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Any advice re: making shoyu tonkotsu ramen?

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I LOVE the stuff, to the point that I'm considering making my own (in a big batch so I can freeze individual portions that I can heat up any old time)!

The recipe(s) I've found aren't all that complicated; just time-consuming, so any advice from seasoned ramen chefs will be appreciated.

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  1. I'm not a seasoned expert or anything, but I do enjoy making ramen (mainly tonkotsu and miso styles, and occasionally even making a fully vegetarian ramen). Your question might be just a little too open to answer well though - for any style of ramen, there are many, many legit ways of making it - and I could give better pointers with a little more information. Any thoughts on how you're planning on proceeding? Are you making your own noodles? Garnishes? How are you planning on making the broth?

    I thought the seriouseats article on ramen was fairly insightful from a technical perspective.
    You don't have to make it their way, but it has some good info to mull over and things you could apply to other recipes as desired.

    Here is an article or two on using baked baking soda (which makes it more alkaline) to more effectively achieve the alkaline pH that gives ramen noodles their distinctive texture.

    1. "Tonkotsu" ramen really isn't very time consuming so I'm wanting to clarify that you mean "Tonkotsu" and not "Tonkatsu" ramen.

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      1. re: todao

        I downloaded a recipe for "Shoyu Ramen with Roasted Pork Belly" from Citrus and Candy. While it's not all that time-consuming, the thought of buying 500g pork belly, 1 kg pork ribs, and 1.5 kg pork knuckle bones or pork hocks, having the butcher cut the bones into 2-4" pieces, and making the special trip to the asian market for bonito flakes and kombo, then screwing it all up....is rather a daunting thought.
        If I got the broth and pork down, then I'd attempt the noodles from scratch.

        And I was interested in tonkotsu (roasted pork belly) rather than the breaded pork cutlet (tonkatsu).

        The recipe calls for roasting the pork belly and the ribs with garlic, ginger and onion, making a broth from the knuckles (replacing the water once to get rid of the gunk), adding the belly and ribs to the broth, simmer 3-4 hours, strain, then add kombu, mirin, sake, and sugar. The rest calls for cooking storebought ramen, and how to serve the dish using soy sauce eggs, nori, scallions, Japanese fish cake, and nanami togarashi.