Atsuko says: Ramen is a noodle dish that has taken the world by storm. Tonkotsu ramen comes from Kyushu, my region, and the first thing I do when I go back home is have a big bowl of it. This recipe is time-consuming but worth the effort! You can make both the stock and the marinade a day in advance and keep them refrigerated.

Ingredients

Char Sui pork

1.5kg pork belly, skin removed
10g fresh ginger, unpeeled, sliced
10cm leek, green part only (or 2 spring onions)
200ml soy sauce
100ml sake
50 ml mirin
2 tbsp soft light brown sugar
2 tbsp rice vinegar

Pork stock

1.25kg pork shoulder bones
1 large onion, peeled and cut in half
1 carrot, unpeeled, diced
20g fresh ginger, unpeeled, thinly sliced 2 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole

Soup

1.2 litres pork stock
1 tsp fine sea salt
60 ml Char Siu Pork sauce
2 tsp light soy sauce
4 x portions dried ramen noodles, cooked following the packet instructions until al dente, then drained

Optional toppings

4 Nitamago Eggs, halved
2 spring onions, thinly sliced
1 tbsp toasted white sesame seeds
2 tsp grated garlic
2 dried wood ear mushrooms, soaked in water for 10 minutes, well drained and sliced
20g pickled ginger
1 sheet nori seaweed, cut into squares
kitchen string

Serves 4

Method

For the char siu pork, roll the meat into a cylindrical shape and secure tightly with kitchen string. Transfer to a medium saucepan and cover with cold water.

Add the ginger and leek, then bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover with a lid and simmer for 40 minutes.

Remove the pork from the pan and set aside. Keep 500ml of cooking water in the pan (discarding excess), then add the soy sauce, sake, mirin, brown sugar and rice vinegar. Return the pork to the pan, cover and cook over a low heat for 2 hours.

Place the pork and sauce in a suitable container, ensuring it is covered with the sauce. Let cool, then refrigerate and marinate overnight. The pork will keep this way for up to 1 week until you are ready to serve.

For the pork stock, boil the bones in a large saucepan with 3 litres of water for 10 minutes. Replace the cooking water with 3 litres of fresh water. Add the onion, carrot, ginger and garlic to the bones, then bring back to the boil. Simmer gently, covered with a lid, for 8 hours for best results (6 hours minimum). Add roughly 2 litres fresh water every 2 hours, when you see any of the bones uncovered, the stock should turn milky-white. Strain the stock using a fine-mesh sieve and return to the pan over a low heat.

Remove the char siu pork from the fridge. Remove the kitchen string (save the marinade) and thinly slice the meat, ready to top the soup.

To the pork stock in the pan, mix in the sea salt, 60 ml char siu marinade and light soy sauce. Bring the soup almost to the boil again to heat through.

To serve, divide the hot soup between serving bowls and add the cooked noodles. Top with slices of char siu pork and a selection of other toppings, such as eggs, spring onions, sesame seeds, grated garlic, mushrooms, pickled ginger and nori seaweed.

From Atsuko’s Japanese Kitchen by Atsuko Ikeda (£18.98, Ryland Peters & Small) out now

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