Tonkotsu Ramen - Simple Broth - Easy Cooking Recipes (2024)

Recipe

Stove - Tonkotsu Broth

Servings: 8-10 people

In order to get that white, thick and creamy broth for your tonkotsu ramen, it takes time like 8 to 12 hours kind of time. What is happening is that pork bones are being broken down and fat is being emulsified into the broth using a stove. But even before that, you have to do two things to get this white color: Soak and Preboil. Soaking will remove the myoglobin which gives it the red color. 4-5 hours is a standard, but I highly recommend soaking overnight. Yes that’s more time and then you pre-boil.

This will extract any remaining impurities in the form of scum that affects the color , and you will have to skim that off. This takes around 15-30 minutes or until scum stops floating to the top. And make sure to stir the pot cuz scum could be hiding underneath. Then you have to rinse, and not just rinse, you have to clean some of the gunk attached to the bones. Use your fingers. Rub it good. These two steps are vital if you really want that iconic color.

So now it’s time to boil. A good rule of thumb is to always have enough water to cover the bones from start to finish which means you will have to add water here and there. This will happen more than once, because you are boiling the bones at high heat. This is known as rolling boil where it extracts the collagen and the protein as well emulsify the fat into the broth. And please make sure you stir the pot periodically to prevent any bones from sticking to the bottom. And oh don’t forget to refill the water.

Pressure Cooker - Tonkotsu Broth

Servings: 4-5 people

I spent a week or so trying to find easier ways to be able to enjoy a tonkotsu ramen at home without having to spend the entire day making it, because no one has that much time for free. A good alternative to cut down the time, is with a pressure cooker (thanks to Way of Ramen). When you cook on the stove, breakdown and emulsification is happening all at the same time. But using a pressure cooker actually separates the two. Under pressure, bones are being broken while uncovered allows rolling boil to emulsify the fat. 2-3 hours give or take. But, you still have to soak and preboil. There is no way around that. Once you have placed the bones into the pressure cooker with enough water to cover it. Let it cook on high heat opened until it reaches a boil and then cover it for 1 hour. Once that’s done, you can either fast release or let it naturally release. But in the spirit of cutting the time. Stir the inside of the pot. Cook it uncovered for 1 hour. And if you do plan to add aromatics, add 30 more minutes uncovered. And stir. You can actually cook for longer; it just depends on how much broth you want which means you might to refill. Once you’re satisfied, strain the broth. If the fat hasn’t emulsified, you can use an immersion blender. Or if you’re like me, just use a blender. 1 min on your highest setting. I would personally say it’s good enough for the time you spent on it

Now that you have prepared the broth, make sure to check out the tare recipe, scallion ginger aroma oil recipe, and chashu recipe!

Simple - Tonkotsu Broth

Print Recipe

Prep Time 1 d

Cook Time 8 hrs

Course Breakfast, Dessert, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine asian, Japanese

Servings 8 people

Ingredients

Simple Tonkotsu Broth

3 lbs pork bones Ex: femur/neck bones
1/2 lb pork back fat(optional) If not available, use pork belly fat.
8 L water (starting) This is the starting amount of water you will add to the stock.
8 L water (additional) This is the total amount of water you will be adding to the stock.

Simple Tonkotsu Broth: Aromatics (Optional)

1/2 onion
3 green onion stalk
2 medium-sized carrots (peeled)
1/4 cup cabbage

Instructions

Preparation

First, the pork bones must be soaked in water for at least 5 hours, preferably overnight. This is to remove the myoglobin. Myoglobin gives it a red color, so removing will result in a white texture.
After soaking it, then the pork bones have to preboil for 10-15 minutes. Skim any scum that floats in the water. Make sure to stir often to allow any scum in the bottom to float up. Note: You will know you are done with the skimming, once white scum starts to show up. Once, the brown scum is gone and only white scum is floating up to the top, you can then rinse.
Start rinsing the bones with cold water. Make sure to scrub any scum that is stuck to the bones. Use a brush or your fingers to get into the crevices of the bones.

