RamenJapanese noodle soup

• 1 kg2.2 lb chicken carcasses, backs or wings (tori-gara), rinsed of blood
• 1 kg2.2 lb pork bones (neck or leg), cracked by the butcher
• 4 l4.2 qt cold water, plus more to top up
• 1 onion, halved, skin on
• 30 g1 oz fresh ginger, sliced, skin on
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 naga negi (Japanese long onion) or 4 thick scallions, green tops for the stock, white parts kept for garnish
• 20 g0.7 oz niboshi (dried sardines or anchovies), heads and dark innards pulled off
• 10 ga 4 in square kombu (dried kelp)
• 600 g1.3 lb boneless pork shoulder or belly, in one piece, rolled and tied with string, for chashu
• 180 ml3/4 cup koikuchi (regular Japanese) soy sauce, for the chashu braise and tare
• 60 ml1/4 cup mirin
• 60 ml1/4 cup sake
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 4 portions (about 520 g)4 portions (about 18 oz) fresh ramen noodles (chūka-men, made with kansui), medium-thin and wavy
• 80 gabout 1/2 cup menma (seasoned bamboo shoots)
• 1 sheet nori, cut in quarters
• 8 slices naruto (fish cake), optional
• 2 soft-boiled eggs, marinated if you like (ajitama), optional, halved

Method

1. 1

   1. Put the chicken and pork bones in a large pot, cover with cold water, bring to a boil and boil 5 minutes; drain and rinse the bones and the pot so the grey scum is gone.

2. 2

   2. Return the bones to the clean pot with the 4 litres (4.2 qt) of cold water and bring slowly to a simmer, skimming off the foam as it rises.

3. 3

   3. Add the onion, ginger, garlic and negi tops, then keep the stock at a bare simmer, about 90–95 °C (195–205 °F), uncovered, for 4 hours; it must never roll, or it turns cloudy. Top up with hot water if the bones show.

4. 4

   4. Meanwhile brown the tied pork lightly on all sides in a heavy pot, then add the soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar and 250 ml (1 cup) of water from the stock pot.

5. 5

   5. Cover the pork with a drop lid or a disc of baking paper and braise on low heat for about 2 hours, turning it every 30 minutes, until a skewer slides in with no resistance.

6. 6

   6. Lift the pork out, let it cool, then chill it until firm so it slices thinly. Strain the braising liquid and keep it: this is the shoyu tare.

7. 7

   7. In the last 45 minutes of the stock, add the niboshi and kombu; take the kombu out after 15 minutes, before the stock boils around it.

8. 8

   8. Strain the stock through a fine sieve lined with cloth. You should have about 2 litres (8 cups) of clear, pale-gold broth; keep it hot.

9. 9

   9. Cut the white parts of the negi into fine rings, slice the chilled chashu thinly and warm the menma.

10. 10

    10. Bring a large pot of unsalted water to a rolling boil and warm the bowls with some of it.

11. 11

    11. Put 2 to 3 tablespoons of tare in each empty bowl and pour in about 400 ml (1 2/3 cups) of very hot broth; taste one bowl and adjust the tare.

12. 12

    12. Shake the noodles loose and boil them for the time on the packet, usually 1 to 2 minutes, until just firm.

13. 13

    13. Drain the noodles hard in a sieve, slide them into the soup and lift them with chopsticks so they lie straight and coated.

14. 14

    14. Lay chashu slices, menma, negi, nori and, if using, naruto and half an egg on top, and serve at once.