Who doesn’t like a nice bowl of noodles? Instant noodle packages can be found in all supermarkets, but those of you that have been to japan know how amazing ramen noodles are will crave those delicious noodles. I searched online for an authentic pork ramen soup recipe. I found this amazing one, however it does take a little time to make. The best thing about this recipe is the detailed instructions.
Start of finding the right bones. The recipe asks for pork hocks (or feet) because of the collagen that is in them. I couldn’t find any so I went with pork backs.
There is some prep work, especially if you want to have milky white soup. Start by covering the bones in cold water and bring it to a boil. You will notice a lot of foam and blood coming out into the water. The blood will make the soup darker. Once the water boils pour out the water and rinse the bones.
The bones should be pale and white with most of the blood gone. I also used two chicken carcasses from last night’s chicken dinner and added it to the stock. Place the rinsed bones and chicken carcass into a large pot. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil.
I didn’t have all the ingredients so I just used onion, ginger, garlic and green onion. Chop up the onion, ginger and peel the garlic. Place under the broiler and char slightly. This will help enhance the flavor of the broth.
Add the charred veggies into the pot. Add a package of mushrooms to help with the umami flavor. When the water boils turn the flame to medium low and simmer for 9 + hours. The longer the better since it takes a long time for the collagen to come out of the bones. In the first 20 minutes skim off the foam and discard. I left the house a couple times while the soup was boiling. I just made sure there was plenty of water. I wouldn’t leave it on while I am at work. Short periods should be fine. For the last hour, uncover the pot and turn to high to reduce the broth to about 3-4 quarts.
In the meanwhile I started to prepare Japanese Chasu because why not? There wasn’t enough fat in the soup anyways and I wasn’t planning on adding the pork fat that Serious Eats did for his soup. That kind of scares me. This recipe also comes from Serious Eats. I love it because it is so easy. I substituted fresh sliced pork sides since I was lazy and didn’t want to roll up the pork belly. In a pot add soya sauce, mirin, sake, coconut sugar, garlic and ginger. Allow to boil and simmer for 3 hours. Let the pork side cool in the sauce. I used the sauce the next day to simmer chicken. Mmm it was also really good.
After hours of boiling you can enjoy your final product. Simmer the broth until you get about 4 quarts. Yes it doesn’t make a lot but this broth is golden! It tastes so rich and has a nice creamy layer. The chasu becomes a nice dark caramelized color and is tender and juicy. Yes it is quite fatty so if you don’t like that use pork shoulder instead. The meat will be a little drier but still have that nice sweet flavor.
The broth makes a ramen dish awesome but so does the noodles. So far I found that Sun noodles makes great ramen. I found frozen packages of it at T&T supermarket and at H-mart. They are chewy and delicious but I find they have a slight lye flavor as there are chemicals (sodium carbonate and potassium carbonate) that are added to give it a nice chew. And I don’t mean its poisonous! Hopefully not! So if you are looking for a chewy ramen noodle look for these ingredients. The soup base for the Sun noodles are pretty good but you can toss them out and use your own.
Serve the noodles with those green things as garnish… ha the ramen takes the show today!
Ramen soup recipe http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/09/how-to-make-perfect-tonkotsu-ramen-food-lab-redux.html
- 4 pounds pig back bones
- 2 chicken backs and carcasses from a roast chicken, skin and excess fat removed
- 1 large onion roughly chopped
- 12 garlic cloves
- One 3-inch knob ginger, roughly chopped
- 2 dozen scallions
- 7 ounces whole mushrooms
Place bones in a large pot and cover with cold water. Allow it to boil and then discard this water and rinse the bones. Place the bones in a clean pot and fill pot with cold water. Boil. Meanwhile chop up onion, ginger and scallions. Place onions, ginger and garlic cloves on a baking sheet and broil. Lightly char them and then place them in the broth. Add scallions and mushrooms to the broth. Once the water boils turn the stove to medium low for a simmer. Skim off any foam that forms. Simmer the broth for 9 hours or more. For the last hour or so uncover and put on high to reduce the broth to about 3-4 quarts.
Chasu recipe http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/03/chashu-pork-marinated-braised-pork-belly-for-tonkotsu-ramen-recipe.html
- 1 cup water
- 0.5 kg of sliced pork sides
- 1/2 cup soya sauce
- 1 cup sake
- 1 cup mirin
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar (because I can’t have that white stuff)
- 6 whole garlic cloves
- One 2-inch knob ginger, roughly sliced
In a sauce pan add together water, soya sauce, sake, mirin, coconut sugar, garlic and ginger. Put in the sliced pork. Bring mixture to the boil and then turn down to a bare simmer. Simmer for about 3 hours. Allow the pork to cool in the mixture. Do not stir aggressively as the pork is tender and will fall apart.
Try some of the other recipes on our blog: https://eatitnoworeatitlater.com/recipe-list/
EAT it NOW or EAT it LATER 
Great post! Now I know why instant noodles are so popular amongst the lazy (including me).
It would be interesting if maybe at the end of your post tallied up the cost of all your ingredients?
Hi Laura, I just made a rough estimate for the ingredients (assuming that you have some of these staples in your pantry). I would say the total would be about $50 (or maybe less), but I made 3 big bowls of noodles. This can easily feed 5 people. We are just pigs.
If you plan on making ramen noodles from a package consider replacing the soup with chicken broth and miso and add fresh veggies and poached egg. 🙂
Happy cooking!
There’s so much work involved in this—mainly because of the time it takes the soup base to simmer. But I guess you can leave the house. And then there’s also making your own Chasu. Wow. Great job 😀