History

Heiwa Shokudo, a longstanding downtown Asheville Japanese kitchen, sits on North Lexington Avenue. The kitchen serves tonkotsu ramen alongside omakase sushi, hot pot, hibachi and poke; the ramen is the local-cult winter order. Asheville's ramen scene grew through the 2010s with Heiwa and several pop-ups, but Heiwa remains the canonical sit-down ramen room. The cold mountain winters and the brewery-district crowd looking for something hot post-flight have kept the bowl on every dinner menu since.

Common allergens: Gluten, Soy, Egg

Make it at home

Yield Serves 4Hands-on 45 minTotal 12 hrDifficulty Advanced

Ingredients

  • 2 kg pork bones (neck, trotter, knuckle mix)
  • 1 large onion, halved
  • 1 head garlic, halved across the equator
  • 5 cm piece ginger, sliced
  • 60ml soy sauce, plus more to taste
  • 2 tbsp mirin
  • 1 tbsp white miso
  • 400g fresh ramen noodles
  • 4 soft-boiled eggs, marinated overnight in soy-mirin
  • 200g chashu pork belly, sliced thin
  • Sliced scallions, nori sheets, sesame oil to serve

Method

  1. Cover the pork bones with cold water in a large stockpot, bring to a hard boil for 10 minutes, then drain and rinse the bones and pot.
  2. Return the bones to the pot with onion, garlic, ginger and 4 litres fresh water. Bring to a hard boil, then maintain a rolling simmer for 10 to 12 hours, topping up water as it reduces.
  3. Strain through a fine sieve; you should have a milky-white broth. Reduce further if needed for body.
  4. Whisk the soy sauce, mirin and miso into the hot broth. Taste and adjust salt.
  5. Bring a separate pot of water to a hard boil for the noodles. Cook ramen 1 to 2 minutes until just tender, drain and divide between bowls.
  6. Ladle the hot broth over the noodles. Top each bowl with a halved soft-boiled egg, two slices of chashu pork belly, sliced scallions, a sheet of nori and a few drops of sesame oil.

Tip from the editors. The hard-boil-then-rinse step on the bones is what makes the broth milky-white instead of murky. Skipping it is the most-common home-cook ramen failure.

This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.

Where to eat tonkotsu ramen (heiwa shokudo)

Tonkotsu ramen (Heiwa Shokudo) in Asheville

Heiwa Shokudo ★ 4.3

Japanese sushi and ramen$$downtown

Heiwa Shokudo on North Lexington is a longstanding downtown Japanese kitchen. Sushi, ramen, omakase, hot pot and hibachi in a casual downtown room.

Signature: Tonkotsu ramen, Omakase sushi, Hot pot

Order: The tonkotsu ramen, or the chef's omakase if you book ahead.

Tip: Walk-in friendly midweek. The sushi bar takes omakase by reservation 48 hours ahead.

87 N Lexington Ave, Asheville, NC 28801

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