Jason's Cooking Club

Tokyo-Style Clear Shoyu Ramen

Name: Tokyo-Style Clear Shoyu Ramen
Total time: 75 min
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 1 kg chicken backs or wings (broth); 500 g pork bones or pork shoulder (broth); 4 litres water (broth); 1 onion, halved; 4 garlic cloves; 30 g ginger; 2 scallions; 10 g kombu (broth); 20 g katsuobushi (broth); salt, only if needed; 200 ml soy sauce (tare); 100 ml sake (tare); 100 ml mirin (tare); 20 g sugar (tare); 5 g kombu (tare); 10 g katsuobushi (tare); 3 tablespoons reserved chashu braising liquid (tare); 800 g pork belly (chashu); 150 ml soy sauce (chashu); 100 ml sake (chashu); 100 ml mirin (chashu); 2 tablespoons sugar (chashu); water, to cover (chashu); 4 portions fresh ramen noodles; cooked bamboo shoots or menma; blanched greens; nori; scallions, sliced

“Never let it boil. A hard boil turns the broth cloudy. A lazy simmer for four hours is the whole difference.”

from Chef Shun

Japanese·75 min·Hard·2 servings

plan ahead · 4h broth + 2–3h chashu braise, and the pork chills before it slices

Ingredients

produce

onion, halved1
garlic cloves4
ginger30 g
scallions2
scallions, sliced

meat + seafood

pork belly (chashu)800 g

pantry

chicken backs or wings (broth)1 kg
pork bones or pork shoulder (broth)500 g
water (broth)4 litres
kombu (broth)10 g
katsuobushi (broth)20 g
salt, only if needed
soy sauce (tare)200 ml
sake (tare)100 ml
mirin (tare)100 ml
sugar (tare)20 g
kombu (tare)5 g
katsuobushi (tare)10 g
reserved chashu braising liquid (tare)45 ml
soy sauce (chashu)150 ml
sake (chashu)100 ml
mirin (chashu)100 ml
sugar (chashu)30 ml
water, to cover (chashu)
fresh ramen noodles4 portions
cooked bamboo shoots or menma
blanched greens
nori

Method

01
Blanch the chicken and pork 5 minutes, then rinse every piece clean under running water. Scrub the pot too.
“This is the step everybody skips, and it's why their broth comes out grey. You're washing off the scum before it has anywhere to go.” — jason
⧗ 5 min
02
Cover with fresh water and bring it up to a very gentle simmer. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, and scallions. Cook 3 to 4 hours.
“Never let it boil. A hard boil emulsifies the fat into the liquid and you get a cloudy tonkotsu. A lazy simmer keeps it clear. That's chintan, and that's the whole game here.” — jason
03
Add the kombu for the final 30 minutes only.
⧗ 30 min
04
Pull the kombu out. Kill the heat, add the katsuobushi, and let it sit 5 minutes. Strain carefully. Don't press the solids.
⧗ 5 min
05
Roll the pork belly into a tight log and tie it with twine. Sear it on all sides until it's brown.
“It's braised, not roasted. I had this wrong for years.” — jason
06
Add the soy sauce, sake, mirin, sugar, and enough water to cover. Cover the pot and braise gently 2 to 3 hours, until a knife goes through it with no resistance.
07
Chill the pork completely before you slice it. Warm chashu shreds. Cold chashu cuts clean. Reserve some of the braising liquid for the tare.
08
Warm the soy sauce, sake, mirin, sugar, and the reserved chashu liquid together until the sugar dissolves. Don't boil it.
09
Off the heat, add the kombu and katsuobushi and steep 10 minutes. Strain.
“This is the part every shop guards. Same broth, different tare, and you're eating shoyu or shio or miso. The tare decides what the bowl is.” — jason
⧗ 10 min
10
Spoon 2 to 3 tablespoons of tare into the bottom of each bowl. Nothing else yet.
11
Cook the noodles separately and drain them hard. Into the bowl, then pour about 350 ml of hot broth over the top.
“Never cook noodles in your broth. The starch clouds it and you just spent four hours keeping it clear.” — jason
12
Top with the chashu, greens, bamboo shoots, nori, and scallions. Serve it immediately. Ramen doesn't wait.

you'll needLarge stockpot, 8L or biggerFine-mesh strainer or chinoisButcher's twineHeavy pot with a lidSmall saucepanSpider or noodle basket

notes — what you'd change next time

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JAPANESE · 75 MIN HANDS-ON · HARD

plan ahead 4h broth + 2–3h chashu braise, and the pork chills before it slices

Tokyo-Style Clear Shoyu Ramen

Never let it boil. A hard boil turns the broth cloudy. A lazy simmer for four hours is the whole difference.

— CHEF SHUN

Chef Shun

not yet rated

the plate

method — 12 steps

01
Blanch the chicken and pork 5 minutes, then rinse every piece clean under running water. Scrub the pot too.
“This is the step everybody skips, and it's why their broth comes out grey. You're washing off the scum before it has anywhere to go.”
⧗ 5 min timer
02
Cover with fresh water and bring it up to a very gentle simmer. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, and scallions. Cook 3 to 4 hours.
“Never let it boil. A hard boil emulsifies the fat into the liquid and you get a cloudy tonkotsu. A lazy simmer keeps it clear. That's chintan, and that's the whole game here.”
03
Add the kombu for the final 30 minutes only.
⧗ 30 min timer
04
Pull the kombu out. Kill the heat, add the katsuobushi, and let it sit 5 minutes. Strain carefully. Don't press the solids.
⧗ 5 min timer
05
Roll the pork belly into a tight log and tie it with twine. Sear it on all sides until it's brown.
“It's braised, not roasted. I had this wrong for years.”
06
Add the soy sauce, sake, mirin, sugar, and enough water to cover. Cover the pot and braise gently 2 to 3 hours, until a knife goes through it with no resistance.
07
Chill the pork completely before you slice it. Warm chashu shreds. Cold chashu cuts clean. Reserve some of the braising liquid for the tare.
08
Warm the soy sauce, sake, mirin, sugar, and the reserved chashu liquid together until the sugar dissolves. Don't boil it.
09
Off the heat, add the kombu and katsuobushi and steep 10 minutes. Strain.
“This is the part every shop guards. Same broth, different tare, and you're eating shoyu or shio or miso. The tare decides what the bowl is.”
⧗ 10 min timer
10
Spoon 2 to 3 tablespoons of tare into the bottom of each bowl. Nothing else yet.
11
Cook the noodles separately and drain them hard. Into the bowl, then pour about 350 ml of hot broth over the top.
“Never cook noodles in your broth. The starch clouds it and you just spent four hours keeping it clear.”
12
Top with the chashu, greens, bamboo shoots, nori, and scallions. Serve it immediately. Ramen doesn't wait.