Name: Tonkotsu ramen (Heiwa Shokudo) (home recipe)
Prep time: 45 min
Total time: 12 h
Yield: 4
Cuisine: American
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

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 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

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.
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.
Strain through a fine sieve; you should have a milky-white broth. Reduce further if needed for body.
Whisk the soy sauce, mirin and miso into the hot broth. Taste and adjust salt.
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.
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.