This post may have been a year in the making, but I've been working on this tonkotsu ramen for the better part of the last decade. In case you haven't been indoctrinated into the wonderful world of ramen, Tonkotsu broth is the Holy Grail of noodle soup broths. It's thick, creamy and nearly white in color from pork marrow bones that have been simmered to smithereens.
Given the availability of reasonably good frozen ramens, and the plethora of shops specializing in the one bowl meal, most sane people in Japan don't undertake the challenge of making ramen at home from scratch. I don't know if I'm just crazy or if it's my fearless American spirit, but at some point in college, it occurred to me that I could make the one bowl wonder that got me through many an all-nighter... from scratch.
My first attempts were pale watery excuses for ramen. Actually, they were more like noodles in pork soup. Over the years, my attempts yielded broths that were too porky, too brown, or too canned-meat tasting. Eventually, I got the soup to a place where you could pass it off as ramen to the less experienced palate (which was when I started writing this post), but it never quite nailed the nuanced balance of meat, aromatics, and body.
So how did I figure it out? During my recent trip to Japan, I had many bowls of ramen, each with its own distinct character and personality. Some used chicken stock, others included pork. I even had one ramen that was made of tuna stock. I think I was in the middle of a bowl of chicken consommé ramen with bacon, mozzarella and fried burdock on top when it occurred to me that perhaps limiting myself to a 100% pork broth wasn't the right approach for the type of stock I was trying to create.
I had another epiphany at Ramen Stadium, in Fukuoka, where I hopped from restaurant to restaurant, gorging on Tonkotsu Ramen. Many of the broths had a dark oil that I'd always assumed was sesame oil. Upon closer inspection, some of the soups revealed caramelized bits of onion that were nearly burnt. The research of Louis Camille Maillard came to mind and I realized that a lot of the nuances in the broth were not coming from the meat, but from the caramelized aromatics in the broth.
Back at home, with bags of chicken and pork bones in hand, I set to work recreating the flavors and memories while they were still fresh in my mind. And the results? Well, let's just say I won't be standing in line for hours outside Ippudo this winter. To say it's better than Ippudo's would be a stretch, but does it make your lips sticky with collagen? Yes! Does it have little creamy nibbles of pork fat floating in the broth? Certainly! Does it put a big grin on your face when the steaming bowl is set in front of you? Hell yea!
Mission accomplished.
The toppings are up to you, but I usually go with the standards like chashu, menma , woodear and scallions. If you want some chashu similar to Santouka Ramen's Toroniku, here's a recipe for my version. To give a Kagoshima flair, I finish each bowl with a drizzle of mayu (black garlic oil). It's technically burnt garlic and it's not something you'd want to eat alone, but mixed into tonkotsu ramen, it's divine!
This recipe makes enough Tonkotsu base for 6-8 bowls of ramen (depending on how much water you add), and the Tonkotsu Ramen recipe below makes 2 bowls.
Next, I need to find some kansui so I can tackle the noodle making as I'm not super happy with the noodles I get in Chinatown.
Recipe
Tonkotsu Ramen
Ingredients
- 2 pig trotters (cut in half lengthwise)
- 1.5 pounds pork leg bone (cut into several pieces)
- 1.5 pounds chicken bones
- 2 inch knob fresh ginger (sliced thin)
- 1 small head garlic (trimmed but whole)
- 1 large onion (sliced thinly)
- 1 teaspoon white peppercorns
- ¼ cup toasted sesame oil
- 5 cloves garlic grated
- 3 cups Tonkotsu base (from recipe above)
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- 1 tablespoon strained braising liquid from chashu
- 2 cloves garlic finely grated (not pressed)
- 1 - 2 teaspoons kosher salt (to taste)
- 1 teaspoon mirin
- ⅛ teaspoon ground white pepper
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds coarsely ground
- 2 tablespoons fatback finely minced (salted pork fat)
- ½ batch fresh ramen noodles
- 2 teaspoons mayu (from recipe above)
- sliced chashu
- 2 scallions finely chopped
Instructions
- Fill a pressure cooker ⅔rds of the way with water and bring to a boil. Add the pig trotters to the boiling water and cook until you stop seeing red blood come out of the bones (about 10-15 minutes). The idea is to draw out as much of the gunk as possible into this first batch of water. Transfer the trotters to a bowl of cold water then repeat with the leg bones and chicken bones (you can use the same water).
