Tonkotsu ramen

Tonkotsu ramen
Tonkotsu ramen
Alternative namesHakata ramen
TypeNoodle soup
Place of originJapan
Region or stateFukuoka
Created byTokio Miyamoto
Invented1937
Main ingredientsramen, pork broth, chāshū
VariationsKagoshima ramen

Tonkotsu ramen (豚骨ラーメン) is a ramen dish that originated in Kurume,[1][2][3] Fukuoka Prefecture on the Kyushu island of Japan, and it is a specialty dish in Kyushu.

The broth for tonkotsu ramen is based on pork bones, and tonkotsu (豚骨/とんこつ) in Japanese means "pork bones".[4][1][5] The soup broth is prepared by boiling the bones in water for a significant amount of time, up to eighteen hours, and the broth is typically cloudy in appearance.[4][1][2] Additional broth ingredients can include onion, garlic, spring onions, ginger, pork back fat, pig's trotters, oil and chicken carcasses.[4] The dish is traditionally topped with chāshū (sliced pork belly), and additional ingredients can include kombu, kikurage, shōyu, chili bean paste, sesame seeds and others.[4][1]

The traditional preparation method for the ramen noodles used in tonkotsu ramen is for the noodles to be hard in the center.[2] Some ramen shops allow customers to select the level of firmness for the noodles, including futsu for regular or standard, harigane for very hard, barikata for al dente and yawamen for soft.[2] Some restaurants also provide a second order of noodles if requested by the customer, in a system referred to as kaedama.[2]

  1. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference TJWL 2009 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference LPFood 2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "The History of Tonkotsu Ramen in Kyushu". Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference Aye 2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference StraitsTimes 2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).