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owenam — Fri, 25 Mar 2005 23:58:49 +0000

The most important part of my previously mentioned tonkotsu ramen quest will, of course, be the soup itself. My first two attempts were… edible. Perhaps that’s a bit harsh — they were good, but I think they’d be outshone by your run-of-the-mill dried ramen + flavor packet.

Tonkotsu Soup 0.0.0

2 lbs pork bones
1 onion, peeled and chopped in half
8 garlic cloves, whole
10 peppercorns, whole
3 L cold water

Put all ingredients in large pot and add water. Turn on heat and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Remove the foam that rises to the top in the early stages. Simmer covered for three hours, then uncovered for three hours or until liquid is reduced by 1/3. Cover and bring to a full boil for 5 minutes. Pour stock through a colander to remove big things, then through a strainer to remove little things. Salt to taste, then pour over ramen and serve.

This first attempt was disappointing — probably more an effect of my expectations rather than the soup itself, which was servicable but firmly in the “nothing to write home about” category. Basically, there just wasn’t enough flavor; it definitely needs more salt (I didn’t pay very close attention to how much I put in) and should probably be reduced more, maybe down to 1/2. Alternatively, increasing the stuff/water ratio may have the same effect.

The bones I used were from Clancey’s Meats & Fish, engagingly described in the City Pages by incognito Carleton grad Dara Moskowitz. They were large (I think four pieces total) and mostly meatless, though they had a decent amount of fat on them. I wonder if chopping them up more would help with flavor extraction… perhaps it’s time to go cleaver shopping.

Before I’d even tasted Tonkotsu Soup 0.0.0 (a mistake), I began working on…

Tonkotsu Soup 0.0.1

1.8 lbs pork bones
1 onion, peeled and chopped in half
1 shallot, peeled
8 garlic cloves, whole
10 peppercorns, whole
1 12-oz can chicken broth
4 L cold water

Put all ingredients in large pot and add water. Turn on heat and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Remove the foam that rises to the top in the early stages. Simmer uncovered for four hours or until liquid is reduced by 1/3. Cover and bring to a full boil for 5 minutes. Pour stock through a colander to remove big things, then through a strainer to remove little things. Salt to taste, then pour over ramen and serve.

As it turned out 0.0.1 was even worse than 0.0.0 — I’d consider it an alpha release at best. Way too weak — note the 4L water here vs. 3L in 0.0.0. This needs to be addressed quickly.

The bones in this version were from Rainbow, the local chain grocery store. Compared to the ones from Clancey’s, these were frozener, chopped into smaller pieces, had much more meat on them, and were far cheaper ($0.75/lb vs $2.50/lb, approximately). I’m particuarly curious to know how the meat/bone ratio might affect the flavor, but that’ll be hard to determine until I stop watering it down so much!

The canned chicken stock was added after I read a recipe that called for a whole chicken carcass along with the pork bones. Again, hard to tell what difference it made.

Finally, I want to note that the meat pulled off of these bones after cooking was absolutely delicious in tacos after cooking with some sautéed onions & peppers and some sazón.

ghotifish.net » Tonkotsu Soup

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