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The ULTIMATE Tonkotsu Ramen

This recipe is probably the best one i've tried to date. I found this a long time ago deep within reddit by a user callled (funny enough) RamenLord.

Tonkotsu Ramen is a dish that originates from a place called Fukuoka. The key to this flavoursome dish is the pork broth and is something that a lot of recipes online get wrong. This recipe here will produce a broth with the right colour, right texture, right flavour and the best experience. Just a warning, the broth will take 18 hours to make BUT the best part is that you can store these in the freezer and reheat anytime you want a delicious broth.

  • Honest Prep Time: 5-10 Minutes
  • Total Down Time: 18 Hours
  • Assembly: 5 Minute
  • Level Of Difficulty: Medium

Ingredients

For The Broth

  • 400g of pork bones (left over femur and neck bones)
  • 360g of fat back

For The Tare – Fish

  • Five 7.5 x 7.5cm square cubes of kombu
  • 1-2 cups of water
  • 3/4 cup of dried niboshi
  • 1 Tb of sesame oil
  • 1 cup of loosely packed bonito

For The Tare – Soy

  • 1/4 cup Sake
  • 1/4 cup Mirin
  • 1 cup soy sauce
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 cup of loosely packed bonito

Toppings

  • Soft boiled egg
  • Charsu
  • Green onion
  • Woodear mushroom

I recommend you buy the noodles.

Instructions

For The Broth
  1. Before any cooking, soak the bones in cold water in a large, non-reactive vessel, for at least 6 hours, and up to 24 hours. (I use a large plastic container).
  2. The night before you want your broth ready, drain the bones, add them to a pot with fresh water covering them by 2 inches, and bring to a boil over high heat.
  3. Drop the heat to medium, and blanch the bones, at a simmer, for 15-30 minutes, or until little to no scum rises.
  4. Strain the bones again, and scrub away any black material, such as coagulated blood, from the bones and pot.
  5. Return the bones to the pot. Add fresh water, and add in the fatback. If doing the night before, bring this to a boil, then down to the lowest setting on your stove, and cover. Then go to bed. If not, continue to step 7.
  6. In the morning, bring the pot back up to a full boil, then back down to the lowest setting possible to mantain that jostling boil while covered. (For me, this is medium on my stove)
  7. Depending on when you started cooking, continue to boil the broth for 12-18 hours, or until desired consistency and color is reached, meat has completely separated and broken down in the broth, and fatback pieces have mostly melted. Optionally, you can stir every 1-2 hours just to check up on things and promote more churning. Please feel free to add back water if the level gets too low.
  8. Once cooked to your liking, strain the broth, discarding the solids, and reserve broth until needed over low heat. This broth keeps for around a week in the fridge.
  For The Tare
  1. Cover the kombu with water enough to cover. Let sit overnight, or at least 3 hours, in the fridge.
  2. When ready, add sesame oil to a medium sauce pan over medium heat.
  3. When oil is shimmering, toss in the niboshi, sauteeing in the oil for 40 seconds to a minute, or until brown and fragrant. Try not to get this too hot, as bitter flavors might develop if the fish is overheated.
  4. Add the kombu and kombu’s soaking liquid. Bring to 176 degrees (shoutouts to Ivan Orkin for this temp).
  5. Remove the kombu, add the bonito, and steep the niboshi and bonito in this liquid at 176 for 10 minutes.
  6. Strain broth, and reserve while making soy base.
  7. In the pot, add in the mirin and sake, and cook at a boil to remove the alcohol, around 5 minutes.
  8. Add in the soy sauce, and bring to 176 again. Let sit at this temp for a few minutes to concentrate.
  9. Add in an equal part of the fish broth made earlier. Season with salt until quite salty (like, to the point that you’d go “WOW this is almost too salty for me to handle, but damn it’s nice)
 

Meal Swapper

  • 900g of fresh white fish (Sea Bass and Halibut are the traditional options)
  • A bag of limes (enough lime juice to soak the fish twice)
  • 1 Tb of chopped red hot pepper
  • 1/2 cup of red bell pepper / capsicum
  • 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup of fresh cilantro
  • Salt to taste
  • 900g of fresh white fish (Sea Bass and Halibut are the traditional options)
  • A bag of limes (enough lime juice to soak the fish twice)
  • 1 Tb of chopped red hot pepper
  • 1/2 cup of red bell pepper / capsicum
  • 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup of fresh cilantro
  • Salt to taste
  • 900g of fresh white fish (Sea Bass and Halibut are the traditional options)
  • A bag of limes (enough lime juice to soak the fish twice)
  • 1 Tb of chopped red hot pepper
  • 1/2 cup of red bell pepper / capsicum
  • 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup of fresh cilantro
  • Salt to taste
  • 900g of fresh white fish (Sea Bass and Halibut are the traditional options)
  • A bag of limes (enough lime juice to soak the fish twice)
  • 1 Tb of chopped red hot pepper
  • 1/2 cup of red bell pepper / capsicum
  • 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup of fresh cilantro
  • Salt to taste
  • 900g of fresh white fish (Sea Bass and Halibut are the traditional options)
  • A bag of limes (enough lime juice to soak the fish twice)
  • 1 Tb of chopped red hot pepper
  • 1/2 cup of red bell pepper / capsicum
  • 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup of fresh cilantro
  • Salt to taste

Your Advisor

The only ingredient with enough calories worth tracking is the fish. Feel free to use more or less of the other ingredients.

I would recommend having fish 2-3 times per week.