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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Alexander Nicholas Tripodi says
Yeah, they were all fresh ingredients. That's why I'm puzzled. It may be the garlic that's throwing me off. However, I'm using an 8qt pot with two leg bones and two smaller shoulder bones. I'm thinking i've used too many bones and have made my broth too greasy? I haven't added the other ingredients to finish off the broth yet since I'm only 4 hrs into simmering the bones. I've mellowed out the flavour a bit using chicken stock (unsalted) and a couple spring onions. Maybe next time, I should just stick to making a plain broth and adding all ingredients an hour or two before the soup is served?
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Alexander, I'm not sure what would make your soup sour. The aromatics shouldn't cause that. Have you tried tasting them separate from the soup to see if they are sour?
Alexander Nicholas Tripodi says
Hey Marc,
I was reading over this post and I've been experimenting with ramen for quite sometime. I've used trotters, leg bones and the such but my broth always ends up tasting...strange to say the least. It's usually when I add the onion, garlic, and ginger that my broth tends to taste a bit acidic and sour....I cook for 4 people so I use a regular sized pot. I've made the mistake of using too many bones, so last time I made my broth I used fewer ( a lot less actually), and my broth still had that weird taste. Now I'm finally using leg bones and the such and it STILL has that weird, tangy taste. the weight of the bones came out to be 1320 g or so. Do you know what could be wrong?
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi J, by "adding back fat" do you mean the excess fat that you skimmed off? You could certainly add some back in, but it will probably make your soup greasy since you're adding fatback to make the soup.
J says
One more thing, Marc. Do you advice adding back fat to the recipe? Because I saw, I think at seriouseats, that he used back fat. If I used back fat, what will happen to my soup? And what is the exact amount of water should I use and add during the process?
J says
Thank you so much, Marc, for answering. I appreciate it. 🙂 I hope I can cook this perfectly like you did! 🙂
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi J,
1. Yep, use a pressure cooker, otherwise it will take forever. As for a slow cooker I've never done it but I wouldn't recommend it. Tonkotsu needs to be boiled to keep the fat emulsified, otherwise all the fat will separate out and you're soup won't be as rich.
2. No, I just used a fine mesh strainer, but you could use a cheese cloth if you want.
3. You could, but given the amount of effort to make this, it's better to make a lot and freeze the extra.
4. It freezes fine, just drop the block of frozen broth in a pot, cover and reheat to bring it back to life. Shelf life will depend on your freezer. It will never spoil in the freezer, but freezer burn will become a problem after a few months especially in regular home freezers.
J says
Hi, Marc. I just want to ask you a lot of questions.
1. Can I use a pressure cooker in cooking the bones? How about a slow cooker?
2. Did you use cheese cloth after you cooked the soup base to remove any impurities?
3. Can I reduce the ingredients into half, so that I can yield half the soup, too? (Because there's just the two of use eating the ramen.)
4. If not, how to stock in the freezer? What container should I use? And how long is the shelf life in the freezer?
5. How do you reheat it?
Thank you in advance. 🙂
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Robert, since the tonkotsu base has no salt it will not have any taste, however it should not be flavorless (it should have the flavor of the ingredients in it pork, onions, ginger, garlic). What color was the liquid, did you try and mix it with the ingredients for the soup?
Robert says
Is the Tonkotsu Ramen base supposed to be flavorless? I followed your recipe and All I have is a flavorless liquid with a slight fatty aftertaste. Now this is my first time making bone broth so I easily could have done something wrong. Do you have any advice?
Oh, just so you know I don't have a pressure cooker so I used the pot method you mentioned. Plus listening to advice on another site I am currently reducing the broth to see if that helps any. but seeing as there is essentially no taste now I am not hopeful.
So hoping you can help me(and my currently disappointed family).
Marc Matsumoto says
Looks good! Glad to hear you enjoyed!
Pablo says
Marc, thanks for this amazing recipe. I made myself the tonkotsu ramen + toroniku chasu + noodles today. It was incredible! For a moment I thought I was sitting in Santouka's Shinjuku branch. I had to use minced bacon fat instead of the fatback, and it still blended in nicely. Here's' the photo; extremely bad plating but who cares, it did not last long. Thanks
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Andy, I don't know what Ippudo puts into their red sauce, but if I were to try and make it at home, I'd probably start with tobanjan, and blend it together with crispy fried garlic, black garlic (the fermented kind), and konbu extract. There's actually a product here in japan called Akakouji (made by Kayanoya) that would work better than tobanjan, but I don't think you'll be able to find it in the US.
Andy says
I just had a great bowl of Akamaru Modern Ramen at Ippudo. Do you know whats in that red ball they call Umami Dama in the middle of the soup? It taste a little bit like kochujang to me.