- Dump the now very dirty water down the drain and wash the pot. Scrub any dark brown scrum off all the bones and rinse them thoroughly. Return the cleaned bones to the pot and cover with water (the water should come up an inch above the top of the bones). Bring the pot to a boil and skim off any chunks or foam that floats to the surface. Keep doing this until you don't seen any more foam or scum floating up. This will take about 30 minutes.
- While the bones are going, Heat ½" of oil in a pot over medium heat and add the head of garlic and ginger. Fry this until they are browned and shriveled up. Use a slotted or wire mesh to transfer the ginger and garlic to a bowl. Add the onions to the oil and fry these until caramelized and shriveled. Add the fried onions to the ginger and garlic and set aside.
- Once the stock is scum-free, add the caramelized ginger, garlic, and onions, along with the white pepper to the stock. Affix the pressure cooker lid and cook on high pressure for 1 hour and 45 minutes. If you don't have a pressure cooker, cover with a lid and cook at a boil for 5-6 hours (you may need to check and add water periodically, the bones should be mostly covered in water).
- Once the pressure is released use tongs to remove and discard all the bones. Remove any chunks of pork and set aside for another use. Strain the stock into a bowl and skim off any excess fat.
- To make the black garlic oil, add the sesame oil into a small saucepan along with the grated garlic. Put the pan over medium low heat and let the garlic cook stirring occasionally until it is very dark brown. When the garlic is very dark, turn the heat down to low and let it cook until it is black.
- As soon as it hits black, turn off the heat and transfer the hot oil and garlic to a heatproof bowl. Let this mixture cool down completely. Add the cooled oil to a blender or food processor and blitz until there are no visible garlic particles left and the oil is uniformly black.
- It will taste burnt and slightly bitter, but this is okay as you only add a little bit to each bowl. Put it the oil in a container and refrigerate until you are ready to use it.
- Heat the tonkotsu base in a sauce pan. In a bowl whisk together the tahini, chashu liquid, grated garlic, salt, mirin and white pepper. Add this to the hot broth and whisk to combine. Taste and adjust salt as needed. Bring to a simmer, then add the sesame seeds and pork fat and whisk to combine.
- Split the cooked noodles between two bowls. Pour the tonkotsu soup over the noodles. Top with chashu, scallions and whatever else you want to add. Finish the ramen with a drizzle of mayu on each bowl.
Notes
- To get the creamy white soup it's important that you use pork leg bones and the trotters. The white color comes from the marrow and collagen in these parts. Using other types of pork bones such as ribs or neck bones will not give your soup the richness or color.
- Don't omit the fatback (salted pork fat). Most of the fat from the stock gets skimmed out, and the fat added at the last minute is what gives the soup it's rich "sticky" quality. By whisking small bits of minced fatback in at the end, you create an emulsion of soup and fat, so it makes the soup nice and creamy without being greasy. If you're having a hard time finding it, try asking for it at a butcher.
- The onions should be a deep brown, but they should not be burnt, if they are browning unevenly, turn the heat down, so they brown more slowly.
- Tahini is not the same as toasted sesame paste. It should be light beige in color and have a thick pourable consistency. If your grocery store doesn't carry it, try finding a Middle Eastern or Indian grocery store. I use a brand called "Al Wadi" that comes in a plastic container with a green label and lid and has a relatively mellow flavor. If you can't get tahini you can also grind your own sesame seeds until you have something resembling runny peanut butter.
- Salt has different levels of salinity depending on the type and brand. Even amongst kosher salt, Morton's for example is much more salty than Diamond Crystal (which I use). Most recipes deliberately go low on the amount of salt you should use so you don't accidentally over salt your dish. If you feel like it needs more salt, by all means, add more salt.
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Marc Matsumoto says
It's called menma. They're bamboo shoots that have been preserved in salt, and are prepared by first soaking in water to remove the excess salt, then you just season them with dashi, mirin, and soy sauce and cook.
nmlcr says
Do you know how to get those wonderful tender bamboo shoots that is traditional with ramen? Is there a Japanese name for it?
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Rob, it's a generic pressure cooker, so I'm honestly not sure what brand it is, but it looks vaguely like this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000717AU/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0000717AU&linkCode=as2&tag=japandirectand I think it's 6 quarts. You may want to get a bigger one though as I'm always wishing I could fit a little more into it (since you can't fill a pressure cooker to the top.
Rob says
Hey Marc! Love your site. I'm going to try your ramen recipe but I need to get a pressure cooker. What brand and size pressure cooker do you use?
