Oodles of Noodles - Tonkotsu Ramen

I made my noodles from scratch for this dish! Tonkotsu Ramen is a pork based Japanese soup noodle. I definitely bought the Tonkotsu flavored ramen packages many a times, but after realizing that I really shouldn't be eating packaged ramen since they're not all that good for you, I've decided to make it from scratch.


After a bit of searching, I came across a few ramen noodle recipes, but I also looked it up on Wiki to see what ramen noodles are made from. According to wikipedia ramen noodles are made from wheat flour, alkaline mineral water (kansui, lye water, available at most Asian groceries), salt, and water. For all the recipes I found, people have added an egg, and/or substituted the kansui with baked baking soda. Yes, baking soda that is baked at 250 degrees. Since I could obtain kansui pretty easily, I opted to use that in my noodle recipe. People also use pasta machines to make the noodles, but my pasta thing-a-ma-jig is kind of broken! So, I did it the old fashioned way, cut the dough by hand. The outcome of my noodles - meh... I think it might be because I used all-purpose flour instead of bread flour. The texture should be chewy/springy and I believe you need a flour with high wheat gluten. Either way, I'll be making them again until I get something I really like.

Hand-made ramen noodles. Since I used kansui (aka lye water) to make the noodles, I boiled them, drained and then boiled them a second time to reduce that lye water/soapy taste.

The soup broth on the other hand came out a wee bit better than the noodles....

Tonkotsu Ramen

Pork stock (I made it with pork neck bones and pig trotters: see my oodles of noodles post for stock making)
Kombu
Minced garlic cloves (2 - 3 cloves)
Sesame oil
Miso paste (2-3 tblsp)
Sesame paste (2-3tblsp)
Soy Sauce (2 tblsp)
Salt to taste

Add the kombu, miso paste, sesame paste, soy sauce and salt to pork stock. Bring to a boil and simmer. While it's simmering you can add other ingredients such as baby bok choi, enoki mushrooms, char siu, a soy braised egg, shredded seaweed. Simmer until your other ingredients are cooked/heated. Cook your noodles separately, drain and rinse the noodles and place them into your bowl and pour in your soup. Fry the minced garlic cloves in the sesame oil until brown and add to your bowl of noodles. Enjoy!

Bowl of tonkotsu ramen