Matt V says
You sir, are a mad person with the bravado to post a ramen recipe online. I recently started to tackle Japanese ramen with enough know how to look at your recipe and say it is a winner. I'll def try some of your ideas.
Just wanted to shout out, making good ramen at home isn't impossible. Master the soup part of it, and then play around with what you like. Fresh grated ginger and garlic go a long way.
Marc, my holy grail of ramen is a black sesame tan tan men. forget the tahini for this one, get the chinese or Japanese sesame paste, it has been cooked and brings a smokey flavor tahini doesn't have. Drop a table spoon in the bowl to your tan tan men and give me a shout.
Just made your mayu recipe............ got all the soup and tare and finsihing lined up for a bad ass Tonkostu bowl in a day or so........
cheers.......
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Hummel, I usually get the butcher to cut them axially. Cutting them lengthwise will expose too much marrow, making all the fat render out in the washing phase. As for scrubbing, you want to pick away any clumps of blood that form near the marrow, but you want to leave the marrow in the bone for making the stock.
Hummel says
Hi Marc. Question, the bones that you get, how do you get the butcher to cut them? Lengthwise (so each piece is entire leg cut in half) or axially(long bone into smaller several smaller but round pieces). When you scrub the bones, do you scrub the inside marrow as well or do you leave those in place?
Marc Matsumoto says
Click the link to get my chashu recipe. As the miso, miso should never be boiled as it will make it separate.
iamthetruther8 says
Can I add mizo to the soup while it is boiling? Where can I buy chashu (pork)?
Akyra says
Hi I have been trying at this recipe and have gotten the base to where when you taste it leaves a nice little taste of the fat on your lips, but the broth does not seem as creamy. Any tips? Should I add more fat?
Marc Matsumoto says
It depends on evaporation and how much of the base you're left with when it's done. You should have about 10-12 cups.
Victor says
This recipe looks great! I can't wait to try it. I was wondering though if additional water needs to be added to the soup base before serving with the ramen or is the base served as is? Thanks Marc!
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Stewart, I'd definitely reduce the stock a bit. As for other things to use it for. When I made a batch of this, I usually just divide it up and freeze it that way I have some on hand whenever I have a ramen craving. You could also use it for just about any soup/stew or sauce like you would chicken stock.
Stewart says
Hi,
I just made the tonkotsu ramen broth from your recipe, and I have about 15 cups of broth. My first question is whether you would recommend that I boil that down to 10-12. My second question is whether you had any recommendations for soups to use this broth. I'm not sure I can eat 10 bowls of ramen before the base goes. Thank you!
Andy says
Wow great tips! It's so hard to learn about Ramen and I'm so happy to find someone who has lots of experience, and is actually Japanese! Recently more recipes are coming out. Ivan Ramen has a book and Momofuku has Broth version 2 online at Lucky Peach. It's interesting that he now grinds his dried shitake mushrooms into a powder to get more flavor.
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Andy sorry for the slow response, you caught me during a move. So the bones typically have some meat, connective tissue and cartilage attached as well as marrow. The marrow adds fat and richness to the broth, the connective tissue and cartilage turns into collagen and the meat gives the soup flavor. I would not recommend grinding the bones as the bones will never completely disintegrate no matter how long you cook it and you'll end up with a gritty texture. Also, lately I've been using liquid from making chashu (with pork belly) to add additional flavor to my tonkotsu broth, so that may be a better route than wasting a whole shoulder on the broth.
Andy says
It's cold out so I'm on my Ramen making quest! Curious about your thoughts about using Pork shoulder. According to Serious Eats, bones don't have flavor. If that's true, whats the point of using pork bones or trotters? Is it because you want the marrow? Pork shoulder has lots of collagen and good pork flavor too.
Marc Matsumoto says
Hahaha, haven't turned it into a recipe yet, but check out my chicken ramen post. It's pretty close to my current process for tonkotsu, except instead of chicken carcasses, I use pork leg bones. The seasonings are a little different (I add a ton of ground sesame to my tonkotsu, and I add some fatback at the end), but the soup base is pretty close. Also on the topping I make my mayu with black garlic and caramelized garlic instead of burnt garlic like I used to.
Andy says
Any hints or tips for your new formula? Looking forward to it!!
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Kris, roasting the bones will add complexity to the flavor of the broth and can be quite nice for pork stocks, but it will make your broth brown and because a lot of the fat will render out during roasting your soup will not be creamy.
Kris says
Would it be possible to roast the bones first? I've seen it done this way and wonder how it would change the broth.
Andy says
Oh wow! I would love to hear about your new formula! It's that time of year for Ramen experimenting!
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Andy, nice catch. The difference is that this recipe is much older than the chicken one. I have a new formula for tonkotsu ramen that I've been wanting to share but just haven't gotten around to it. Using kombu in the stock is one of the changes.