Thanks,
Rob
Marilia says
Marc, did you try Ichiran ramen when you were in Fukuoka?? I've been trying to find somewhere that did a Tonkotsu ramen as good as that for years. How would you compare it to yours??
(am in New York next week on holiday, so am really looking forward to trying the Tonkotsu ramen at Ippudo...)
junyang chen says
Great recipe, got the white creaminess on my 3rd attempt. Secret is that one can never chop the Fatback(i used fresh pork hard fat) small enough. I blended it in a blender with home made tahini and it looks like extra creamy but runny-ier chowder.
thanks from singapore!
Marilia says
This is by far the best English language tonkotsu training piece one can find anywhere. My second time trying the recipe, I decided to lightly roast the bones in the oven, I did this after the initial boil and cleansing. To my delight I was able to achieve SUPER WHITE broth within the first two hours. I know some French techniques call for roasting bones to impart color, but most I have seen and used also call for tomato paste, flour, and blackened onions. I truly believe a simple dry roasting of bones without any additives gets the broth to white. How? I have no clue.
Thanks so much for working on this recipe. Great work!
Marc Matsumoto says
Sure! Use the Tonkotsu base and make this instead: https://norecipes.com/blog/kimchi-ramyeon-recipe/
I actually like it better than regular old tonkotsu ramen.
Kimchi says
Just made this and its sooo yummy! Thank you so much for the recipe. I once ate a Tonkotsu ramen that was super spicy - do you by any chance know how to make a spicy sauce as an add on to the ramen?
Lo says
OK, 3 hours in, and it's looking great. I actually added in another foot for good measure, too. Thanks for still replying to this thread after so long!
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Lo, how long have you boiled the stock for after cleaning? If you're not using a pressure cooking it will take 6 hours, and the broth won't get really creamy until towards the end. Also, did you substitute any of the bones (i.e. did you use pork leg + hock + chicken)?
Kimchi says
Just made this and its sooo yummy! Thank you so much for the recipe. I once ate a Tonkotsu ramen that was super spicy - do you by any chance know how to make a spicy sauce as an add on to the ramen?
Lo says
Hey is it possible to scrub the bones too much? Because my second boil didn't result in the thick, opaque broth I'm supposed to get. It's very cloudy with collagen, but it's not a creamy white. I'll see how it looks after simmering for 5 hours...
Catherine Hollick says
Thanks for this wonderful recipe Mark! My friends loved the ramen and chasu 🙂
Marc Matsumoto says
This makes enough for about 5-6 bowls of soup, so you should double this recipe. You'll also want to double (or triple) the chashu recipe depending on how much meat you want to put on each bowl of ramen.
Catherine Hollick says
I am going to attempt to make this recipe this Friday/Saturday, however, I am cooking for 10 guests... In terms of quantities in the ramen and chasu, which ingredients will need more? Thank you! 🙂
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Dave, I've never tried dropping just the skin in, but the that's the reason for the trotters in this soup. They're the most collagen rich cut of pork because of the skin and all the connective tissue and cartilage in them.
Dave says
Marc, Have you ever just dropped a small piece of pig skin with fat into a soup? I slipped one into a chicken stock I was making and I got the white 'fat' or collagen floating, after skimming, and also when I poured the soup out of the pot cold into containers, there were little mountains of white fat dotting the bottom of the pan. Read about this from the cookbook "Bones". So now I keep 3" squares of pig skin in the freezer to drop into soups. Adds the unctuousness to almost anything. Let me know what you think
bernardhsu says
You can cook Tori Ramen (Chicken Ramen) instead of Tonkotsu Ramen then... Marc actually had made this Tori Ramen recipe
https://norecipes.com/blog/chicken-ramen-recipe/
Marc Matsumoto says
Thanks Gina, I'm glad you liked it! Yep, I was on Grill it a few years ago, but they're always playing reruns:-)
Gina says
finally had the time to make it..it's a lot of work (am no expert chef) but it turned out awesome!! thanks so much, marc! my husband (who was also missing ippudo ramen) loved it so much he asked me to make it again soon (o-oh!) i think i saw you guesting at bobby flay's "grilling it..." show too? wow im one huge fan now! 😀
Anthony M says
Marc, thanks for the response. Guess I do have good stock then...yippee. The tahini brand I'd use is named Sadaf; 100% pure sesame. I'm certain the bitter taste was my fault. I think I did not stir the tahini well enough before adding to the stock. I'd just tried again and it's no longer bitter.
Marty says
Bookmarked! - Mos def gonna try this one weekend!
