Tonkotsu ramen with braised pork

Name: Tonkotsu ramen with braised pork
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 4 h
Total time: 4 h 30 min
Yield: Serves 4–6
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: handful of purple shiso leaves (optional); pinch of black sesame seeds; pinch of Japanese chilli (nanami togarashi) or dried chilli flakes; 2–3 spring onions/scallions, green parts only, finely chopped; 4–6 marinated soft-boiled eggs, halved; 200 g/7 oz shiitake mushrooms, large ones halved; 5 cm/2 in piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped; 2–3 spring onions/scallions, roughly chopped; 15 ml/1 tbsp demerara/raw sugar; 400 g/14 oz fresh ramen noodles; 1.75 litres/3 pints/7½ cups pork stock; 15 ml/1 tbsp rice vinegar; 30 ml/2 tbsp dark soy sauce; 15 ml/1 tbsp sake (optional); 15 ml/1 tbsp mirin; 500 ml/17 fl oz/generous 2 cups water; 600 g/1 lb 6 oz piece of tightly rolled belly pork (you can ask your butcher to do this); 100 ml/3½ fl oz/scant ½ cup mirin; 200 ml/7 fl oz/scant 1 cup dark soy sauce

Preparation info

Serves
4–6

Difficulty
Medium
Ready in
4 hr 30

Appears in

Ramen

By Heather Whinney

Published 2018

About

This speciality ramen dish from the Kyushu island of the Fukuoka Prefecture in Japan is made using pork bone broth – ‘tonkotsu’ means ‘pork bones’ – and is topped with braised pork belly. It is one of the most-loved and well-known ramen dishes, and often goes by the name hakata ramen.

Ingredients

For the base

1.75 litres/3 pints/7½ cups pork stock

Asia
Japan
Main course
Soup

Method

Preheat the oven to 150°C/300ºF/Gas 2. To prepare the pork, put it in a large lidded ovenproof pan (or you can use a roasting pan and cover it tightly with foil). Add the measured water and all the other ingredients and