Asahikawa Ramen — Hokkaido's Double-Soup Tradition (旭川ラーメン)

Ingredients

• Broth A — Pork Bone
• 1.2 kg pork bones (trotters or neck), blanched and rinsed before use
• 2 litres cold water
• Broth B — Dried Seafood
• 60 g niboshi (dried sardines), heads and viscera removed to reduce bitterness if preferred
• 30 g katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)
• 15 g kombu, wiped clean
• 1.2 litres cold water, for cold extraction or brief simmer
• Soy Tare
• 120 ml soy sauce, Japanese-style, dark
• Fat Layer
• 40 ml rendered pork or chicken fat (lard or schmaltz), strained and clear
• Noodles and Bowl
• 480 g fresh ramen noodles, medium-thickness, wavy preferred
• Garnish
• 4 slices chashu pork, braised pork belly or shoulder, sliced
• 4 soft-boiled eggs (ajitsuke tamago), halved
• 2 spring onions, finely sliced
• 4 sheets nori

Method

1. 1
   Blanch the pork bones in boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold running water, removing any grey matter. Place in a large pot with 2 litres of cold water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a steady simmer. Skim the surface regularly. Simmer for 6–8 hours, adding water as needed to keep the bones submerged. The finished Broth A should be opaque, richly coloured, and carry visible body. Strain through a fine sieve and reserve, kept warm and separate.
2. 2
   Combine the niboshi, katsuobushi, and kombu in 1.2 litres of cold water. Cold-extract by refrigerating for 8–12 hours, or bring slowly to just below a simmer (approximately 60–70 °C) and hold for 30 minutes without boiling. Strain immediately through a fine sieve — do not press the solids. The finished Broth B should be clear to pale amber, carrying a clean oceanic character with a faint bitter edge. Reserve warm and strictly separate from Broth A.
3. 3
   This is the step on which the dish lives or dies. At service, combine Broth A and Broth B per bowl — not in a shared pot. A ratio of 60:40 (Broth A to Broth B) is a documented Asahikawa starting point; the balance is arrived at through iteration, not formula. The combined volume per bowl should be approximately 300–320 ml. The combined broth should read as neither purely porky nor purely oceanic: the pork bone's body and the seafood's glutamate-driven umami should occupy a flavour space that neither stock reaches alone. Adjust the ratio before adding tare.
4. 4
   Warm the bowls. Add 30 ml of soy tare to each warm bowl. Ladle the combined W-soup broth over the tare and stir briefly to integrate. The broth should turn dark amber on contact with the tare.
5. 5
   Cook the noodles in a separate, large pot of unsalted boiling water according to their thickness — typically 90–120 seconds for fresh wavy ramen noodles. Drain well and transfer immediately to the bowl. The noodles should be just cooked through with residual elasticity.
6. 6
   Spoon 10 ml of rendered pork or chicken fat onto the surface of each bowl. This fat layer is essential: it insulates the broth surface, keeping the bowl significantly hotter for longer — a functional response to Asahikawa's cold climate, not solely an aesthetic choice. The fat should pool and spread as a thin, shimmering film across the broth.
7. 7
   Arrange chashu slices, a halved soft-boiled egg, sliced spring onion, and a sheet of nori on top of the noodles. Serve immediately — the fat layer begins its insulating function at once.