From Our Kitchen to Yours: Tonkotsu Ramen and Chashu Pork Belly

Our new Japandi design style kitchen inspired project expert (and our resident chef) Maverick to cook up some of the best ramen around. He made Tonkotsu ramen with Chashu Pork Belly in our Japan-inspired kitchen and shared his authentic ramen recipe. 

Tonkotsu ramen is Japanese noodle soup made from pork bone broth and traditionally topped with braised pork, marinated soft-boiled egg, and sliced scallions. It’s delicious and a labor of love that needs to simmer for at least half a day. The many elements involved necessitate a two-day process.

Chashu Pork  

Ingredients 

3 lb. slab of boneless pork belly (skin-on) cured overnight in salt in refrigerator.  

1 cup soy sauce (or tamari) 

1 cup sake  

1 cup mirin 

½ cup sugar 

2 tsp chili pepper 

6 scallions roughly chopped 

6 garlic cloves (whole) 

1 shallot, whole, split in half (skin on) 

One 2-inch knob ginger, roughly sliced (optional) 

Directions 

1. Lay pork belly on cutting board and roll up lengthwise, with skin facing out. 
2. Using butcher’s twine, tightly secure pork belly at 3/4-inch intervals. 
3. Heat oil and sear pork on all sides. 
4. Add shallot, garlic cloves, and ½ cup sake (reserving ½ cup). 
5. Once pork is browned, add soy sauce, remaining sake, mirin, sugar, and scallions. 
6. Simmer (it won't be submerged), covered for 2-3 hours until easily pierced through with knife. 
7. Remove pork from liquid and allow to cool completely on wire rack, reserving broth. 
8. Transfer pork to a sealed container and refrigerate about 12-24 hours. 
9. Remove pork belly from refrigerator and slice into rounds about ¼ to ½ inch thick.  
10. Lay rounds on broiling pan and place under broiler until browned.  
11. Add to broth when ready to serve. 

Tare Sauce  

Ingredients 

½ cup mirin (sweetened Japanese cooking wine) 

½ cup soy sauce or tamari 

¼ cup sake (or more to taste) 

2 Tbsp (packed) light brown sugar 

¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper 

1 garlic clove, crushed 

1 scallion, chopped 

1 whole shallot, split in half 

1 one-inch-piece peeled ginger (1/4 oz.), sliced (optional) 

Directions 

1. Bring all ingredients to a boil in a small heavy saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves.  
2. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until reduced to a generous 1/2 cup, about 20 minutes. 
3. Strain sauce, discarding solids. 
4. Combine with Dashi and pork stock. 

Ramen Noodles 

Ingredients 

120g bread flour (1 cup) 

120g all-purpose flour (1 cup) 

2 tsp. baked baking soda 

6 oz. warm water (or more) 

 Directions 

To prepare your baking soda: 

1. Preheat oven to 250°F (120°C). 
2. Spread one cup of baking soda onto a baking tray lined with aluminum foil or baking/parchment paper. 
3. Bake the baking soda for 1 hour. 
4. Remove the baking soda from the oven and when cooled, store in an airtight container (can be stored indefinitely). 
5. Be careful and do not use your bare hands when handling the alkaline baking soda or it can irritate your skin. 

To prepare your dough: 

1. Place flour in a large bowl and pour in the alkaline solution, the flour will turn a golden hue. 
2. Mix in the water using a spoon or chopsticks. The flour will become a crumbly texture, which is fine for now. 
3. Form a ball, adding more water as necessary — a tablespoon at a time — until you get one cohesive ball.  
4. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap or place it in a bowl covered with a damp towel so it does not dry out. 
5. Allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature (or in refrigerator overnight). 
6. Knead the dough for 2 to 3 minutes until it’s springy and rebounds. Allow to rest a second time. 
7. Divide your dough in half and return the unused portion to its plastic wrap or towel-covered bowl.  
8. Roll the dough with rolling pin to a size that will pass through your pasta machine. 
9. Set your pasta machine to the widest setting and pass dough through, folding in thirds and passing it through on the widest setting until you get one long rectangular piece. 
10. Flatten the other half of your dough as much as possible with the rolling pin again. Repeat process, feeding it through the pasta machine. 
11.  Once the dough is flattened to a rectangular shape, pass the dough through the machine two more times without folding it into thirds. Pass dough through to desired thinness, dusting with corn starch as needed to prevent sticking.  
12. Use spaghetti pasta attachment to cut ramen noodles.  
13. Add to boiling ramen stock. Do not overcook.  

Dashi 

Ingredients 

2 quarts water (cold) 

1 strip kombu (kelp) seaweed 

1 ½ cups mushrooms (dried Shiitake) 

½ cup mirin 

¼ cup tamari) 

¼ cup ginger (finely grated) 

Directions 

1. Wipe kombu with a clean, damp cloth. Heat water and kombu in a medium saucepan and bring to a high simmer. Do not boil. Remove the kombu and discard. 
2. Add the mushrooms, reduce the heat to low, and simmer gently, uncovered, for 30 minutes. 
3. Stir in the remaining ingredients. 
4. Strain the broth, add to pork broth. 

Ramen Eggs 

Ingredients 

2 large eggs  

2 Tbsp soy sauce 

2 Tbsp mirin 

3-6 Tbsp water  

Directions 

1. Combine soy sauce, mirin, and water in a resealable plastic bag or jar.   
2. Marinate eggs for 2-3 hours, adjusting marinade amount to be sure eggs are submerged. 
3. Bing to boil enough water to cover the eggs in a medium saucepan.  
4. Slowly submerge eggs into the boiling water with a mesh strainer or ladle to prevent cracking. 
5. Reduce heat immediately to a gentle boil for exactly 7 minutes. (For a runny egg yolk - 6 to 6 ½ minutes; Custard-like egg yolk - 8 to 9 minutes.) Eggs should not bounce around. To be sure yolks are centered, gently rotate them with chopsticks occasionally for the first 3 minutes.   
6. Promptly remove eggs after 7 minutes and soak in an ice bath to stop them from cooking further. Allow to cool for 3 minutes. 
7. Peel gently, as soft-boiled eggs are not completely hardened.  
8. Resubmerge the eggs in the marinade and close tightly. Marinate overnight and cut in half lengthwise to serve.  
9. Store up to 3-4 days in the refrigerator. 

Toppings 

After you’ve made your Tonkotsu ramen stock and flavored it with your tare, it’s time to add the toppings. The most traditional are chasu, menma (pickled bamboo shoots), nori (seaweed sheets), Ramen egg (soft-boiled and sometimes marinated), and chopped scallions.