Once about 40% of the liquid has evaporated, cover the pot with a lid and turn the heat down a little. If you overshoot, you can top up with some water until the bones are fully covered again (but try to avoid this).
  • Start the dashi cold brew (next steps) right after you started the broth. The tare and additional seasonings don't need to be ready until the 8 hours are up.

Cold brew the dashi

  • Add the kombu, dried shiitake mushrooms, dried anchovies, and 500 ml of water to a small bowl.
  • Keep at room temperature while your soup stock boils.

Make the tare

  • Combine sake, mirin, soy sauce, kombu, and water in a small pot.
  • Set to medium heat. Once it simmers, reduce to low and keep simmering for 3-4 minutes.
  • Add the salt and stir well until it's fully dissolved.
  • Set aside at room temperature.

Prepare seasonings

  • Cut the onion in half and slice off the root end. No need to peel.
  • Also cut the green onions in half crosswise.

Combine everything

  • After the 8 hours are up, remove the lid. Make sure it's at a rolling boil throughout the remaining steps.
  • Add the halved onion and green onions, rice vinegar, and sake to the pot.
  • Take the shiitake mushrooms and anchovies out of your dashi cold brew and add them to the broth.
  • Add 10 g katsuobushi and keep boiling for 30 minutes.
  • Now add the dashi liquid (without the kombu) to the pot and boil for another 30 minutes.
  • Careful not to let too much liquid evaporate. You want about 450 ml of broth per bowl (1.8 l for 4 servings), so put the lid back on the pot for the remaining time once you're in that ballpark.

Strain the broth

  • I recommend putting your ramen bowls as well as the prepared toppings into the oven now and setting it to 75°C so they're all warm and ready to go in time.
  • Take out another medium to large pot to strain the broth into and place a large mesh strainer on top.
  • Take the solids out of the broth and squeeze them on the strainer (e.g. using a spatula) in order to extract the liquid into the new pot. Do this in small batches.
  • Finally, pour the broth through the strainer, and squeeze any remaining solids that get caught in it.

Assemble

  • Heat up the desired amount of broth servings (450 ml per person) in a pot and keep at a low simmer.
  • Bring salted water to a boil for your noodles. I recommend keeping the servings separate by using one pot per serving.
  • Take out the bowls and add 1 tbsp tare to each one.
  • Add 450 ml of broth to each bowl.
  • Boil your fresh ramen noodles. I recommend staggering them by a minute so they're not done exactly at once.
  • Carefully add a serving of noodles to each bowl. If you want a nicer presentation, pull them out of the broth from the middle using chopsticks, then lay them down to the side so they're aligned in one direction.
  • Add the ramen toppings of your choice and serve immediately.