Shoyu Ramen

Broth:

1. To a large 16qt stock pot, add 12qt water, pork leg bones, onion, garlic cloves, and ginger knob. 

   • If you're using a 12qt pot, only add 10qt of water and add the remaining as soon as there's enough space to add it to the pot.

2. Turn on the heat to high and bring it to a boil (it takes 20–30 minutes). 

   • You do not need to cover the pot with a lid.

3. Meanwhile, tie up the pork belly with butcher twine to prevent it from falling apart. 

   • Run some butcher twine under the far end of the pork belly and tie the twine tightly in a double knot to secure it. Next, start wrapping the twine around the belly back toward the other end. Space each wrap ½ inch apart. Make sure you wrap the pork belly as tightly as possible without squeezing or deforming it. Once you reach the endpoint, run the twine under some of the end wraps; this hooks the twine in place. Tie a double knot and cut the excess twine.

4. When the water starts to boil, skim off the foam and scum using a fine-mesh skimmer.

   • Tip: I dip my skimmer in a measuring cup filled with water to clean the fine mesh.

5. Gently add the pork belly to the soup broth. Set the timer and cook, uncovered, for 2 hours on high heat (or medium-high heat at first, if the soup broth is close to overboiling). Some of the liquid will evaporate after a bit of time. Keep cooking, uncovered, on high heat.

   • Foam and scum will keep appearing on the surface as you cook down the soup broth, so keep skimming every now and then. Skimming is very important to get a clean and clear soup broth, so don’t let the scum incorporate into the broth.

   • After the 2 hours, some of the liquid will evaporate after a bit of time, making enough space for the additional water that I couldn’t add at the beginning. Here, I’m adding 1qt of water. It’s a small enough amount that the stock will return to a boil quickly. Keep cooking, uncovered, on high heat.

6. 10 minutes before the 2-hour mark, reserve 2 cups (480 ml) of the soup stock for making the chashu sauce.

   • If you have more space in the pot, add the last 1qt of water and keep cooking

Chashu Sauce:

7. To a large pot (~4.5qt pot), add the reserved soup broth, soy sauce, sake, mirin, and kosher salt and stir all together. Bring it to a simmer over medium heat. Once simmering, turn off the heat and set aside.

   • The pot can be shallow but on the wider side to be able to lay down the pork belly flat.

To Add the Chicken Fat to the Broth:

8. At the 2-hour mark, add to the stockpot the chicken fat and the green parts of 2 Tokyo negi/green onion, reserving the white parts to use later. Now, set a new timer and cook, uncovered, for 1 hr on high heat.

To Braise the Chashu (2 Hours):

9. When the 1-hour timer goes off at the 3-hour mark, use a pair of tongs to carefully and gently remove the pork belly from the soup broth and transfer it to a tray (or plate, to support the pork belly’s weight). The pork belly is extremely tender after cooking for a total of 3 hours.

10. Transfer the pork belly into the large pot with the chashu sauce.

11. Place a flat weight on top of the chashu and bring it to a simmer. You do not need to cover the pot with the pot‘s lid. Once simmering, cook for 2 hours on low heat or simmer.

To Simmer the Soup Broth:

12. After removing the pork belly, reduce the stockpot to low heat and continue to cook, uncovered. Set a new timer for 3 hours.

To Finish the Chashu and Shoyu ”Tare”:

13. Once in a while, spoon the sauce over the pork belly as it’s extremely tender and hard to flip over without breaking it.

14. After 2 hours of cooking the chashu, carefully and gently remove it from the sauce and transfer it to a tray (or plate).

15. With a pair of scissors, cut and remove the butcher twine from the chashu. Try not to handle the chashu too much because it is super tender and can easily fall apart. If some of the meat sticks to the twine, very gently remove it so you don‘t pull off the meat. 

16. Cover the tray or plate with plastic and let cool completely. 

17. Place it in the freezer for up to 1 hour until cold (but not frozen) if you’re serving it right after the soup broth is made, in the refrigerator if you‘re serving later the same day, or in the refrigerator overnight to serve the following day. 

    • Make sure the chashu is cold and firm so it stays together when you thinly slice it; otherwise, it will fall apart.

18. Skim the sauce to remove the fat and meat pieces. Transfer the sauce to a smaller pot. This salty sauce is called shoyu tare (sauce) and is the base for the ramen soup broth. It’s now ready to use. Alternatively, let it cool completely and refrigerate overnight to serve the following day.

To Finish the Soup Broth:

19. When the 3-hour timer rings, turn off the heat. You’ve now cooked the soup broth for a total of 6 hours (2 hours + 1 hour + 3 hours). Using a large fine-mesh strainer, remove the spent bones and aromatics from the broth and discard.

20. As you can see, this broth is not too fatty. 

    • Optional: I strain the soup broth one more time to yield a clean soup broth.

21. The soup broth is now ready to use. Alternatively, you can let it cool completely and refrigerate overnight to serve the following day. If your stockpot doesn’t fit in the refrigerator, transfer the soup broth to a large pot before refrigerating.

To Prepare the Ramen:

22. Bring a big pot of water to a boil to cook the noodles. Meanwhile, gather all the ingredients. Then, heat the soup broth on medium heat until it’s piping hot; if you refrigerated your soup broth, remove the pot from the refrigerator and reheat.

    • Warm up the bowls you will be eating the ramen in in the oven.

23. While you reheat the broth, prepare the ramen ingredients. First, cut the green parts off from 2 green onions/scallions. Cut the green leafy parts in half lengthwise.

24. Cut the reserved white parts of 2 Tokyo negi (naga negi; long green onion) in half widthwise. Then cut them in half lengthwise.

25. Now, thinly slice the white parts of the Tokyo negi crosswise.

26. Take out the chashu from the freezer or refrigerator. It should be cold and firm with the fat solidified when you slice it. Otherwise, the chashu will fall apart completely.

27. Hold the chashu steady with one hand (I use a paper towel) and thinly slice it with a sharp knife, about ⅛ inch (3 mm) thick. 

    • As you slice, the pork fat will stick to the knife and make slicing difficult. When this happens, dip the knife in the hot soup broth to melt the fat off the knife. 

    • Tip: Slicing the chashu very thinly is key. When the delicate slices hit the hot soup broth, the succulent meat practically melts in your mouth.

To Cook the Noodles and Serve:

28. Before cooking the fresh noodles, loosen them up with your hands.

29. Once the water in the big pot is boiling, add 8 servings fresh ramen noodles and cook according to the package instructions (typically, 60–90 seconds). While cooking, stir and separate the noodles with chopsticks. 

    • Tip: I usually undercook my ramen noodles a bit so they are firm and toothsome, to my liking.

30. During this short period of time, prepare the ramen bowls. To each bowl, add 1–2 Tbsp of shoyu tare and 1 tbsp chopped white part of the Tokyo negi. Note: The shoyu tare is extremely salty, so start with 1 tbsp and see how you like it.

31. Pour 1½ cups (360 ml) of the piping-hot soup broth into each bowl. When the noodles are done cooking, drain them well in a strainer, shaking it a few times to drain the water thoroughly (otherwise, it will dilute the soup broth). 

    •  Note: If your ramen bowl is bigger, you may need to add more tare and soup broth.

32. Then, transfer the noodles to the individual ramen bowls. Lift up the noodles with chopsticks a few times to coat them with the soup broth and straighten them. Then, fold the noodles from the edge of the bowl and place them over the noodles in the soup for an attractive presentation.

33. Quickly arrange the chashu slices, menma (seasoned bamboo shoots), green onions, and nori (dried laver seaweed) on top of the noodles. Serve immediately.