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Tonkotsu Ramen Recipe
4.6 from 173 votes

Tonkotsu Ramen Recipe

Tonkotsu Ramen is a rich pork-bone broth ramen featuring a deep, creamy stock made by simmering pork trotters, chicken backs, and pork belly with aromatics for hours. It includes seasoned tare for flavor layering and chashu pork for a tender, savory topping. The recipe assembles these elements with noodles and optional garnishes like soft boiled egg and nori.

Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
13 hrs
Additional Time
3 hrs
Total Time
16 hrs 20 mins
Servings: 8 -10 bowls
Calories: 966 kcal
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Asian

Ingredients

Dashi
  • 5 Kombu Kelp 7 inch pieces
  • 8 cups water
Tare
  • ½ cup chicken broth low-sodium
  • ¼ cup mirin
  • ½ cup soy sauce
  • 2 Tbsp sake
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp rice wine vinegar
  • 1 inch ginger peeled and sliced, piece
  • 2 cloves garlic smashed
  • 1 scallion chopped
Tonkotsu Ramen Broth
  • 4 lb pig trotters ask the butcher to cut into horizontal slices
  • 2 lb chicken backs cut into small pieces
  • 1 lb chicken feet
  • 1 lb pork belly chopped up, scraps
  • 1 onion peeled and slit around, large
  • 1 garlic sliced in half horizontally, whole head
  • 2 inches ginger sliced
  • 1 leek cleaned and roughly chopped
  • 15 green onions white parts only, cut them in half across
  • 1 cup mushrooms
  • 1/4 lb pork fatback
Chashu Pork
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 inch ginger peeled and sliced
  • 2 green onions roughly chopped
  • ½ cup soy sauce
  • ½ cup mirin
  • ¼ cup fish sauce
  • ½ cup white sugar plain
  • 1 pork belly slab
Serving (all toppings optional)
  • ramen noodles fresh
  • egg one per serving, soft boiled
  • nori sushi seaweed
  • enoki mushrooms
  • naruto slices
  • scallions thinly sliced
  • Chili oil
  • sesame oil toasted

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Dashi
  2. In a large pot, soak kombu in the water for at least 30 minutes, up to 3 hours. Then bring to a lively simmer over medium low heat. This will take about 20-30 minutes.
  3. Before the dashi begins boiling, take the kombu out (boiled kombu will cause your dashi to become bitter and slimy) and strain dashi into a large bowl lined with cheesecloth.
  4. Tare
  5. Bring all the ingredients to simmer in a saucepan.
  6. Simmer the tare until it reduces to ½ cup, about 25 minutes.
  7. Strain the solids and let the tare cool. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
  8. Tonkotsu Ramen Broth
  9. Place the chicken backs and pork bones in a heavy bottomed stock pot. Add enough water to fully cover them. Cover with a lid. Over high heat, bring the water to a boil. Once boiled, drain the bones and wash any dark marrow or coagulated blood off from the pork with cold water and a chopstick or fork. The bones should have no dark color left in them to obtain a light, milky color.
  10. Rinse the pot, put the bones back in along with the rest of the ingredients for the broth except the fatback. Add water to just cover the ingredients. Over high heat, bring the water to a rolling boil, then turn down temperature to a low boil/very lively simmer. Let boil for 12-18 hours, adding water to keep the ingredients submerged.
  11. The last 30 minutes to 1 hour before it’s done, place the fatback on a sieve or strainer, shallowly put it into the broth, cover the pot and let the fat cook. Remove and finely mince the fat. Keep in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to serve.
  12. Pour the broth through a fine mesh sieve into a large bowl (or multiple containers) to remove solids. Let chill in the fridge until solid, then spoon the fat off the top.
  13. Chashu Pork Belly
  14. Lay pork belly on cutting board and roll up lengthwise, with skin facing out.
  15. Using butcher’s twine, tightly secure pork belly at 3/4-inch intervals.
  16. Preheat oven to 275°F. Heat water, garlic, ginger, sliced green onions, soy sauce, mirin, fish sauce, white sugar in a medium saucepan, big enough to hold the pork belly, over high heat until boiling. Add pork belly, it won't be submerged. Cover with a lid left slightly ajar. Transfer to oven and cook, turning pork occasionally, until pork is fully tender and a cake tester or thin knife inserted into its center meets little resistance, 3 to 4 hours. Transfer contents to a sealed container and refrigerate until completely cool.
  17. Reheat pork belly slices in soup broth with noodles and other garnishes.
  18. Serve
  19. In a large pot, bring the tonkotsu broth to a simmer. Add 5-6 cups of dashi. Finely chop the fatback and add the fatback to the broth, simmering until it’s barely visible in the broth. Ladle the broth into deep, wide bowls, adding about 2-3 tablespoons of tare, leaving room for the noodles and toppings. (Freeze any leftover broth to use later.) Cook the noodles according to the package instructions and divide among bowls. Top each with 2 slices of pork belly, one soft boiled egg sliced in half, 3 slices of naruto, 1 sheet of nori, the enoki mushrooms, oils, and scallions.
  20. Serve immediately.

Notes

  • Tonkotsu broth can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 4-6 months for make-ahead convenience.

Nutrition Information

Serving 1g Calories 966kcal (48%) Carbohydrates 19g (6%) Protein 83g (166%) Fat 59g (91%) Saturated Fat 17g (85%) Polyunsaturated Fat 35g (206%) Cholesterol 359mg (120%) Sodium 402mg (17%) Fiber 2g (8%) Sugar 13g (26%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 8 -10 bowls

Amount Per Serving

Calories 966

% Daily Value*

Serving 1g
Calories 966kcal 48%
Carbohydrates 19g 6%
Protein 83g 166%
Fat 59g 91%
Saturated Fat 17g 85%
Polyunsaturated Fat 35g 206%
Cholesterol 359mg 120%
Sodium 402mg 17%
Fiber 2g 8%
Sugar 13g 26%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.