Kitakata Ramen Shoyu and Flat Noodle Northern Style

Ingredients

• For the broth
• 1 kg Pork back bones (ribs), rinsed
• 30 g Niboshi (dried sardines), heads and viscera removed to reduce bitterness
• 2 litres Cold water
• For the shoyu tare
• 60 ml Light soy sauce (usukuchi), Kitakata style — not dark soy
• 15 ml Mirin
• For the noodles
• 400 g Kitakata-style flat wavy ramen noodles, fresh or fresh-packed; high-hydration (40–50% moisture), 5–7 mm wide, wavy; substitute unavailable without loss of character
• For the toppings
• 300 g Chashu pork belly, braised, sliced 5 mm thick
• 80 g Menma (lacto-fermented bamboo shoots), drained
• 2 Negi (Japanese long onion), thinly sliced on the bias

Method

1. 1
   Place the pork back bones in a large pot, cover with cold water, and bring to a vigorous boil. Drain immediately and rinse bones and pot. This blanching purge removes blood and excess protein. Return the bones to the clean pot, add 2 litres of cold water, and bring to a gentle simmer. The surface is ready to proceed when it runs clear after careful skimming.
2. 2
   Add the niboshi to the simmering pork bone broth. Maintain a gentle simmer throughout — never a rolling boil — and continue to skim any foam or fat that rises. The niboshi's sardine character should be detectable in the broth but must not resolve into bitterness. The broth is done when it is amber, transparent, and carries a clean dual depth of pork and sardine; a rolling boil at any point will cloud the stock irreparably. This is where the dish lives or dies.
3. 3
   Strain the broth through a fine sieve lined with muslin, discarding bones and niboshi. The finished broth must read as clear amber when a ladleful is held to the light — no cloudiness, no grey tint.
4. 4
   Combine the light soy sauce and mirin in a small saucepan and warm briefly over low heat. This is the shoyu tare. Season each bowl by placing approximately 18–20 ml of tare in the base before ladling in broth — the proportion keeps the soy present but restrained; the broth should remain lighter and cleaner in colour than a Tokyo shoyu ramen.
5. 5
   Bring a large pot of unsalted water to a full boil. Add the flat Kitakata noodles and cook according to their fresh weight — high-hydration noodles at 40–50% moisture cook markedly faster than standard ramen noodles; begin testing early. The noodle is ready when it is silky and slippery with no raw-flour resistance at the core, and its ribbon-like wave holds its shape without going slack.
6. 6
   Drain the noodles and divide among four warmed bowls over the pre-measured tare. Ladle the hot clear broth over each portion. Arrange chashu slices, menma, and sliced negi on top. The canonical topping set is simple — additions beyond these three are not part of the Kitakata tradition.