I made some OC. Also, Ramen General.
Let me know what you think.
First step: Before browning all of my pork bones I add cold water, bring it up to a boil, then remove the bones.
I clean the bones under running ice cold water until nothing red or dark remains. I clean my pot.
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I wish I had more money, would have bought a whole bird and some more pork meat. Broth still turned out decent.
After cleaning our bones I put the pot on the stove, add in some vegetable oil and brown my bones.
Usually I do it in the oven, but I wanted to try this method since I like my tonkotsu broth very fatty.
While waiting for our bones to brown we can cut up some of our veg.
I opted for leeks and sweet onion since I got a really good deal on it, it was already a few days old. I hate letting things go to waste so I had to buy it.
I also added in some mushrooms because they add a savory flavor to the broth. Just regular champignons.
Sorry for the shitty quality of the previous photo, I uploaded the wrong one.
Continuing on, I chop up some ginger and then char it with a torch. I used this technique for Pho and figured it would translate well to Ramen.
Alright, finally combining everything in the pot.
Besides what we already know there is also garlic and my secret ingredient, smoked pork fat, in there. The bones are now nice and brown, which sadly you cannot see :>
Let's get started on filling our Ramen bowl. I bought some pork back because my broth is going to be fatty as all hell. Therefore I wanted some lean Chashu.
I marinated it overnight in: Soy sauce, Mirin, Sake, brown sugar, roasted sesame seed oil. Put a shitton of sliced ginger in, too.
I put the ginger on top to it could char nicely while keeping my meat moist. Had it in the even for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Lurking. Go on...
Looks pretty damn good.
Sure thing dude, there's actually lots to come. I didn't take enough pictures, but it's a pretty damn full bowl of soup.
I decided I wanted Ajitsuke Tamago. Boiled a few eggs for ~4 minutes, then I peeled them under cold running water. Marinated them in soy sauce, Su and brown sugar for a few hours.
They ended up having a really cool colour, some parts still white others almost brown.
Thanks my man.
We're getting serious now. My broth has been boiling (yes, boiling, not simmering) for about 7 hours. I made this little setup to clear it up. It was dark from all the roasted ginger and bones, but it ended up relatively clear.
To be honest I'm pretty shitty at making good stocks, but I'm trying. This one ended up above average.
Used a mull cloth that's actually intended for babies diapers.
Made me glad I'm still young and childless :~)
Gotta admit the Ramen I bought wasn't very good at all. Obviously not "authentic" Japanese Ramen but rather factory produced Chinese Ramen, but still a million times better than instant Ramen. I boiled them for three minutes so they could finish up while in the boiling hot broth.
I prepared a whopping shitton of ingredients for this soup, all of them were used:
Fresh cilantro, carrot cut with a veg peeler, sun dried champignons (so they could absorb the meaty broth better), Nori, pink pickled sushi ginger, my egg and my meat cut up very thinly.
There's more to come!
Generally speaking, the bones for tonkotsu broth are not roasted. Or if they are they are roasted very lightly. Ditto for the ginger (this is not pho, man). though of course if you like it who gives a fuck what's traditional or not.
The tip I'd suggest is to add some pig's feet or hocks to the broth. Tonkotsu is supposed to be very rich and fatty. Connective tissue, joints, and skin will give you a lot more of that than bones will.
I don't have a can opener so I use a old knife for that. Works wonders.
More ingredients! These really made the soup delicious.
I minced some garlic, the put it into my mortar with very coarse black pepper and grinded it until it was essentially a paste. It's the grey matter.
Then I cut up some Ginger and put it in the mortar with coarse sea salt. Made it into a puree. Really added a beautiful subtle heat and freshness to the bowl.
Had some leftover radish, so I cut that up into thin sticks so it would boil easily in the broth.
Soaked a few shiitake mushrooms in my broth and then cut them up.
Chili paste was storebought honestly, but it's a really good one I got from a delicacy store.
Now for the final ingredient: I boiled my smoked pork fat in the broth for 7 hours, then put it in the fridge. Then I heated it up shortly before use, removed the dark outside until there was only jello-like fat left. I cut up the fat real good until it was really, really small. It's the stuff in the middle if you couldn't tell.
The plan was for the smoked pork fat to instantly melt when I pour the hot broth over it. Spoilers: It worked out fantastically. It essentially turned into oil and I had delicious smoky pork flavour all over my tongue and gums.
>carrot cut with a veg peeler
Interesting idea (instead of cutting them). Do you just put them in after boiling? I'd imagine that they barely need cooking since they are so thin.
Anyway, this looks great.
>Generally speaking, the bones for tonkotsu broth are not roasted. Or if they are they are roasted very lightly. Ditto for the ginger (this is not pho, man).
For sure bro, I wasn't trying to make it authentic! I like to add a little twist to traditional dishes, like I did here with the roasting and the smoked fat which both usually aren't seen in Tonkotsu.
I couldn't get pigs feet anywhere, but there is fantastic smoked pig fat available everywhere in eastern Germany (don't fucking ask me why though) so I tried to "infuse" that into the broth!