Marc Matsumoto says
Sorry to hear you're having problems. When you're not using a pressure cooker, the stock will evaporate and you need to add water, but it's really strange that you only ended up with 4 cups of stock using a pressure cooker. You should be able to add some water to the stock to thin it out. The gelatin consistency is a good thing. It means that you got a lot of collagen out of the cartilage and connective tissue and is what gives the stock richness. The soup should not taste bitter though. What brand of tahini did you use?
Anthony M says
Browsed this recipe on and off for the past 3 months. Ordered a pressure cooker and gave it a try this past weekend. Firstly, after the long cooking process I ended up with only about 4 cups; when I put it in the fridge, it was a texture of gelo. The stock was a bit dark but from reading comments below, this is expectecd till the tahini is added. I added the tahini and the color was lighter but not as pictured on this site. The worst part was that the soup tasted bitter 🙁 I tasted the tahini "as is" and it was bitter. I've never had tahini before so is it suppose to be bitter?
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Austin, the fatback is kind of along the lines of adding butter to a French style sauce at the very end. It adds body and richness that's a little different from the richness that comes from cooking the marrow fat for hours, so I would keep the two separate. As for cooking the bones, it should be at a constant strong simmer/low boil (not a rolling boil, not a gentle simmer) as it needs the agitation to keep the fat emulsified with the stock. If you use a pressure cooker, this will happen automatically, but if you're using a pot, you'll need to adjust the temperature and add water as it evaporates. You'll also need to triple the cooking time.
Austin872 says
Thanks for the reply Marc!
Guess I was too meticulous 🙂 i'll refrain from cleaning out the marrow next time and simply brush around the bone! do you recommend cooking the fatback (or fat in my case) as the bones are cooking to get some of that creaminess early on?
Also, while the bones are cooking should I have it on a constant rolling boil or the lowest setting?
It does help Marc, i'll have plenty more questions, but i'm not allowed back in the kitchen for a while since I apparently wasted a good 10 hours of gas 🙂
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Austin, thanks for the note! I guess there is a such thing as being too thorough:-) The soup being watery was most likely due to removing all the marrow. The fat (from the marrow) emulsifying with the water while boiling is what gives tonkotsu its rich flavor and cloudy color. It's good that you removed the blood, but next time leave the marrow. It should have still been pretty rich though from the collagen coming out of the hocks though so I'm not sure what happened there. As for the pork fat, I've never tried with unsalted pork fat, but it should still melt if you cut it fine enough. If you're having trouble getting it small, try freezing the fat first. Each piece of fat should be around 1/16" of an inch in diameter (i.e. it needs to be finely minced). I hope that helps!
Austin872 says
Hi Marc,
Stupid me, while cleaning the bones I decided to use a chopstick to clean out any red stuff, which includes the marrow in the bones, was this a bad idea?
Actually I know it was a bad idea because the broth ended up watery and brown, is this because i cleaned out the marrow in the bones? Also, it didnt particularly taste like tonkotsu, it was more like one of those pork hock stews 🙁
In the end, I also had trouble with melting down the pork fat, I couldnt find salted fatback so I just got mine fresh, have you got any tips in this area?
Marc Matsumoto says
While many things benefit from low and slow cooking, ramen stock is not one of them. The simmering action helps keep the fat and stock emulsified, creating the creamy soup. If the heat is too low, the fat will just render out and float to the top and you'll get a brown soup at the bottom.
Gina says
Hi Marc! Thanks so much for this recipe! I miss ipuddo's ramen in Japan I will definitely try this out! Can I use a slow cooker instead of a pressure cooker?
yurfavmistake says
OMG this was the best ramen I've ever made
yurfavmistake says
OMG this was the best ramen I've ever made
ami says
thanks so much for sharing. reading your recipes makes me want to try it out too. although the process looks difficult, as long as the end result is good, i don't mind the work. your blog is great!
Yogicfoodie says
Hi again Marc,
I finally was able to put together the ramen last night. Needless to say, my two toddlers and hubby gobbled up (two bowls each!) and requested that we have it again tonight.
Thank you so much for your wonderful recipe. I was able to follow it precisely and everything turned out just as it should be. (I did soak & drained the bones and trotter in the cold water for about half a day to get the blood out before cooking.) Everyone dug in before I was able to take any pictures. I'm gonna try again tonight.
Since I didn't dare making the noodles from scratch, I ended up using thin wanton noodles (egg noodles) instead.
So glad I made the double batch of the broth. This was one of my most labor intensive cooking I've done in a while and it was totally worth it!
