Tonkotsu

During my trip last year in Tokyo, I had the opportunity to try ramen in Tonkotsu broth. To say the least I was hooked but the week long trip did not satiate my new-found appetite for this delicious elixir.

To put it simply, Tonkotsu is a broth made from roasted pork bones, preferably marrow filled ones such as the thick leg bones and a sheet of kombu which has been simmered/boiled to the pits of hell and back, to be transformed into a milky white and addictive soup base.

The night was slow so with the help of my cohort, I set out to recreate this thick and flavourful broth that I have come to love.

Roasted bones boiling away...

Jae chopping up the softened bones which were strained out of the half finished Tonkotsu. This step is very important in which the broken bones release the maximum amount of rich marrow hidden inside.

Mmmm... These bones have magical properties! Note, bits of cartilage lying around, they'll be melted down to nothing on the second boiling.

The images are from yesterday, I had more bones on hand today and added them to the Tonkotsu and redid the whole process again, doubling the flavour intensity (YEAH!). In total, the Tonkotsu was prepared over two days at a constant rolling boil for approximately 16 hours resulting in a mind blowing blast of porky goodness.

I'll post a final product, as in a complete bowl of ramen with all the fixings. Though that'll be in the near or late future.