All right, we're near the finish line here.
I put boiling water in my bowl and waited until it was too hot to touch. Then got rid of the water and put my noodles in.
So let's assemble all these beautiful ingredients into the bowl.
Yeah, I put all my veg in completely raw and it was boiled thoroughly just by the broth.
This only works however if you heat up your bowl really good. If the bowl is cold and you add steaming hot broth it instantly cools down. But you probably knew that already. Cheers.
Talking about boiling though, look at this freakin broth! It doesn't get any hotter on an electric stove.
Time for the final step boys! Pictured is the bowl just a second after adding the broth.
>I couldn't get pigs feet anywhere
If you're in Germany you could substitute pig's hocks. IIRC that's what you use for schweinshaxe.
Never forget to glue your bowl of Ramen to the ceiling! It's essential for making authentic Ramen.
For real though, I hope this picture is not upside down. The money shot is always without broth,
We have pig's feet, too, the problem is just that most butchers don't carry them around. You have to pre-order them, then pick 'em up the next day. Ain't got time for that, I'm already working on the next recipe!
Oh well, I tried..
The final picture after stirring a little for the fat and purees to dissolve into the broth.
most butcher's don't carry them normally*. I don't know what the fuck's wrong with me lmao.
So, this could be the end of the thread, but I've actually got a lil' more OC to post so stay tuned!
Watching Neko Ramen while eating delicious Ramen.
honestly, that looks pretty good, 10/10 would eat
>We have pig's feet, too, the problem is just that most butchers don't carry them around. You have to pre-order them
Yeah, I figured. But isn't schweinshaxe a common thing in Germany? I figured that might help avoid the pre-order hassles. Then again, I've only ever been to the airport in Frankfurt and have never visited a German butcher so for all I know I'm talking out my ass.
Your soup looks good though!
Since I said this was also Ramen General I will post some pictures of the only "Jun's Ramen" outside of Japan! (at least that's what I was told, no clue).
The interior was really beautiful, the staff beyond nice, very cutesy and shy but really nice. Gave a big tip which I usually don't do.
(not because I'm an asshole, rather because I'm really, really poor :~)
Thanks dude, that's always nice to hear!
>Yeah, I figured. But isn't schweinshaxe a common thing in Germany? I figured that might help avoid the pre-order hassles
You're correct and honestly, had I asked for Haxe I would've gotten some Haxe. I could've probably gone to a few different butchers (there's at least like five around where I shop) and could've gotten pig's feet, too, but as I mentioned I just don't have the money right now. It's the start of the month and there's about.. 0 left. I'll move out in only two weeks though so I'll get my deposit (is that what you say in English?) back which is 3 rents, so about 900 bucks.
>Then again, I've only ever been to the airport in Frankfurt and have never visited a German butcher so for all I know I'm talking out my ass.
Haxe is indeed very common in almost every region in Germany, especially Bavaria though.
Tables at Jun's were kinda small, but it was cozy. Would go there again any day of the week. Food wasn't expensive either.
Last pic of the restaurant, let's post some fucking food. I just had to go with the counter though, it's so neat.
I took my gf out to eat after a friend told me about Ramen Jun in Frankfurt.
We got Gyoza as starters. It was pork Gyoza and absolutely fantastic. Very crisp.
Her bowl was Tonkotsu with added vegetables. The broth was super sweet, tasted just a little of pork and very strongly of sweet onion. Lovely dish.
And now for the final post. I hope a lot more people were lurking than posting, but it's whatever. There's a few really good posters on this board and a cesspool of autists shitposting about memes, fast food, youtuber et cetera so I'm very happy to serve the part of the community that's actually interested in cooking :~)
Not to say I dislike fast food or cooking channels on the tube, I don't.
Anyway, here is the ultimate bowl of Ramen. I got "extra spicy". While it wasn't very spicy at all to my European gums it was definitely one of the best bowls of soup I ever had.
The flavor of pork was so strong, the gelatin and fat content in the broth so high that it literally formed a layer around my tongue that I could feel. Everything just tasted of porky, fatty goodness. It was fantastic. The pork belly slices were extremely flavourfull. All around I wholeheartedly recommend Ramen Jun. For a chain it is really good.
Absolutely would eat. 10/10 post OP. We need more documentary posts like these. Thanks for sharing.
The ONLY criticism I'd make is -after all your effort with the veg & egg- is a more artful presentation for photo purposes, then stir it up and tuck in, because hell, if you're going to take the effort to wet our appetites with the thread, finish on her face.
Any Montreal bros in here? Montreal has some excellent ramen.
I agree dude, my photos are complete shit.
I've been reading a few guides on food photography, but my crib in general has terrible lighting and presentation is not one of my strengths. I vow to improve :>
Used the broth again, but this time I added some chinese soy bean paste I had leftover and man did that shit taste good. Way better than before even. Gives it a nice earthy sweetness. I'd take it over soy sauce any day of the week. Maybe even better than Miso Ramen to be honest.
I tried this before, but the broth and chasshu had a very unpleasant taste that always edged on nauseating