Andy says
First of all I tried your Tonkotsu recipe and it's awesome! Curious about your thoughts about using Kombu for Tonkotsu Ramen. In your Chicken Ramen recipe you use Kombu. For your Tonkotsu Ramen you do not. Is it because Tonkotsu has a heavier taste?
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Umai, the reason there doesn't seem to be much fat in the soup is because it's emulsified in the soup, but there is actually quite a bit (this is what makes it creamy). The extra fatback is just adding a bit more richness at the end (kind of like adding cream to a soup at the very end). You could certainly add it earlier, but I think you'll see it's different. As for the garlic I mean black garlic (not black beans). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_garlic_(food) it's sweet, mellow and ridiculously full of umami.
Umai says
Do you mean fermented black bean instead of fermented black garlic?
Umai says
Thank you for your reply! The bones do not produce much fat and does not require skimming. Would I therefore have similar results if I simmered the fatback with the bones during the broth creation phase instead of blending it in the end?
By the way, I prefer this version to Ippudo which is too salty for me!
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Umai, the fat will not totally melt, but it should release a fair amount of fat, making the broth creamy. This is why it's important to mince the fat very small. As for Ippudo's umamidama, it's been a while since I've had it so I can't remember exactly what it tasted like. If I were going to make something like this though, I"d probably start with tobanjan, and blend it together with crispy fried garlic, black garlic (the fermented kind), and kombu sal
Umai says
I used 2 pork : 1 chicken bones and added a dashi bag. I omitted the chicken bones previously, but the broth seems to have more flavor and texture with chicken bones. I whisked minced fatback in the boiling broth but it did not dissolve. Why? I had to use a blender.
Do you know how to make Ippudo's secret "Umami Dama" miso paste in their Akamaru Modern ramen? It looks like a mix of toubanjan and tomatoes but doesn't taste like it.
My broth was already light colored, but became white as milk after adding sesame paste. It was very creamy.
Kaem says
I jUst made it two days ago, it as realy good! I'm so impressed with your recipe 🙂 I made it last Tuesday and heated it up tonight, the soup and chasu pork taste so much better!! I can't fine sake here in Melbourne, so I only used chinese cooking wine instead, it turned out awesome 🙂 🙂
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Hai C, it could be the onions or it could be that the bones you used didn't have enough marrow, but honestly if the soup tasted good, you shouldn't stress too much about the color, even in Japan tonkotsu broth is rarely perfectly white. Also, when you add the other ingredients the broth should get lighter in color. Hope that helps!
Hai C says
Hello Marc, apologies if this question has already been posted. I tried searching, but could not find...
In any case, I have made this recipe 3x and I was only able to get the milky tonkotsu consistency during my first run, even though I've use the same bone/ratios on each run. On the last run, I was so excited because I started to see milkiness in the broth before I put on the lid, but the broth turned out brown again.
Besides having the wrong type of bones, could anything give the broth a brown color? Only thing I'm thinking right now, is perhaps burnt onions? Because, mine were closer to burnt than golden on the last run.
Thanks for the recipe!
Marc Matsumoto says
I've actually never been to tenkaippin, but here's my kotteri chicken ramen: https://norecipes.com/recipe/chicken-ramen-recipe/ it's pretty rich and lately I've been making a lot more than this tonkotsu because it's a lot faster.
Paul Beveridge says
I've been reading up a lot of japanese sites on how to make tenkaippin kotteri ramen, have you ever tried making this? thanks!
Marc Matsumoto says
Awesome! I'll add that one to the list to try out too. As for Tantanmen, I do one based on this tonkotsu broth with extra tahini, and then I top it with meat and sauce (no tofu) from my mabo tofu https://www.pbs.org/food/recipes/mapo-tofu/ Then I finish with scallions and extra Sichuan pepper and doubanjiang.
Paul Beveridge says
It's sooooo good!! i recently returned to UK after living in Tokyo for 10 years, and I think that and 武道家 (Budouka) in Waseda were my two favorites.
Also, do you have a recipe for tantanmen?
Thank you!!!
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Paul, it's so funny that you mention that place, I was just looking at their site and wanting to try it out. While I haven't been to that one, I have been to a place that does kogashi miso in Sapporo though and it tastes great. That place usually wok fries ground pork with some aromatics, adds the miso and then torches it with a massive blowtorch.
Paul Beveridge says
Also thanks for posting all of this. I can't wait to start experimenting.
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Daniel, getting the same richness as tonkotsu in a vegetarian broth is going to be pretty difficult, that said, I make a vegan ramen using konbu dashi and soy milk that's pretty good. Not the same obviously, but it's pretty tasty.
Daniel says
Thank You for this, I'm also curious if you (or anyone) know or have a great vegetarian ramen recipe, as great as tonkotsu is some friends simply wont eat it
looking forward to your Updated recipes, thanks