Shoyu Ramen (from Bizentei, Tokyo)

Method39 steps

1. 1

   Step 1: Use a large stockpot that leaves room for the water, bones and pork to boil without overflowing.

2. 2

   Step 2: Please note that the soup broth requires 6 hours of inactive cooking prior to serving. You can make the broth, chashu pork belly, and shoyu tare the same day you serve the ramen, or you can refrigerate overnight and serve the next day.

3. 3

   Step 3: The ingredients make eight ramen servings. You can cook fewer noodle portions and reserve the remaining broth, chashu and tare. Cool these components promptly in suitable shallow containers and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 1 month; cook noodles just before serving.

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   Step 4: Gather all the ingredients.

   
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   Step 5: Add 40 US cups (10 quarts) water, the pork leg bones, ½ onion with skin on and root trimmed, 5 unpeeled garlic cloves, and 1 sliced knob of ginger to a 12-quart stockpot. Reserve the remaining 8 cups (2 quarts) water to add as evaporation makes room. If your pot is large enough for all the water plus meat and aromatics with room to boil, add the full 48 cups (12 quarts) now and omit the later water additions. Do not add the pork belly, chicken fat or Tokyo negi yet.

   Uses 40 US cups (10 quarts) water for a 12-quart pot; use all 48 cups only in a larger pot · 1⅓ lb pork leg bones and knuckles · ½ onion (large; skin on and trimmed of the root) · 5 cloves garlic (skin on) · 1 knob ginger (skin on, sliced)

   
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   Step 6: Turn on the heat to high and bring it to a boil. It takes 20–30 minutes for my stock to boil. You do not need to cover the pot with a lid.

   Uses stockpot base

   
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   Step 7: Meanwhile, tie up 2 lbs 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 (1.3 cm) apart.

   Uses 2 lb pork belly

   
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   Step 8: 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.

   Uses pork belly being tied

   
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   Step 9: 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.

   Uses boiling stock base · water for rinsing skimmer

   
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    Step 10: 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).

    Cook broth with pork · 120 minUses skimmed stock · tied pork belly

    
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    Step 11: 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.

    Uses broth cooking with pork belly

    
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    Step 12: If you reserved water at the start, add 4 US cups (1 quart) once evaporation has created enough room. Keep cooking uncovered and bring the broth back to a boil.

    Uses broth cooking with pork belly · 4 US cups (1 quart), only if held back at the start

    
13. 13

    Step 13: Ten minutes before the two-hour mark, ladle out 2 cups broth and reserve it for the chashu sauce. If you held back water at the start, add the final 4 US cups (1 quart) when there is room, then continue cooking.

    Uses broth after first optional water addition · final 4 US cups (1 quart), only if held back at the start

    
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    Step 14: While the stock continues to cook, gather all the ingredients for the chashu sauce.

    
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    Step 15: In a large saucepan, combine the 2 cups broth reserved in step 13, 2 cups soy sauce, ¼ cup sake, ¼ cup mirin, and 3 Tbsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then turn off the heat and set aside.

    Uses reserved broth for chashu sauce · 2 cups soy sauce · ¼ cup sake · ¼ cup mirin · 3 Tbsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (1 Tbsp is 8 g)

    
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    Step 16: At the 2-hour mark, add to the stockpot 3.5 oz rendered chicken fat and the green parts of 2 Tokyo negi (long green onion), reserving the white parts to use later. Now, set a new timer and cook, uncovered, for 1 HOUR on high heat.

    Simmer with chicken fat · 60 minUses remaining two-hour broth and pork belly · 3.5 oz rendered chicken fat (you can get the shelf-stable type on Amazon or a refrigerated one from a grocery store) · green parts of 2 Tokyo negi; reserve whites

    
17. 17

    Step 17: 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.

    Uses three-hour broth with tender pork belly

    
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    Step 18: Transfer the pork belly into the large pot with the chashu sauce.

