Tokushima Ramen (徳島ラーメン)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large heavy stockpot
• •Fine-mesh strainer lined with a clean cloth
• •Wide pan
• •Wooden drop-lid (otoshibuta), or a circle of parchment
• •Deep ramen bowls

Instructions

1. 1

   Blanch the bones

   Put the pork bones in a stockpot, cover with cold water, bring to a hard boil, and cook for 5 minutes. Drain, rinse the bones under running water, and scrub away any dark clots. This little bath is not fussiness. It removes the blood and gray scum that would make a sweet shōyu broth taste muddy before the tare even has a chance.

   Clean bones give you a broth with pork body and a clear edge. The dark color should come from soy, not from tired scum.
2. 2

   Simmer the stock

   Return the bones to the clean pot with 10 cups cold water, the onion, garlic, 3 ginger slices, and scallion greens. Bring just to a boil, lower to a steady simmer, and cook for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, skimming during the first 30 minutes and adding water if the bones peek above the surface. You want body from pork, not heaviness. A steady simmer pulls collagen and sweetness without beating the stock into a dull froth. Strain and reserve 6 cups.

3. 3

   Make clear dashi

   While the pork stock simmers, wipe the konbu with a damp cloth, but don't wash it. Put it in 4 cups cold water and bring it up slowly over low heat until the water trembles and small bubbles climb the sides, about 10 minutes. Lift out the konbu before the water boils, because boiled kelp turns bitter and slick. Bring the water to a gentle boil, add the katsuobushi all at once, turn off the heat, and leave it alone for 2 to 3 minutes. Strain through a cloth and let it drip on its own. Don't squeeze, or the strong oily flavors in the flakes will cloud the clean stock you just made. Reserve 3 cups.

   The dashi keeps the pork from becoming flat and heavy. It is the quiet floor under the dark broth.
4. 4

   Cook the pork

   In a wide pan, combine the shōyu, mirin, sake, sugar, 1/2 cup pork stock or water, and 2 ginger slices. Bring to a simmer, add the pork belly one slice at a time, and nudge it under the surface. Lay an otoshibuta, a wooden drop-lid, directly on top, or use a circle of parchment. Simmer 10 to 12 minutes, just until the pork is tender, glossy, and still supple. The drop-lid keeps the slices under the seasoning without stirring, and stirring tears thin pork. Lift the pork into a dish and keep it warm.

5. 5

   Finish the tare

   Simmer the pork cooking liquid uncovered for 3 to 5 minutes, then strain out the ginger. Taste one small spoonful. It should be too strong to drink, sweet, salty, and dark, because tare is not soup. It is the seasoning base that will carry a whole bowl. If it tastes harsh, add a spoonful of dashi. If it tastes timid, simmer it a minute longer.

6. 6

   Set the soup

   Combine 6 cups pork stock and 3 cups dashi in a pot and warm it until the surface shines and the broth is very hot. Don't season this pot heavily. The tare goes into each bowl, which lets you control the salt and darkness instead of trapping yourself with one over-seasoned pot. The soup should taste round but quiet before the tare meets it.

7. 7

   Prepare toppings

   Blanch the bean sprouts in boiling water for 30 seconds, drain well, and spread them on a towel. Slice the scallions thinly and have the menma ready. Wet toppings dilute the first mouthful, so let the sprouts dry a little. A ramen bowl is crowded by nature, but it should still look composed, not buried.

8. 8

   Boil the noodles

   Warm the ramen bowls with hot water, then empty them. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and cook the fresh noodles until firm at the center, usually 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Do not salt the water. Drain hard, because cooking water thins the soup and dulls the tare. Noodles are the last thing you cook because they wait for no one, a stern little teacher.

9. 9

   Build each bowl

   Add 2 to 2 1/2 tablespoons tare to each warm bowl. Ladle in about 1 3/4 cups hot soup and stir once, then add the noodles and lift them lightly with chopsticks so they settle without clumping. Arrange 3 or 4 folds of pork belly, a small mound of bean sprouts, menma, and scallion over the noodles. Crack one raw egg into the center at the table, using only eggs sold for raw use or pasteurized shell eggs. If those are not available, use a soft onsen egg and say plainly that it is a sensible stand-in. Stirred into the dark broth, the egg rounds the salt and glosses the noodles. Serve with rice beside it.

Chef Tips

• •Buy thinly sliced pork belly from a Japanese or Korean market if you can, the cut sold for shabu-shabu is just right. If you have a slab, freeze it until firm and slice it thinly. The right cut cooks tender before the soy turns harsh.
• •The bowl should be dark from tare, not from extra salt. Start each bowl with 2 tablespoons, taste the first one, then add more only if the broth needs it. Soy is a seasoning, not a dare.
• •Use eggs meant for raw eating, or pasteurized shell eggs. The hot broth will warm the egg but not fully cook it, and honesty at the stove includes honesty about safety.
• •Serve rice beside the bowl. In Tokushima, that is not a foreign thought. The sweet pork, raw egg, and dark broth make the rice feel almost inevitable.

Advance Preparation

• •The pork stock can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated. Keep the fat cap if you like a richer bowl, or lift some away for a cleaner one.
• •The dashi can be made 1 day ahead and kept chilled. Reheat it gently with the pork stock before serving.
• •The pork belly and tare can be made 2 days ahead. Reheat the pork gently in a spoonful of tare so the slices stay supple and glossy.
• •Cook the noodles only at the last moment. Ramen noodles lose their spring quickly once boiled.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 950g)