Piaya Diary: Ramen

How to Make DIY Tonkotsu Ramen

9:09 PM

I love ramen and I am sure there are many other like me who feel the same way for this amazing Japanese meal. However, there are times when it is inconvenient to head out for a bowl of this hot dish. Don't you just wish you can have a bowl whenever you want to?

What am I talking about? Well, in a nut shell, ramen is a Japanese dish that has noodles served in hot meat-based or fish-based soup. It served with toppings like boiled egg, roasted seaweed, spring onions, seafood, etc.

Moreover, it is enjoyed with condiments such as soy or chili oil.

The broth is made usually by boiling meat along with garlic and other spices or flavors. The traditional method of making broth takes time, patience and skill.

The great amount effort that Japanese people to make this sumptuous meal is the reason that every bowl of ramen an amazing treat.

Ever since my family and I discovered Ikkoryu Fukuoka a famous ramen house here in the city, we have been craving for this noodle meal often. And after a couple of times of visiting the place I came up with my quick and easy way of making this dish so we can enjoy it in the comfort of our own home during weekends.

It may not be perfect--yet (I am expecting someone to protest that this ain't ramen but it is what it is and it is edible), but it is a perfect meal to have on a cold or rainy afternoon. Of course, don't forget the chopsticks.

My own version (not really, I just took note of the usual things I see whenever I order my ramen) takes inspiration from Ikkoryu Fukuoka's Original Tonkotsu that consists of dried seaweed egg, green onions, pork, wood ear mushrooms and bamboo shoots along with the noodles and the broth. My version however does not have the mushroom and bamboo shoots because those ingredients are not easy to come by, locally.

Well, you just have to make do with what you have...

Luckily, dried seaweed can easily be obtained from most grocery stores. There are also small several Asian grocery stores that sell this. This one is roasted seasoned dry seaweed. It is tasty enough to eat alone. Ramen shops would put only a couple sheets in your bowl. A pack is very affordable so I would buy many and eat as much as I like with my DIY Tonkotsu Ramen recipe.

And the noodles...I got this from a Korean grocer. You cook it like instant noodles. Boil water, add these noodles and cook them for 4-5 minutes and not beyond that. Then drain and rinse in cold water. Noodles don't look and taste good when soggy.

You might want to cook the noodles in only 3 minutes and then drain as you will be putting very hot broth later. If you are in a pinch, there are shops that sell, cooked noodles where all you have to do is just rinse them in water before adding to your serving bowl. Buy, hey, you need to know what to do with ingredients that are available.

As for the broth, like I said, the traditional way of making it takes a lot of time. You need to boil soup bones along with other flavors.

As a mom with three always hungry kids to feed and a husband with a big apetite anything that cooks fast is heaven sent. I tried the old way of preparing the broth and it resulted to a really good bowl of ramen but on days when we want it fast I am lucky to have found this at the local shop.

We usually prefer pork but if it is not available, this or anything similar will do. The instructions call for 6 cups of water. Fir my recipe I added lots of crushed garlic and some pepper. Some would add ingredients like sake and sesame oil. At the moment, I am still on the experimenting phase.

Because earwood mushrooms and bamboo shoots are quite hard to find, for me, I used Enokitake or Enoki instead.

They are long thin white mushrooms that are available canned in many grocery stores. Some say shiitake mushroom are better but, the flavor too strong for my kids.

If you bought canned Enoki, make sure to drain them thoroughly first. You won't need the brine it came along with.

And the boiled eggs. Ikkoryu Fukuoka serves it half-boiled. I have yet to practice how they do it. My eggs here are almost "well-done."

Oh, I almost forget the pork. For this DIY Tonkotsu Ramen, I seasoned thinly sliced pork in salt and pepper. You can use "bacon" cut but there is a lot of fat. Or, you can have "sukiyaki" cut pork. I do not know how you call it in other places but just ask the butcher to slice pork thinly. I baked the pork in the oven for about 20 minutes until they are golden brown.

While the pork is in the oven, you can use the time to prepare the noodles, boil and peel the eggs, mince the onion. And because we are using a short cut for the broth, the broth should be done last. I recommend that all the ingredients should have already been assembled in the serving bowls before making the broth so when the soup is done all you have to do it just pour it in.

So, with the ingredients stated above and a few more you want to add, you an already have ramen. Below is a colorful summary of how I put them all together. The black bowl just makes everything in it pretty, don 't you think?