Now my dreaming days Ippudo ramen is over. I'm so glad I found your website and will be visiting often soon!
Your mapo tofu recipe is calling me~~ I haven't had it since grade school back in Korea, and I haven't found a recipe that I fell in love with yet. T.T
Thank you so so much!
Marc Matsumoto says
The photo is of the finished soup (including tahini and fat, which lighten the color of the soup), so your base should be a darker color. As for the frying oil, I usually keep it and use it to saute veggies etc in it. It does retain the flavor of the things you fried in it and adds some great flavor to other foods. The mayu should keep for a few months if you put it in a sealed container in the fridge, but you'll be surprised at how useful it is as an additive to other foods (add to soups, stews, dressings, marinades or toss with pasta with parmesan cheese) and it probably won't last that long.
Marc Matsumoto says
Glad to hear you enjoyed it! I guess cooking it without a lid would lead to more liquid evaporating, so the soup would concentrate faster than cooking it with a lid (though with less stock at the end). I'll give it a try next time. as for the color, the photos are all of the soup after the tahini and fat have been added, which lighten the color of the soup. One of these days I'll take a photo of the base stock, which should be a beige color.
Yogicfoodie says
Hi again Marc,
Thank you so much! My stock is all done and cooling down at this moment.
I guess i didn't skim off enough fat. The color came out a bit darker than the photo above and there about 1/8' of fat layer at the top. I'll remove it once it's completely cooled.
Gotta make mayu tonight.
A question for you. Is there anything I can do with the oil I caramelized the veg. with?
It reminded me of extra virgin olive oil I infuse with basil or other herbs, but I wasn't sure if this veggi oil will be usable. It certainly smells nice though..
Also, how long can I keep mayu in the fridge before its fragrance is effected?
Thank you so much Marc, I'll take a pic. of a bowl tomorrow dinner!
mono says
Hi Marc,
I tried this and it worked out pretty well. The dough was painful to process, but once I managed to thin the stubborn thing enough to be cut by the Spaghetti attachment, the noodles were great! Next time I won't use a cover for the stock though. I don't normally use a cover when I make Chinese chicken&pork stock, this time I did and it turned out to be much less creamy/sticky, which was unexpected because for my normal stock I use mostly chicken parts (about 1kg necks 1kg carcasses and wings) and about 3/4kg cut trotters. Much less bone & marrow than I used here (1kg cut pork bones, 1kg chicken carcasses, 2 lengthwise cut trotters), and still the stock ended up much less creamy, even though I'm normally cooking my Chinese stock for only about 2h. So I think it was because of cooking it with a lid, at least it felt like this when I was cooking. Another question, how did you up with the whiteish color? Adding caramelized garlic and onion immediately turned my stock brown, as expected. Not a problem at all, I didn't expect it to be any different but I'm curious as it looks nice! Chashu was really nice too, good idea to use cheeks, using spareribs tonight (the fact that I'm having the same Ramen 2 days in a row shows you they turned out really well 🙂 )
mono says
Hi Marc,
I tried this and it worked out pretty well. The dough was painful to process, but once I managed to thin the stubborn thing enough to be cut by the Spaghetti attachment, the noodles were great! Next time I won't use a cover for the stock though. I don't normally use a cover when I make Chinese chicken&pork stock, this time I did and it turned out to be much less creamy/sticky, which was unexpected because for my normal stock I use mostly chicken parts (about 1kg necks 1kg carcasses and wings) and about 3/4kg cut trotters. Much less bone & marrow than I used here (1kg cut pork bones, 1kg chicken carcasses, 2 lengthwise cut trotters), and still the stock ended up much less creamy, even though I'm normally cooking my Chinese stock for only about 2h. So I think it was because of cooking it with a lid, at least it felt like this when I was cooking. Another question, how did you up with the whiteish color? Adding caramelized garlic and onion immediately turned my stock brown, as expected. Not a problem at all, I didn't expect it to be any different but I'm curious as it looks nice! Chashu was really nice too, good idea to use cheeks, using spareribs tonight (the fact that I'm having the same Ramen 2 days in a row shows you they turned out really well 🙂 )
Marc Matsumoto says
Doubling the recipe should not increase the cooking time provided the bones are still cut to the same size. For the garlic, I just mean to trim off the stem and root part, the head should still be more or less whole and the individual cloves should not be peeled. You can kind of see it in the bottom right corner of the picture of the veggies frying. Good luck!
