Ramen tonkotsu

Clean the bones

Soak the bones in cold water for 1-2 hours, then put them in a pot with fresh cold water and bring to a rolling boil; boil hard for 10 minutes. Drain and scrub every bone clean under running water, including inside the joints, to remove all blood and grey scum.

• 1.5 kg pork bones
• 2 litres cold water, for soaking and blanching

✅ C'est prêt quand : bones look clean and white, with no blood or scum left

Boil the broth hard

Put the clean bones in a large, heavy pot with the garlic, ginger and leek greens, and cover with the cold water. Bring to a full rolling boil and keep it boiling hard, uncovered, for 10-12 hours, topping up with water whenever it drops below the bones; skim off dark scum only in the first hour, then leave it to cook unattended.

• 1.5 kg the cleaned bones
• 3 litres cold water
• 1 head garlic, halved
• 50 g ginger, sliced
• 2 leek greens

✅ C'est prêt quand : broth has turned thick and milky white

Braise the chashu

Sear the rolled pork belly in a dry pan over medium-high heat on all sides until deep golden, about 8-10 minutes total. Add the soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar, water, garlic and ginger, bring to a boil, cover and simmer gently for 2 hours, turning once. Let the pork cool completely in its liquid before slicing thinly; strain and keep the liquid.

• 600 g pork belly
• 100 ml soy sauce
• 100 ml mirin
• 50 ml sake
• 30 g sugar
• 300 ml water
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 slices ginger

✅ C'est prêt quand : a skewer slides into the pork with no resistance

Marinate the eggs

Lower the eggs into boiling water and cook for exactly 6.5-7 minutes for a soft, jammy yolk, then plunge into the ice water and peel gently once cool. Mix 100 ml of the strained chashu liquid with the extra 100 ml water and marinate the eggs in it for at least 4 hours, or overnight in the fridge, turning once.

• 4 eggs
• 1 litre water, for boiling
• 500 g ice cubes
• 100 ml strained chashu braising liquid, from step 3
• 100 ml water, for marinade

✅ C'est prêt quand : eggs are evenly light brown on the outside

Make the tare and mayu

For the mayu, cook the minced garlic in the neutral oil over low-medium heat, stirring often, until deep brown and toasty-smelling, 5-6 minutes; set aside. Keep the plain soy sauce aside separately as the base for the tare.

• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 60 ml neutral oil
• 60 ml soy sauce, for tare

✅ C'est prêt quand : oil is dark brown and smells toasted, not burnt

Assemble the bowls

Cook the noodles in plenty of boiling water for 60-90 seconds if fresh and thin, then drain well. Into each warmed bowl put the soy sauce, mayu and sesame oil, ladle in the very hot broth and stir to dissolve, then add the noodles, chashu slices, half an egg, scallions, nori and menma if using. Serve immediately while the broth is still steaming.

• 4 portions ramen noodles
• 60 ml tare (soy sauce), from step 5
• 60 ml mayu (black garlic oil), from step 5
• 4 tsp sesame oil
• about 1.5 litres hot broth, from step 2
• a few slices per bowl chashu slices, from step 3
• 4, halved marinated eggs, from step 4
• 4 scallions
• 4 sheets nori
• 80 g menma, optional