Hakodate Shio Ramen (函館塩ラーメン)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large stockpot
• •Fine-mesh strainer lined with a clean cloth
• •Ramen noodle basket, tebo, or a deep fine-mesh strainer
• •Wooden drop-lid, otoshibuta, or a circle of parchment for chashu
• •Deep ramen bowls

Instructions

1. 1

   Blanch the bones

   Put the pork bones in a large pot, cover with cold water, and bring to a lively boil for 5 minutes. Drain, rinse the bones under warm water, and rub away any gray clots or dark patches. Wash the pot before the bones go back in. This is not fussiness. Those clots break into grit and cloud the broth, and a Hakodate shio bowl has nowhere to hide them.

   Clean bones make a clean soup. If the bones smell sour or old after blanching, don't push forward. Change the dish.
2. 2

   Simmer the soup

   Return the cleaned bones to the clean pot with the chicken wings and 2.5L cold water. Bring it up slowly, then hold it at a bare simmer for 20 minutes, skimming foam as it gathers. Add the onion, leek or scallion greens, and ginger, then simmer quietly for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. The surface should tremble, not roll. A hard boil beats fat and fine particles into the water and makes a cloudy soup, which is right for tonkotsu but not for Hakodate shio ramen.

3. 3

   Steep the dashi

   While the soup simmers, wipe the konbu with a damp cloth, but don't wash it. Put it in 1L cold water and warm it slowly over low heat. Pull the konbu when small bubbles climb the sides, just before the water boils. Bring the water to a gentle boil, add the katsuobushi all at once, turn off the heat, and leave it alone for 2 minutes. Strain through a cloth or fine-mesh strainer and let it drip naturally.

   Boiled konbu turns bitter and a little slick. Squeezed katsuobushi gives up strong oily flavors. The rule is only the shortest way to say protect the clarity.
4. 4

   Make the tare

   Measure 1/2 cup of the fresh dashi into a small pan with the sake, mirin, and sugar. Bring it just to a simmer, then stir in the salt until dissolved. This is shio-dare, salt seasoning sauce. It should taste far too salty to sip, because it will season a whole bowl of broth and noodles. Judge it in the bowl, not on the spoon.

5. 5

   Braise the chashu

   While the soup continues, put the pork shoulder or belly in a small pot with the soy sauce, sake, water, mirin, sugar, ginger, and scallion green. Bring to a gentle simmer, set a wooden drop-lid, otoshibuta, directly on the pork, and cook 75 to 90 minutes, turning every 20 minutes. No drop-lid? A circle of parchment with a small hole in the center does the same work. Let the pork cool in its liquid before slicing. Hot chashu tears; cooled chashu cuts cleanly.

6. 6

   Strain and blend

   Strain the animal soup into a clean pot without pressing on the bones or aromatics. Pressing sends sediment into the broth after you've spent hours keeping it clear. Add the remaining konbu and katsuobushi dashi, then warm the blended soup gently. You want about 2L clear broth. If it tastes thin, simmer it a little longer. If it tastes heavy, add a splash of hot water. It should have body before salt ever enters.

7. 7

   Prepare the bowls

   Warm the ramen bowls with hot water, then empty them. Slice the cooled chashu, loosen the menma, cut the nori, and set the scallions within reach. Warm bowls buy you the few seconds ramen needs, because thin noodles keep cooking after they meet the broth. This is the method, not the menu: bowl, tare, soup, noodles, toppings, each in order.

8. 8

   Boil the noodles

   Bring a large pot of unsalted water to a strong boil. Cook the fresh straight noodles until firm, usually 60 to 90 seconds, or a little less than the package says. Stir once as they enter so they don't clump. Drain hard and shake off the water. Extra water thins the tare, and overcooked noodles soften again in the bowl before you've lifted the chopsticks.

9. 9

   Build each bowl

   For each serving, add 2 tablespoons shio-dare and 1 teaspoon reserved clear fat, if using, to a warm bowl. Ladle in 350 to 400ml hot broth and stir once. Add the noodles, lift them lightly with chopsticks so they sit in a neat fold, then set on 2 slices chashu, a small cluster of menma, scallion, and one square of nori. Serve immediately. Leave the surface of the soup visible, because that clear face is the whole promise of the dish.

Chef Tips

• •Ask the butcher for fresh pork neck bones or back bones cut small, not smoked hocks. The bones should smell clean after blanching. A clear broth tells the truth about what went into it.
• •Fresh straight thin ramen noodles matter more than the brand. If dried noodles are all you can get, use proper kansui ramen noodles and cook them just shy of done. Don't use an instant seasoning packet and call it tare.
• •Keep the clean fat you skim after the broth cools. A teaspoon in the bowl carries aroma and gives the soup its small shine without clouding it.
• •Warm the bowls before assembly. A cold bowl steals heat from the broth, and thin noodles lose their firmness while you admire your own work. Admire quickly.

Advance Preparation

• •The konbu for the dashi can soak overnight in the refrigerator for a rounder, gentler stock. Warm it slowly the next day and still pull it before the water boils.
• •The animal broth can be made up to 3 days ahead. Cool it quickly in shallow containers, refrigerate, and lift off the clean fat to reserve for the bowls.
• •The shio-dare keeps 1 week refrigerated. Stir before using, and season each bowl individually rather than salting the whole pot.
• •Chashu is easier to slice after a night in its braising liquid. Keep it refrigerated up to 3 days and warm the slices briefly in a ladle of broth before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 1000g)