Tonkotsu-style pork-bone ramen with chashu and egg

Ingredients

Broth

• 2 kg pork bones (femur, trotter, neck)
• 500 g chicken backs/wings
• 1 onion, halved and charred
• 1 large piece ginger, sliced and charred
• 6 garlic cloves, charred
• 2 spring onions
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• Water to cover

Chashu pork

• 500 g pork belly rolled and tied
• 100 ml soy sauce
• 100 ml mirin
• 50 ml sake
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 spring onion

Eggs + Noodles

• 4 eggs
• 80 ml soy sauce
• 60 ml mirin
• 400 g fresh ramen noodles

Top

• 4 spring onions, finely sliced
• Nori sheets
• Toasted sesame seeds
• Chilli oil

Method

1. Blanch bones. Boil pork bones 10 minutes. Drain, rinse. This purges the scum.
2. Broth. Refill pot with cold water covering bones by 5 cm. Add chicken, charred veg, spring onions, vinegar. Boil hard, uncovered, 6 hours. Top up with water as needed.
3. Strain. Strain through a fine sieve. Season with salt. It should be opaque, creamy, rich.
4. Chashu. Sear pork. Cover with soy, mirin, sake, sugar, garlic, spring onion, water. Simmer 90 minutes. Cool in liquid. Slice.
5. Eggs. Boil 6½ minutes. Ice bath. Peel. Marinate overnight in soy + mirin.
6. Noodles. Boil per packet (3-4 minutes). Drain.
7. Serve. Broth hot, noodles in bowls, chashu + halved egg + scallion + nori on top.

Tips

• Boil the bones hard first. Rolling boil = cloudy, rich broth. Gentle simmer = clear broth.
• Marinate the eggs overnight. 6½ minutes from boiling, then soy-mirin bath.
• Ramen noodles only. Spaghetti or udon won’t behave the same — wrong starch.