January 26, 2010

Tonkotsu Ramen/豚骨ラーメン

Yesterday, I thought I would make tonkotsu ramen for lunch today. So, last night, before I went to bed, I made half-boiled seasoned eggs (hanjuku ajitsuke tamago). The recipe can be found here.
昨日は、今日の昼食に豚骨ラーメンを作ろうと思い、昨晩、寝る前に半熟味付け玉子を作りました。レシピはここにあります。

I used two I-Wrap bags to soak the eggs in the broth. I-Wrap bags are quite versatile, and I like cooking with them.
玉子を汁に漬けるのにアイラップを2枚使いました。アイラップはかなり万能で、私がアイラップを使って料理をするのが好きです。

Here are the noodles and a packet of tonkotsu broth:
麺と豚骨スープが一袋:

The noodles are gokuboso (superfine), with a cooking time of 1 minute, and the tonkotsu broth is made by the manufacturer of the noodles. This single packet cost as much as 68 yen! I almost gave up buying it!
麺は極細で、茹で時間は1分です。豚骨スープはこの麺の製造メーカが作ったもので、この1パックで68円もします!買うのを止めようかと思いました!
The labels of both products include "seasonings (amino acids, etc.)". In Japan, it is so hard to find a food product that does not contain them.
両方ともラベルには「調味料(アミノ酸等)と書かれています。日本では、これらを含まない食製品を探すのは難しいです。

I hadn't realized that the tonkotsu broth was actually tonkotsu soy sauce flavored until I opened it. The packet clearly says it's "tonkotsu shoyu aji" (pork bone soy sauce flavored). Look at the brown not white broth.
開けてから初めて、この豚骨スープは実際は豚骨醤油スープだと分かりました。パックには、はっきり「豚骨醤油味」と書いてあります。白色ではなく茶色のスープを見て下さい。

The half-boiled seasoned egg turned out fine.
半熟味付け玉子はうまくできました。

The toppings were thin slices of ham (substitute for chashu), half-boiled seasoned egg, beni shoga (pickled red ginger), and white negi (substitute for green negi).
具は、ハムの薄切り(チャーシューの代わり)、半熟味付け玉子、紅しょうが、白ネギ(青ネギの代わり)。

As always, the noodles were very good,
いつも通り、麺はとても美味しかったですが、

I wasn't very much fascinated by the broth. Considering the price, however, I finished off the broth. To reduce my salt intake, I usually refrain from finishing off the ramen broth.
スープにはあまり感動しませんでした。でも、値段を考えて、スープを飲み干しました。塩分摂取量を減らすため、普通はラーメンのスープを飲み干すのは控えています。

3 comments:

Stacy D said...

Hello!
I found this post very interesting since I was just asking about Tonkotsu ramen! Thanks for explaining assari/kotteri in your previous comment about Ramen.

I was reminded about some negi ramen I hate in Kyoto

I can almost see the difference in fat between your picture and this picture; still I drank all the broth. This should be an rare indulgence. :)

Stacy D said...

oops, I meant to say "ate" in Kyoto... not "hate" - big difference

Hiroyuki said...

Stacy: Thanks for the link. You seemed to have had a wonderful time in Kyoto.
Hmm... fatty broth, and it must have been salty, too!
I am glad, though, that I don't see any seabura (pork back fat) in your ramen (laugh)!