Hakata Tonkotsu Ramen (博多豚骨ラーメン)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large heavy stockpot, 10 to 12 liters
• •Coarse strainer and fine-mesh strainer
• •Ramen noodle basket (tebo), or a spider strainer
• •Kitchen twine for chāshū
• •Small saucepan for tare

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the bones

   Put the pork bones and trotters in a large stockpot or basin and cover them with cold water. Soak for 1 hour, changing the water once if it turns very red. This draws out loose blood before the heat sets it onto the bones, which keeps the finished broth rich without that stale iron smell.

   Fresh bones should smell clean and faintly sweet, never sour. If the bones smell old, change the dish. No boil will make tired pork honest.
2. 2

   Blanch and scrub

   Drain the bones, return them to the pot, cover with fresh water, and bring to a strong boil for 15 minutes. The water will turn gray and foamy. Drain everything, rinse the bones under running water, and scrub off any dark clots with your fingers or a small spoon. Wash the pot too. This is the unpretty work that gives you a clean-tasting white broth later.

3. 3

   Boil the broth

   Return the cleaned bones and trotters to the clean pot and add 5 to 6 liters of fresh water, enough to cover them well. Bring to a hard rolling boil and keep it there, uncovered or partly covered, for 8 hours. Add boiling water as needed to keep the bones mostly submerged. A quiet simmer will not do the job here. The rolling boil breaks fat and gelatin into the liquid, turning the broth from thin and tan to cloudy ivory.

   Listen to the pot. It should roll steadily, not merely tremble at the edges. Tonkotsu becomes white because the broth is moving.
4. 4

   Add aromatics

   If using onion, garlic, and ginger, add them for the last 2 hours of boiling. They round the pork smell without taking over the bowl. Add them too early and they collapse into sweetness and mud; late is enough. Stir the pot now and then, and press softened trotters gently against the side so their gelatin joins the broth.

5. 5

   Strain and reboil

   When the broth is opaque, ivory-white, and slightly sticky on your lips, strain it through a coarse strainer, then through a fine strainer. Don't force bone grit through. You should have about 2.5 to 3 liters. Bring the strained broth back to a strong boil for 10 minutes before serving or chilling. This pulls the emulsion together again, which is why a reheated tonkotsu pot should look alive before it reaches the bowl.

6. 6

   Make the tare

   While the broth cooks, make the tare, the concentrated seasoning base. Boil the sake and mirin for 1 minute to soften the alcohol edge. Add the usukuchi shōyu, koikuchi shōyu, sea salt, and konbu, then warm gently until small bubbles gather at the edge. Pull out the konbu before the liquid boils. Add the katsuobushi off the heat and let it settle for 5 minutes, then strain without squeezing. The tare should taste too salty by itself because it is meant to season a whole bowl of unsalted broth.

7. 7

   Braise the chāshū

   Tie the pork belly into a roll, or tie the shoulder into a compact shape. Put it in a pot with the shōyu, sake, mirin, sugar, water, scallion greens, and ginger. Simmer gently for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, turning every 30 minutes, until a skewer slides in with little resistance. Chill the pork in its braising liquid until firm. Cold chāshū slices cleanly and thinly; warm pork tears, and the knife has done no seasoning at all.

8. 8

   Prepare toppings

   Soak the kikurage until pliable, then shred it into thin strips. Slice the scallions finely and cut the chilled chāshū into thin rounds. Set out beni shōga, sesame, and karashi takana if using. Keep the toppings modest. Hakata ramen is not a mountain of decoration; the broth and noodles must still speak.

9. 9

   Cook the noodles

   Bring a large pot of unsalted water to a rolling boil. Warm each ramen bowl, then add 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons tare to each bowl. Boil the thin noodles for 45 to 60 seconds, aiming for katamen, firm noodles. Drain hard and immediately put the noodles into the seasoned bowls. Thin Hakata noodles keep cooking in the broth, so pull them before they feel soft in the pot.

10. 10

    Build each bowl

    Ladle about 350ml of boiling-hot tonkotsu broth into each bowl over the tare and stir once. Add the drained noodles and lift them lightly with chopsticks so they lie straight, not clumped. Lay on three thin slices of chāshū, a small tuft of kikurage, scallions, sesame, and a little beni shōga. Serve at once. Ramen waits for no one, which is one of its less negotiable manners.

11. 11

    Offer kaedama

    For kaedama, boil a small extra portion of noodles for 30 to 45 seconds, drain hard, and add it to the remaining broth in the bowl. Add a spoonful of tare if the soup tastes weak after the refill. The idea is plain and good: the broth still has work to do, so give it more noodles.

Chef Tips

• •Ask the butcher for fresh pork bones and split trotters, and ask when they were cut. Sourcing first, always. The long boil magnifies whatever you put in the pot.
• •Do not season the pork broth while it cooks. The broth is the body, the tare is the salt and edge. Keeping them separate lets every bowl be adjusted without turning the whole pot too salty.
• •A ramen noodle basket, or tebo, makes draining fast. A spider strainer works if you shake the noodles well. Water clinging to the noodles thins the broth, and after twelve hours that would be a small tragedy.
• •Fresh thin straight noodles are the Hakata answer. Dried noodles can make dinner, but don't pretend they are the same thing; the snap of low-hydration fresh noodles is part of the bowl.
• •If the chilled broth separates, don't panic. Bring it back to a hard boil and whisk it for a minute. Tonkotsu is an emulsion, and it remembers itself when the pot moves.

Advance Preparation

• •The tonkotsu broth can be made up to 2 days ahead. Chill it, keep the fat cap, and boil it hard before serving so the broth turns creamy again.
• •The tare keeps for 2 weeks refrigerated. It will taste fierce on its own, as it should.
• •Chāshū is best made a day ahead and chilled in its braising liquid. Slice it cold, then warm the slices briefly in hot broth before serving.
• •Prepare kikurage and scallions the day of serving. Cook noodles only at the last moment, including kaedama.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 700g)