    Uses pork belly removed from the broth · chashu sauce

    
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    Step 19: At the three-hour mark, after transferring the pork to the chashu sauce, place a suitable drop lid directly over it. Bring the sauce to a gentle simmer and cook the chashu over low heat for 2 hours without the outer pot lid. Start the final 3-hour broth simmer in step 20 at the same time.

    Braise chashu pork · 120 minUses pork belly in chashu sauce

    
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    Step 20: At the same three-hour mark, immediately after removing the pork belly, lower the stockpot heat and simmer the broth uncovered for 3 more hours. This runs alongside the 2-hour chashu braise, giving the broth 6 hours of cooking in total.

    Simmer soup broth · 180 minUses broth remaining after pork removal

    
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    Step 21: Once in a while, spoon the sauce over the pork belly as it’s extremely tender and hard to flip over without breaking it.

    Uses chashu braising in sauce

    
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    Step 22: After 2 hours of cooking the chashu, carefully and gently remove it from the sauce and transfer it to a tray (or plate).

    Uses chashu after two-hour braise

    
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    Step 23: Gently cut off and remove the butcher twine, avoiding pulling apart the tender chashu. Place it on a tray or in a suitable shallow container and chill promptly until cold and firm. For same-day serving, use the freezer for up to 1 hour, until cold but not frozen; check it rather than relying on a fixed wait. Alternatively, refrigerate for later the same day or overnight. Chilling helps the thin slices hold together.

    Chill chashu until firm (freezer route) · 60 minUses braised chashu

    
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    Step 24: Skim the chashu cooking sauce to remove fat and meat pieces and transfer it to a smaller container or saucepan. This salty sauce is the shoyu tare. Use it now, or cool promptly in a shallow container and refrigerate for the next day.

    Uses retained chashu cooking sauce

    
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    Step 25: 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.

    Uses six-hour broth

    
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    Step 26: 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.

    Uses strained broth

    
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    Step 27: The strained broth is ready to use. If serving the next day, divide it into smaller shallow containers and refrigerate promptly so it cools quickly. Do not leave the whole stockpot out until completely cold.

    Uses finished broth

    
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    Step 28: Bring a separate large pot of fresh water to a boil for the noodles. Gather the toppings and noodle portions you plan to serve. Heat the prepared broth until piping hot; if it was refrigerated, reheat thoroughly.

    Uses finished broth to reheat · water for boiling noodles

    
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    Step 29: 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.

    Uses 2 green onions / scallions, green tops only

    
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    Step 30: Cut the reserved white parts of 2 Tokyo negi (long green onion) in half widthwise. Then cut them in half lengthwise.

    Uses reserved white parts of Tokyo negi

    
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    Step 31: Now, thinly slice the white parts of the Tokyo negi crosswise.

    Uses halved white Tokyo negi

    
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    Step 32: 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.

    Uses chilled chashu

    
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    Step 33: 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. This is how Master Ueda does it and it’s very helpful. 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.

    Uses cold firm chashu · a little hot broth for dipping knife

    
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    Step 34: Before cooking the fresh noodles, loosen them up with your hands.

    Uses fresh ramen noodles for desired number of bowls; 1132–1360 g for eight

    
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    Step 35: Add the loosened fresh noodles to the separate boiling water and cook according to their package instructions, stirring to separate them. Fresh noodles of this type typically take 60–90 seconds; use that only when appropriate for your noodles.

    Cook fresh noodles (package time) · 2 minUses loosened fresh noodle portions · separate boiling noodle water

    
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    Step 36: 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.

    Uses shoyu tare: start with 1 Tbsp per bowl, up to 2 Tbsp to taste · chopped white negi: 1 Tbsp per bowl

    
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    Step 37: 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.

    Uses bowls with tare and negi · hot broth: 1½ cups per bowl, more to suit · cooked noodles

    
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    Step 38: 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.

    Uses bowls with hot broth · drained noodles

    
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    Step 39: Quickly arrange the chashu slices, menma (seasoned bamboo shoots), green onions, and nori seaweed on top of the noodles. Serve immediately.

    Uses ramen bowls · thin chashu slices, as desired · cut green scallion tops · prepared menma (seasoned bamboo shoots), as desired · nori seaweed