Ramen - Tonkotsu Broth (side view) - a photo on Flickriver

Tonkotsu Ramen
- roasted pork, poached egg, fish cake, scallions, pickled bamboo, abalone mushroom

This was the centerpiece of my New Year meal. Real ramen, let alone tonkotsu broth are rarely made at home ( in Japan or otherwise), but I wanted to give it a try.

Tonkotsu broth was made with roasted pork bones, pig's feet, ginger, garlic and Tokyo scallions. Although it took 15 hours to make it ( obscene amount of time, by home cooking standards), the result was very satisfying. The broth was rich, flavorful, shiny and a touch sticky, because of the emulsified collagen. I added approximately 2 tablespoons of concentrated and clarified bacon dashi, just to add saltiness and smoke ( will add more next time though). My next attempt at the tonkotsu broth will include more smoke, a touch of miso and maybe a spoonful of dried scallop/dried shrimp essence. I would rate this broth as 8/10, with space for improvement.

I did not have time to make alkaline noodles, which would have made this ramen bowl considerable better than the plain, albeit freshly made noodles I had to use.

Most of the toppings were the usual suspects ( pork, egg, scallion, fish cake, pickled bamboo), with the abalone mushroom being a last minute substitution. The latter was unsuccessful, as it added only texture, but not much flavor and none of the umami - will absolutely use wood ear mushrooms next time.

Roasted pork absolutely worked, although I should have sliced it a lot thinner, or even served as "pulled-pork" style, just like they do at the Momofuku Noodle Bar. Also, I am toying with an idea of roasting a pork butt with the mixture of honey, five-spice powder, red fermented tofu, dark soy sauce, hoisin sauce and Shaoxing wine - i.e. traditional char siu sauce, on my next attempt. But then again, salt-sugar-pepper-coco nibs mix worked quite well this time.

My ramen remains the work-in-progress and I humbly hope to reach ramen excellence sometime in the future.

Taken on: December 31, 2011

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Camera: Nikon D90, f/2.8, 1/40 sec, 23mm (=34mm), ISO 640 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D90
Lens:	14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture:	f/2.8
Exposure Time:	0.025 sec (1/40)
Focal Length:	23mm (35mm equivalent: 34mm)
ISO:	640
Exposure Bias:	+1/3 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Manual
Gain Control:	Low gain up
Contrast:	High
Saturation:	High
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CS5.1 Macintosh
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