Ultimate Tonkotsu Ramen Recipe

Tonkotsu ramen is a creamy, silky, unctuous broth filled with springy noodles and luscious pork belly. It is a labor of love, but Leah Maroney knows that sometimes a time-consuming recipe is worth it. This dish is no exception.

The milky white broth actually contains no milk or cream at all. It is created by cooking pork bones on a low boil so the contents of the bones release their gelatin and emulsify into the water. Aromatics like ginger and green onions are added to the slow-cooked broth. Chasu, a slow-cooked pork belly, is sliced thin and warmed in the broth. Chewy ramen noodles perfectly complete the dish. If you're using fresh noodles, you can add them directly to the broth. It's essential to keep a nice bite to the noodles. 

Maroney says, "It's essential to serve the ramen with the cooking liquid from the pork belly, called ramen tare. Add a little to the complete bowl of ramen until it is seasoned to your liking. These additions are what make the ramen unique, complex, and totally delicious." Although this broth is not traditionally spicy, you can add chili paste if you like a little heat. The best place to find the bones at a good price is your local Asian market. You can find a wide variety of bones, as well as the pork belly.

Add the pork bones to a large stock pot and cover with cold water.

Heat the bones on medium-high heat and bring the water to a rolling boil. Boil for 1 hour to remove the impurities from the bones.

Drain and rinse the bones under cold water.

While the bones are cooling, prepare the vegetables. Cut the onion in half.

Slice the ginger into ⅛ inch slices.

Cut the roots off of the green onions and then cut in half.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot. Add the onion, ginger, green onion, and garlic.

Char on high heat for 4 minutes. Set aside.

Remove any dark brown bits of blood, meat, and marrow from the bones using a chopstick or lobster pick. Leave only beige and white colored parts on the bones.

Place the bones back into the pot along with the charred vegetables. Cover with water and add the salt. Cover and bring to a low rolling boil for 5 hours.

While the broth is cooking, prepare the chashu pork. Preheat the oven to 250 F.

With the fat side facing down, roll the pork belly into a tight roll. Tie with kitchen twine to hold it together.

Slice the green onions, separating the whites from the green parts. Reserve the green for garnishing the finished soup.

Add the remaining ingredients, including the white parts of the onion to a medium-large sized pot. Heat on low until the sugar dissolves and it comes to a boil.

Add the pork belly into the sauce with the meat (either side) facing down.

Cover with a lid and place in the preheated oven, braise for 3 hours.

Remove the pork belly from the pot and allow to cool. Strain the pork belly cooking liquid and serve as the ramen tare to season the ramen to your liking.

Strain the tonkotsu broth with a fine sieve over a large bowl. Clean out the pot and add the broth back into the pot. Bring back to a low rolling boil.

Emulsify the broth with an immersion blender for 1 minute. The broth should look frothy. Bring the pot back to a simmer while assembling the remaining ingredients.

If necessary, boil the ramen noodles to package directions. Rinse and set aside.

Slice the pork belly into thin rounds with a sharp knife.

Add the broth to a bowl, then add in a serving of the cooked ramen, one or two pieces of chashu, chashu tare, and a sprinkling of green onions. Other optional ingredients like red chili paste can be added for spiciness.

Both the Tonkotsu broth and the chashu pork can be made in advance. It's actually preferable to make the chashu pork in advance as it slices so much easier when chilled. The pork belly. becomes very tender when cooked and can break apart if you try and slice it while it is warm. The sliced pork belly can be reheated in the hot broth, or placed under the broiler for a minute or two.

Make the broth ahead of time too. It stores well in both the refrigerator and freezer. It does tend to congeal when refrigerated, but once it is reheated it liquifies again. You can store it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days and the freezer for up to 6 months. You can freeze it into single-serve cubes, so it can be easily reheated when you're having a craving and don't want to make instant ramen.

Cleaning the bones is essential to making this Tonkotsu Ramen milky-colored. Blanching the bones first is an essential step. You want all of the impurities removed from the bones for flavor, color, and quality.

It is a pain to clean the bones, but if you're already going to the trouble of making this complicated broth, you might as well do it right! Grab a chopstick, fondue fork, or shellfish tool to help get all the little bits out of the bones. 

You do still want some brownness to the broth. Charring the vegetables adds just the right amount of color and flavor to the soup.

Emulsifying the broth with an immersion blender cuts down on the cooking time and also helps to achieve the correct color and silky texture. You can use a blender instead of an immersion blender. You can also keep the soup at a low rolling boil for longer to achieve the same results. But it can take up to 10 hours to do it this way.