Instant Pot Tonkotsu Ramen with Chashu Pork
Instant Pot Tonkotsu Ramen has a broth that is bursting with flavors! Served with chashu pork, ramen noodles soft boiled eggs, miso tare, and mushrooms!
Noodle dishes are so comforting that I enjoy them even in the hot months of summer! I love Asian-inspired dishes like this, and these other recipes, too: Yum Yum Sauce, Chicken Katsu with Tonkatsu Sauce, and Korean Fried Chicken!
Pressure Cooker Tonkotsu Ramen
Instant Pot Tonkotsu Ramen has all that you need for a complete meal! It has noodles, protein, and veggies swimming in a rich broth.
The broth comes from extracting flavors by boiling pork, specifically the bones. But this will not take so long because, in this recipe, we are using the handy Instant Pot.
We are also making chashu pork belly from scratch in this recipe. These are super tender, melt-in-your-mouth pieces of meat that add to the heartiness, texture, and flavors of this dish.
And the miso ties everything together so well! Learn this recipe and enjoy Japanese food at home on any day!
What is Tonkotsu Ramen?
It is a noodle dish is famous in Fukuoka and Kyushu, Japan. It has a cloudy broth that is primarily made by boiling pork bones with a little bit of meat on them. The collagen in those bones turns into gelatin through the boiling process.
Why is Instant Pot ramen so good?
Typically, you will not attempt to make this dish from scratch because of the waiting time. It may take you at least 12 hours of giving the bones a rolling boil to get that milky broth.
But if you have an Instant Pot, then make this at home! Here are the reasons why:
- It is much faster to boil the bones using a pressure cooker than using other means.
- Making it at home using your IP is cheaper.
- You get to control what goes into it.
What is Tonkotsu broth made of?
It is made of pork bones stock and aromatics such as garlic, onion, and ginger and garnished with some green onions.
How to make Instant Pot Tonkotsu Ramen?
Prepare the broth.
- Soak: Put the bones in a large pot and cover with cold water for 12 hours. Replace the water with boiled water and use the IP to simmer the bones for 10 minutes. Cancel, drain, and then transfer the bones into a bowl of cold water. Remove the fat.
- Pressure-cook: Clean the pot and use it again. Cook the aromatics and bones submerged in water on HIGH for 90 minutes followed by a natural pressure release of 20 minutes.
Prepare the toppings.
- Sous vide the meat: Vacuum-seal the pork belly and marinade in a resealable bag. Then, cook the meat for 10 to 11 hours at 170 degrees Fahrenheit. Let it cool before slicing.
- Make the miso tare: Combine and simmer the ingredients for 5 minutes.
- Boil the eggs: Submerge the eggs in water, boil, then put them in cold water to prevent the yolk from setting firmly. Cut in half right before serving with the ramen.
Assemble.
- Boil the noodles: Follow the directions in the packaging, usually, this takes about 4 minutes. Cook the mushrooms alongside the noodles to soften them up.
- Fry: Lightly fry the chashu pork belly until lightly browned.
- Assemble: At the bottom of the bowl, put the miso tare. Pour in the broth and stir. Add the noodles, more broth, and top with the eggs, mushrooms, pork, and green onions.
Best topping for Tonkotsu Ramen:
Here are more suggestions aside from the egg, mushrooms, chashu, and green onions:
- bamboo shoots
- cabbage
- diced onions
- nori sheets
- pickled ginger
- pickled mustard
- bean sprouts
- boiled spinach
- sesame seeds
More Asian Inspired dishes:
- Chinese Hot and Sour Soup
- Chicken Fried Rice
- Mongolian Chicken
- Korean Beef Bulgogi
- Slow Cooker Butter Chicken
How to store it?
You can refrigerate the broth for 3 days in an airtight container or freeze for up to 3 months. You can also freeze the chashu pork belly.
Recipe Tips:
- Serve this with dumplings, crispy sides like fried chicken, a light salad, or even white rice!
- Giving the aromatics a nice char first before adding them to the water to make the broth develops a deeper flavor.
- You can also add pieces of chicken backs and feet to the broth for another flavor dimension.
Instant Pot Tonkotsu Ramen
Ingredients
Tonkotsu Ramen Broth:
- 3 lbs pork bones with some meat on them - I used rib bones
- 1 onion peeled and halved
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 inch ginger root peeled
Tonkotsu Ramen:
- 8 cups Tonkotsu pork broth
- 12 oz dried ramen noodles high quality
- 4 large eggs
- 3 oz dried shiitake mushrooms hydrated
- 1/2 cup bamboo shoots
- 1/2 cup sweet corn
- 1/2 cup green onions thinly sliced
Chashu Pork Belly:
- 2 lb pork belly rolled and tied
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup sake
- 1/2 cup mirin
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 green onions coarsely chopped
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
Miso Tare
- 1/2 cup shiro miso
- 1/4 cup sake
- 1/4 cup mirin
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
Instructions
Tonkotsu Ramen Broth:
- Place the pork bones in a large stockpot, cover with cold water and chill for 12 hours.
- Place a large saucepan over medium-high heat and add 3 cups of water to a boil.
- In the meantime, transfer the pork bones to the instant pot, select Sauté on High, and add the boiling water to the IP. Simmer the bones for 10 minutes.
- Press cancel.
- Carefully drain the water, transfer the bones to a large bowl of cold water, and remove any fat.
- Rinse the inner pot.
- Add the onion, garlic, and ginger, then add the bones back into the Instant Pot. Fill the pot with water to the 3⁄4 fill line.
- Secure the lid, point the valve to sealed and cook on manual high pressure for 90 minutes, then allow the pressure to naturally release
- Remove the lid and serve the broth as is or with toppings.
Chashu Pork Belly:
- Combine the pork with the soy, sake, mirin, sugars, garlic, sesame oil, and green onions in a large Ziploc bag.
- Stick a straw in the bag and seal the Ziploc bag up against it, sucking as much air as possible, this way the straw is the only opening for air.
- Sous vide the pork for 10-11 hours at 170F.
- Remove pork from the Ziploc bag, and discard the marinade.
- Let the chashu pork belly cool completely, before slicing into 1/8 inches thick slices. Set aside.
Miso Tare:
- Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and simmer on low heat for about 5 minutes.
Medium Boiled Eggs:
- Place the eggs in a small saucepan over medium heat and add water to cover the eggs. Bring to a boil. Boil the large eggs for 6 minutes 30 seconds.
- Submerge the eggs into cold water to chill. Peel and set aside.
- Cut in half before adding to the ramen.
Assemble the Tonkotsu Ramen:
- Boil the ramen noodles per package instructions.
- Cook the mushrooms alongside the noodles, you just need to add them to hot water to soften them. Drain them once softened. – you just want them softened.
- Place a non-stick skillet over medium heat, add just a little oil and gently fry the pork slices, just enough to lightly brown them on both sides.
- Add 1/4 of the miso tare to the bottom of four soup bowls.
- Ladle in about 1/2cup - 1 cup of the tonkotsu broth into each bowl and stir to combine.
- Add some noodles and another 1 1/2 cups of the tonkatsu broth per bowl.
- Top with the medium soft boiled egg, mushrooms, sweet corn, bamboo shoots, chashu pork slices, and chopped green onions.
Nutrition
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