Marc Matsumoto says
Honestly, I think 20 hours is excessive. Basically at the point the bones are crumbling you're not going to get any more flavor out of them. Also, I've found that over cooking the stock makes it taste like canned meat. If you're using trotters and leg bones, you should be able to get a good stock at the specified length of time (triple if you're not using a pressure cooker).
As for the fatback, fresh should be fine. Just make sure it's minced very small so it renders quickly and emulsifies with the soup.
Regarding the chashu, if you're findiing it's still tough because of fat and connective tissue (i.e. gristle), it will benefit from cooking longer. If it's tough and starting to dry out (i.e. no fat left and no connective tissue), it's because of the cut of meat didn't have enough fat to begin with and cooking it longer will only make it tougher.
Hope that helps!
Mugen says
Hi Marc,
A lot of people cook ramen soup for very long hours like 20hours or even longer.
Do you think cook the bones longer the better it taste?
And I just want to make sure about the salted fat back.
I couldn't find salted fat back, but I get the fat back directly from my butcher (fresh not salted).
Does it make any different?
Last question: the chashu I made still don't have the feeling like melting in the mouth.
I cook the chashu for one hour and 20 minutes. Do you think 2hours cook can make it softer?
Thank you.
Yogicfoodie says
Hi again Marc,
I am on a quest to make my replica of Ippudo ramen. After having it everyday for a week, and now am back at home, away from my addiction pot, gotta make my own.
(I think they must pour in some magic dust in their broth or something...)
Chashu is done, my trotters are being defrosted in the fridge, and I'll be picking up the chicken bones and the pork leg bones from my butcher shop tomorrow.
I've read your recipies above and one for the miso ramen at least ten times, and am so dying to make this.
Couple of questions for you...
If I'm doubling the recipe, how long should I cook for? 10 hrs. or is it longer the better?
When you say 1 small head garlic trimmed but whole, you mean 1 head of garlic peeled, and trimmed, but not smashed or sliced, am I correct?
I don't mean to be nit-picky, but I MUST succeed, a failure is not an option this time!
I'll let you know how this turns out.
Jeff says
Hi Marc. Thank you for this site and thank you for this recipe. I'd been wandering in the wilderness creating flat, uninspired, brown soup which lacked the essence of what makes ramen delicious. When I read your recipe, I got really excited and got to work on assembling the ingredients.
I followed the recipe very closely (which I never do)and took it slow. It turned out AWESOME (and was even better the next day!)
I invited my Japanese ex-pat workmate over to try it and it went over super well.
The only thing that proved daunting was that the pork cheeks I picked up still had the skin on them. It was difficult to get them trimmed up an thus the chasu in the soup was a bit fatty.
I can't wait to give it another try.
Yogicfoodie says
Hi again Marc,
I am on a quest to make my replica of Ippudo ramen. After having it everyday for a week, and now am back at home, away from my addiction pot, gotta make my own.
(I think they must pour in some magic dust in their broth or something...)
Chashu is done, my trotters are being defrosted in the fridge, and I'll be picking up the chicken bones and the pork leg bones from my butcher shop tomorrow.
I've read your recipies above and one for the miso ramen at least ten times, and am so dying to make this.
Couple of questions for you...
If I'm doubling the recipe, how long should I cook for? 10 hrs. or is it longer the better?
When you say 1 small head garlic trimmed but whole, you mean 1 head of garlic peeled, and trimmed, but not smashed or sliced, am I correct?
I don't mean to be nit-picky, but I MUST succeed, a failure is not an option this time!
I'll let you know how this turns out.
Jeff says
Hi Marc. Thank you for this site and thank you for this recipe. I'd been wandering in the wilderness creating flat, uninspired, brown soup which lacked the essence of what makes ramen delicious. When I read your recipe, I got really excited and got to work on assembling the ingredients.
I followed the recipe very closely (which I never do)and took it slow. It turned out AWESOME (and was even better the next day!)
I invited my Japanese ex-pat workmate over to try it and it went over super well.
The only thing that proved daunting was that the pork cheeks I picked up still had the skin on them. It was difficult to get them trimmed up an thus the chasu in the soup was a bit fatty.
I can't wait to give it another try.
Thomas Abraham says
OMG...I finally found an authentic ramen receipe. This is just amazing.
Marilia says
OMG...I finally found an authentic ramen receipe. This is just amazing.
Rikke Rorbak says
Hi again, Mark!
Just wanted to let you know that my Japanese friend were VERY happy to eat the tonkotsu I made!I will do that again, for sure!Thanks so much!