🇯🇵 Japan · Japanese
Tonkotsu Ramen
A twelve-hour pork bone broth, chashu belly and a jammy ajitama. The full project — worth clearing a Sunday for.
- Time
- 12 hr
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- hard
- Rating
- 4.8 (962)
- high-protein
Why this dish works
Tonkotsu came out of Kurume in 1937, reportedly by accident when a cook let the pot boil too hard. The violent boil is now the entire point: it emulsifies collagen and marrow into an opaque, creamy broth.
Method
- 1
Blanch the bones
Cover the bones with cold water, bring to a hard boil for 15 minutes, then drain and scrub every bone clean. This is what keeps the broth white rather than grey.
- 2
Boil hard
Return to the pot with fresh water and boil aggressively for 10–12 hours, topping up to keep the bones submerged. Do not let it settle to a simmer.
- 3
Braise the chashu
Braise the rolled belly in soy, mirin and a ladle of broth for 2 hours, then chill before slicing.
- 4
Marinate the eggs
Boil the eggs 6 minutes 30 seconds, ice, peel, then steep in the chashu braising liquid overnight.
- 5
Assemble fast
Tare in the bowl, boiling broth over, noodles cooked to the second, then toppings. Ramen waits for nobody.
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