Tsukemen consists of cold noodles and a rich dipping sauce. You dip noodles into the sauce and eat, the same way you eat Zaru Soba. My dipping sauce is made with pork mince and has a rich sesame flavour, with a hint of miso and chilli. Watch the video.
Don't forget to see the section 'MEAL IDEAS' below the recipe card! It gives you a list of dishes that I have already posted and this recipe that can make up a complete meal. I hope it is of help to you.
- 2 pork trotters halved lengthwise (note 1)
- 500g/1.1lb pork belly block (about 3-4cm/1⅛-1½" thick, note 2)
- 20g/0.7oz ginger smashed
- 4 cloves garlic (about 30g/1.1oz) smashed
- 30g/1.1oz green onion (green parts) cut into about 10cm/4" long
- 2500ml/5.3pt water
- 1/3 cup dried anchovies
- 4g/0.1oz bonito flake powder (note 3)
- 150ml/5.1fl oz soy sauce
- 75ml/2.5fl oz water
- 1½ tbsp mirin
- ½ tbsp cooking sake
- 1 tsp sugar
- 5 tbsp sesame oil
- 5 cloves garlic grated
- 200g/7.1oz pork mince
- 1¼ tsp sugar
- 1¼ tsp Chinese chicken broth powder (note 4)
- 5 tbsp Pork Belly Marinade
- 1⅔ tbsp brown miso
- 1 tsp gochujang (Korean red chilli paste, note 5)
- 5 tbsp ground roasted white sesame seeds
- 150g/5.3oz fresh ramen noodles (note 6)
- 3-4 slices marinated pork belly made in this recipe (note 7)
- 1 boiled egg cut in half lengthwise (note 8)
- 1 tbsp green onion finely chopped
- ½ tsp roasted white sesame seeds (optional)
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Put all the ingredients, excluding dried anchovies and bonito flake powder, in a large pot and bring it to a boil.
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Remove the scum as much as possible as it rises up. You will probably need to spend about 10 minutes removing it.
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Reduce the heat to low, place a lid on with a small vent, and cook for 1.5 hours (note 2). Check the water level halfway and add more water (not in the ingredients list) to cover the pork if part of it is above the water level.
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Add anchovies and bonito flake powder to the pot and cook for 15 minutes with the lid on.
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Turn the heat off. Transfer the pork belly to a plate/bowl, then drain the broth through a fine sieve to collect the Tonkotsu Broth in a smaller pot.
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Put all the Pork Belly Marinade ingredients in a pot and bring it to a boil.
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Reserve 5 tablespoons of the marinade for Tsukedare Base.
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Put the pork belly and the remaining marinade in a container that just fits the pork belly in. Place a lid on and leave it for 2 hours. Turn the pork belly over halfway.
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Remove the pork belly from the marinade and store it in a container or a zip lock bag for later use.
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Heat sesame oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté for 10 seconds.
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Add pork mince and cook, breaking it up as you go.
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When the pork changes colour from pink to light brown, add sugar, chicken broth powder, Pork Belly Marinade, and miso. Mix well ensuring that miso is completely dissolved.
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Add gochujan and mix well, then add ground white sesame seeds.
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Cook for about 1 minute, stirring constantly, then turn the heat off.
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Transfer the Tsukedare Base to a container (note 10).
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Boil sufficient water in a pot and cook ramen noodles following the packet instructions.
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Drain through a sieve, and rinse well under running water until the sliminess around the noodles is removed and the noodles are cooled down.
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Shake the water off the noodles as much as you can (note 11) and place the noodles on a serving plate or in a shallow bowl.
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Slice the marinated pork belly and place 3-4 slices on the side of the noodles.
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Place 2 halved egg pieces and chopped green onions on the side as well (note 12).
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In a small bowl of about 10-12cm/4-4¾" in diameter with 200-250ml/6.8-8.6oz capacity, add 2½ tablespoons of Tsukedare Base. If the Tsukedare Base is cold, microwave for 15 seconds or so to warm it up (note 13).
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Pour about 150ml/5.1oz of boiling Tonkotsu Broth (note 14) over the Tsukedare Base in the bowl and scatter the sesame seeds over.
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Serve the Tsukedare bowl and the noodle plate immediately.
1. My trotters weighed 840g/1.9lb in total. I asked the butcher to halve them lengthwise so that they were easier to handle, and the bones were exposed.
If you can’t find trotters, you can use about 1kg of pork soup bones. Prior to cooking them with other ingredients, you need to pre-boil the pork bones for a very short period of time and rinse them, removing the scum. You will get a clearer broth compared to the broth made with trotters.
2. If your pork belly is very thin, it might be overcooked if you cook it in the Tonkotsu Broth for 1.5 hours. Periodically check how tender the pork is after 1 hour of making the broth. If it is very tender, take it out of the broth, otherwise the meat will become too soft and disintegrate.
3. I used a dashi pack that contained powdered dried bonito inside (see the photo in the post). As an alternative, you can dry bonito flakes in the oven or a frying pan, put them in a bag, and massage them to make powdered bonito flakes.
4. I used powdered Chinese broth in a pack from the Japanese grocery store (see the photo in the post). You can also buy a similar product made in China at most Asian grocery stores.
5. If you prefer not to have a slight hot chilli flavour, you can omit it.
6. For Tsukemen Ramen, thick egg noodles (about 2mm/3⁄32" thick)are better suited than the standard thin ramen noodles. Asian grocery stores sell a variety of egg noodles (see the sample noodles in the post), but do not use Hokkein noodles or similar type of yellow noodles that are coated in oil.
If standard thin Japanese ramen noodles are the only option, that’s OK too. You can also use dried ramen noodles but, they are usually thin noodles.
7. Yakibuta is also a good topping if you have it.
8. You could use Ajitsuke Tamago instead of boiled egg, but you might find that everything is all soy-based and the flavour is overwhelming.
9. You will get more broth than required to make 6 servings of tsukedare (dipping sauce). The excess broth can be used for ramen soup or Chinese-style soups. You can also add the hot broth to the leftover tsukedare after eating your noodles and drink it as a soup. It is quite tasty.
10. If you are using the entire Tsukedare Base at once immediately, you don't need to transfer it to a container.
11. It is important to remove the excess water around the noodles. Watery noodles will make the dipping sauce thin. But do not grab the noodles and squeeze them to remove water because the noodles will be flattened and become like a dough.
12. Green onions are to be added to the dipping sauce. I placed green onions in a Chinese soup spoon so that they would not be scattered, and you can control the amount of green onions to go into the dipping sauce. It also gives a better presentation of the noodle plate.
But you can directly put the green onions to the dipping sauce if you want.
13. Because the noodles are cold, it is very important to make the tsukedare (dipping sauce) as hot as possible.
14. The ratio of Tsukedare Base to Tonkotsu Broth depends on your palate. If you are sensitive to the saltiness, you may want more broth or less Tsukedare Base. If you like a stronger flavour, you do the opposite.
Tonkotsu Broth and Tsukedare Base can be kept in the fridge for 3-4 days. You can also freeze them. It is best to divide them into servings and freeze them.