Tonkotsu ramen
Tonkotsu ramen (豚骨ラーメン) is a ramen dish that originated in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture on the Kyushu island of Japan, and it is a speciality dish in both Fukuoka (where it is referred to as Hakata ramen) and Kyushu.
Tonkotsu ramen | |
| Alternative names | Hakata ramen |
|---|---|
| Type | Noodle soup |
| Place of origin | Japan |
| Region or state | Fukuoka |
| Created by | Tokio Miyamoto |
| Invented | 1937 |
| Main ingredients | ramen, pork broth, chāshū |
| Variations | Kagoshima ramen |
The broth for tonkotsu ramen is based upon pork bones, and tonkotsu (豚骨/とんこつ) in Japanese means "pork bones". The soup broth is prepared by boiling the bones in water for a significant amount of time, up to eighteen hours, and the broth is typically cloudy in appearance. Additional broth ingredients can include onion, garlic, spring onions, ginger, pork back fat, pig's trotters, oil and chicken carcasses. The dish is traditionally topped with chāshū (sliced pork belly), and additional ingredients can include kombu, kikurage, shōyu, chili bean paste, sesame seeds and others.
The traditional preparation method for the ramen noodles used in tonkotsu ramen is for the noodles to be hard in the center. Some ramen shops allow customers to select the level of firmness for the noodles, including futsu for regular or standard, harigane for very hard, barikata for al dente and yawamen for soft. Some restaurants also provide a second order of noodles if requested by the customer, in a system referred to as kaedama.