Shoyu Ramen Tokyo Style Clear Soy Broth

Ingredients

• For the torigara stock
• 1.5 kg chicken bones (torigara), rinsed under cold water
• 500 g pork bones, optional; rinsed
• 10 g kombu, wiped clean with a dry cloth
• 15 g niboshi (dried baby sardines), heads removed if bitter
• 15 g katsuobushi (bonito flakes), added at the end of the stock
• 2 litres cold water
• For the shoyu tare
• 100 ml soy sauce
• 30 ml tamari
• 30 ml usukuchi (aged light soy sauce)
• 60 ml sake, reduced with aromatics
• For the chashu pork belly
• 600 g pork belly, skin on, rolled and tied
• 60 ml soy sauce
• 60 ml sake
• 30 ml mirin
• For the ajitsuke tamago
• 4 eggs, cooked exactly 6 minutes 30 seconds from boiling; cooled immediately in ice water
• 50 ml soy sauce, diluted with tare for marinating liquid
• 150 ml water, combined with soy to make marinating liquid; marinate 12–24 hours
• For the noodles
• 400 g fresh ramen noodles, medium-straight or slightly wavy; cooked firm (katame)
• For the toppings
• 80 g menma (bamboo shoots), rinsed and sliced
• 4 sheets nori, cut to size, placed at bowl edge
• 8 slices narutomaki (fish cake), sliced 5 mm thick

Method

1. 1
   Make the shoyu tare at least one day ahead. Combine the soy sauce, tamari, and usukuchi in a small saucepan with the sake and any aromatics. Reduce over a low flame, then cool and refrigerate. The tare is ready when the blend has lost its raw edge and the soy notes have married into a single, rounded seasoning.
2. 2
   Prepare the torigara stock. Blanch the chicken bones in boiling water for two minutes, drain, and rinse thoroughly. Place the bones in a clean pot with the pork bones if using and cover with cold water. Bring to a bare simmer — never a rolling boil. Add the kombu and niboshi. Maintain a gentle, almost imperceptible simmer throughout; hard boiling destroys clarity and produces a bitter, clouded result. After the kombu and niboshi have given their flavour, add the katsuobushi and steep briefly before straining. The finished stock must be clear and amber, free of visible fat clouds or bone particulate.
3. 3
   Braise the chashu. Roll and tie the pork belly. Sear in a dry pan until the surface is evenly coloured on all sides. Transfer to a snug pot with the soy sauce, sake, and mirin. Braise over a low flame, turning occasionally, until a skewer meets no resistance through the centre and the braising liquid is glossy and reduced. The pork belly must be meltingly tender; it must not be dry.
4. 4
   Prepare the ajitsuke tamago. Bring a pot of water to a full boil. Lower the eggs in gently and cook for exactly 6 minutes and 30 seconds. Transfer immediately to ice water. Once cool, peel and submerge in a diluted soy-tare marinating liquid. Refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours. The eggs are ready when the whites are fully set and the yolks are jammy throughout, with a uniform amber stain on the surface of the white.
5. 5
   Cook the noodles in a large pot of unsalted boiling water — unsalted so that the starch cloud stays out of the clear broth. Cook to a firm (katame) texture; the noodles should yield to a bite with clear resistance at the centre. Drain immediately and divide among four warmed serving bowls.
6. 6
   Warm the serving bowls before assembly; a cold bowl cools the broth instantly and collapses the dish. Place approximately one tablespoon of tare in each warm bowl. Ladle the hot, clear stock over the tare and stir briefly to incorporate. Taste: the broth should be savoury, clean, and balanced — the tare must season without overpowering.
7. 7
   Arrange the toppings over the noodles: two to three slices of chashu, a portion of menma, two slices of narutomaki, one sheet of nori placed upright at the bowl's edge, and one halved ajitsuke tamago. Serve immediately; ramen does not wait.