Boiling

In a big stock pot, place the bones along with the starting amount of water or enough to at least cover the top of the water. Note: the amount of water should always cover the bones. So if the bones start to show up to the surface, just add more water.
Make sure to boil on high heat, because you want to achieve emulsification. To completely break down the bones and emulsify the fat, the broth has to be in a rolling boil. It is at a point where “large bubbles rise quickly to the surface of the liquid”. This is a key part of the process as the rolling boil emulsifies the fat into the broth. ALWAYS KEEP THE HEAT ON HIGH. It breaks down the collagen, marrow, and fat, which contributes to the thickness and flavor of the broth
After an hour of boiling, add the pork fat if you desire.
The length of the boil is completely up to preference. However, the standard for most of the broth that I have practiced with was at least 8 hours. If you have reached the 8-hour mark, you will start to see the iconic characteristics of rich and white broth. The meat on the bones will have already fallen off.
Throughout the length of the boil, you will have to stir the broth to prevent anything from sticking and burning. I would advise stirring every 30 minutes. For the water, as I mentioned before, you will have to refill to make sure the bones do not show up on the surface.
The end of the boiling time depends on your preference, add as much water as much as you need and want. Towards the end of the boil preferably the last hour, add the aromatics.
Once you have reached that thickness and creaminess that you prefer, strain the broth. “Note: if it is too thick and creamy, you can use a fine-mesh strainer or cheesecloth to reduce the viscosity of the broth. But if you prefer as such, then just strain it normally.
Let it cool down. For storage, you can put it into the freezer for a month. Heat it on the stove and serve (1 to 1.5 cup) with noodles aromatic oil, tare (preferably shoyu), aromatic oil (ginger, pork lard, green onions, and any toppings you like! Enjoy

Video

Notes

Rundown

The night before:

Soak the pork bones overnight.

The day after:

08:30 am: Strain and rinse the bones and scrub

08:40 am: Pre boil the bones and remove the scum

08:55 am: Strain and clean the bones with water

09:00 am: Start boiling the bones with 8 liters of water

10:00 am: The water should be boiling already or simmering. Add the fat here.

11:30 am: Stir to prevent the bones to stick

12:33 pm: Refill the water (4 liters) and stir (The broth is slowly starting to take on a white color)

01:00 pm: Stir (The meat on the bones should start to fall of the bone)

01:30 pm: Stir

02:00 pm: Stir

02:30 pm: Stir (The broth is much more cloudy and white)

03:00 pm: Refill the water (4 liters) and bones are now bare

03:30 pm: Stir

04:00 pm: Add the aromatics

04:20 pm: Stir

04:40 pm: Stir

05:00 pm: The broth was finished.

Detailed Rationale/Notes

1. I soaked the bones overnight because I personally think is the best outcome of drawing out the myoglobin. Soaking for 5 hours did just fine, but I found that the pre-boiling took just a little bit longer and there was so much gunk than opposed to soaking it overnight.

2. The pork bones mix I had included femurs and neck and there was a little bit of meat and it wasn’t too fatty, so I added fat to compensate. I also struggle to find pork back fat, so I used pork belly fat. (The main difference between the two is the pork belly fat can have meat attached to it, so you have to remove it before you add it to the soup, or else you might taint the broth. I found that if you presoak the pork belly fat with the bones, it should fix that possibility of myoglobin in the meat.)

3. I started with 8 liters of water since the last couple of attempts had me add enough water to be 2 inches above the bones. This came about like 3-4 liters of water. The time it took to reach a rolling boil was much faster, but I had to refill more often. *Note: I didn’t realize what was the reason behind this back then, but I found (Adam Liaw YT) out that there should be enough water to allow the rolling boil to break down and allow emulsification, but too much water actually slows down this process* So I still stuck to the 8 liters in other recipes, but then changed up the refill amount. Just make sure there is enough water to cover up the bones.

4. The aromatics used can be down to personal preference, but I do recommend the bare essentials such as cabbage, onions, green onions, and carrots. I did try using ginger, but I couldn’t really smell it. In another attempt, I added a whole ginger knob and the aroma was a little faint. If you really wanted to add the ginger smell, do it in the aromatic oil. Garlic was another aromatic that I had issues with. Two attempts (one stove and one instant pot) left me with a discolored broth. It browned it and left a really garlicky smell (I believe that it got burnt in both). I personally would suggest using the aromatic oil to express the smell of garlic so you have more control over it. in the broth. (Ma-yu aroma oil)

5. The amount of the bones and broth leftover is up to you. Some prefer a 2:1 ratio (Ivan Orkin) so there should be 3 liters of broth per 1.5 kg of bones/fat. Others prefer a 1:1 ratio with 1.5 liters for 1.5 kg of bones. Some are in between those ratios. It is all preference. If you like it thicker, boil it longer.

Keyword japanese ramen, ramen, tonkotsu, tonkotsu broth, tonkotsu ramen