ITT: Trag makes tonkotsu ramen from scratch

[doug rr]

excellent work so far

now we just wait for ruddo to cut open candy bars

[tragabigzanda]

from the ashes of tonkotsu

[tragabigzanda]

from the ashes of tonkotsu

[washing machine]

That second photo looks like an aerial view of a solid pint of porter.

[E.H. Ruddock]

excellent work so far

now we just wait for ruddo to cut open candy bars

I have almost all of them. Standby

[tragabigzanda]

The chashu pork is heaven.

After 5-6 hours, the tonkotsu broth is like the vague idea of ramen broth. Still have another 3.5 hours of boiling, then another hour or so to reduce it down.

[tragabigzanda]

from the ashes of tonkotsu

[doug rr]

you can always try again tomorrow

[96583UP]

who would have known that asian poor people food could be so complicated

[tragabigzanda]

from the ashes of tonkotsu

[Chris_H_2]

Getting a little scared about the flavor of this broth. It's in the general ballpark... But it's not blowing my mind yet. Lots of comments in the recipe thread about final steps (straining, whisking melted fat in, adding salt) that bring it home, but a the moment I'm worried.

whisking melted fa... what?

[tragabigzanda]

from the ashes of tonkotsu

[knee tunes]

Welp. Glad I took the journey, but ultimately disappointing...

The pork belly turned out great:




The broth was...fine. I've got to figure out exactly where I went wrong, because in following along with Kenji's recipe and pics, my stuff looked exactly like his up to a about hour 10 or so.

Here's kenji's broth at hour 10:


And mine, after I strained it through a colander, but before I strained it through a coffee filter(in lieu of cheesecloth):



As I said earlier, the only difference in our recipes was that he used 1lb of pork fat back, and that I had to substitute pork belly. It could be that the difference in fat content played a big part in this, and/or that my pork belly imparted a different flavor. But ultimately, while there was ample pork flavor, there was also still a lot of prominent onion and leek flavor too.

My pork belly and egg rule, and the mayu oil is pretty great too, but I think I can improve upon that a bit. And my final shots are not too appetizing, especially when compared to Kenji's beautiful broth.

Mine:


Kenji's:


Feeling somewhat defeated, but I'll shake it off and have another go later this winter. But I'll plan ahead and order some fatback online next time.

Is that a snail?

[tragabigzanda]

from the ashes of tonkotsu

[Bammer]

It’s the cheesecloth.


It’s always the cheesecloth.

Lesson learned, grasshopper?

[E.H. Ruddock]

I hope we've all learned an important lesson here.

[96583UP]

nice try

next time may i suggest a microwaveable Costco ramen as an alternative

[washing machine]

When will this thread heat up again, trag?

[Chris_H_2]

When will this thread heat up again, trag?

he needs about 4 more paychecks to pay for the ingredients

[washing machine]

Can't he just purchase choice chasu instead?