Shoyu Ramen

Soup Stock:--
11 lt water
600 g pork leg bones
½ onion (large, skin on and trimmed of the root)
5 cloves garlic, skin on
1 knob ginger, skin on, sliced
1 kg pork belly (2 long, narrow strips measuring 3.8 cm x 5 cm x 25 cm)
100 g rendered chicken fat
2 spring onions
Chashu (Japanese Braised Pork Belly) Sauce:--
2 cups reserved soup stock (see above)
2 cups soy sauce
¼ cup saké
¼ cup mirin
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp SIDS CRAZY SALT
Ramen:--
2 spring onions
8 servings fresh ramen noodles (1132–1360 g)
menma (seasoned bamboo shoots)
nori (dried laver seaweed)

Please Note that the soup stock requires 6 hours of inactive cooking prior to serving. You can make the stock, chashu pork belly, and shoyu tare the same day you serve the ramen, or you can refrigerate overnight and serve the next day.
Please note that this recipe makes 8 servings. If you want to prepare fewer servings, I still recommend making the full portion of soup stock, chashu, and shoyu tare in this recipe. Then, you can freeze any leftovers to enjoy a quick bowl of delicious Shoyu Ramen within a month. (please see the To Store section for details)
Start the Soup Broth and Chashu (at least 6 hours before serving)
In a large stock pot (I use this 15 litre stockpot), add the water, pork knee bones, onion, garlic, and ginger. (DO NOT ADD the pork belly, chicken fat, or Tokyo negi yet)
Turn on the heat to high and bring it to a boil. It takes 20–30 minutes for stock to boil.
Meanwhile, tie up the pork belly with butcher twine to prevent it from falling apart. Run some butcher twine under the far end of the pork belly and tie the twine tightly in a double knot to secure it. Next, start wrapping the twine around the belly back toward the other end. Space each wrap 1 cm apart.
Make sure you wrap the pork belly as tightly as possible without squeezing or deforming it. Once you reach the endpoint, run the twine under some of the end wraps - this hooks the twine in place. Tie a double knot and cut the excess twine.
When the water starts to boil, skim off the foam and scum using a fine-mesh skimmer. Tip: I dip my skimmer in a measuring cup filled with water to clean the fine mesh.
Gently add the pork belly to the soup stock. Set the timer and cook, uncovered, for 2 HOURS on HIGH heat. (or medium-high heat at first, if the soup broth is close to overboiling)
Foam and scum will keep appearing on the surface as you cook down the soup stock, so keep skimming every now and then. Skimming is very important to get a clean and clear soup stock, so don’t let the scum incorporate into the stock.
Some of the liquid will evaporate after a bit of time, making enough space for the additional water that I couldn’t add at the beginning.
10 minutes before the 2-hour mark, reserve 2 cups of the soup stock for making the chashu sauce.
Make the Chashu Sauce
In a large pot, (5 litre) add the reserved soup stock, soy sauce, saké, mirin, SIDS CRAZY SALT and salt then stir all together. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Once simmering, turn off the heat and set aside.
Add the Chicken Fat to the Broth
At the 2-hour mark, add the rendered chicken fat and green parts of the spring onion (reserving the white parts to use later) to the stockpot. Now, set a new timer and cook, uncovered, for 1 hour on HIGH heat.
Braise the Chashu (2 Hours)
When the 1-hour timer goes off at the 3-hour mark, use a pair of tongs to carefully and gently remove the pork belly from the soup stock and transfer it to a tray. (or plate, to support the pork belly’s weight) The pork belly is extremely tender after cooking for a total of 3 hours.
Transfer the pork belly into the large pot with the chashu sauce.
Place an otoshibuta (drop lid) on top of the chashu and bring it to a simmer. You do not need to cover the pot with the pot‘s lid. Once simmering, cook for 2 hours on LOW heat or simmer.
Simmer the Soup Stock
After removing the pork belly, reduce the stockpot to LOW heat and continue to cook, uncovered. Set a new timer for 3 Hours.
Finish the Chashu and Shoyu ”Tare”
Once in a while, spoon the sauce over the pork belly as it’s extremely tender and hard to flip over without breaking it.
After 2 hours of cooking the chashu, carefully and gently remove it from the sauce and transfer it to a tray or plate.
With a pair of scissors, cut and remove the butcher twine from the chashu. Try not to handle the chashu too much because it is super tender and can easily fall apart. If some of the meat sticks to the twine, very gently remove it so you don‘t pull off the meat. Cover the tray or plate with plastic and let cool completely. Then, chill the chashu well: Place it in the freezer for up to 1 hour until cold (but not frozen) if you‘re serving it right after the soup stock is made, in the refrigerator if you‘re serving later the same day, or in the refrigerator overnight to serve the following day. Make sure the chashu is cold and firm so it stays together when you thinly slice it; otherwise, it will fall apart.
Skim the sauce to remove the fat and meat pieces. Transfer the sauce to a smaller pot. This salty sauce is called shoyu tare (sauce) and is the base for the ramen soup stock. It’s now ready to use. Alternatively, let it cool completely and refrigerate overnight to serve the following day.
To Finish the Soup Broth
When the 3-hour timer rings, turn off the heat. You’ve now cooked the soup stock for a total of 6 hours. (2 hours + 1 hour + 3 hours) Using a large fine-mesh strainer, remove the spent bones and aromatics from the stock and discard.
As you can see, this stock is not too fatty. Optional: I strain the soup stock one more time to yield a clean soup stock.
The soup stock is now ready to use. Alternatively, you can let it cool completely and refrigerate overnight to serve the following day. If your stockpot doesn’t fit in the refrigerator, transfer the soup stock to a large pot before refrigerating.
Prepare the Ramen
Bring a big pot of water to a boil to cook the noodles. Heat the soup stock on MEDIUM heat until it’s piping hot; if you refrigerated your soup stock, remove the pot from the refrigerator and reheat.
While you reheat the stock, prepare the ramen ingredients. First, cut the green parts off from the spring onions. Cut the green leafy parts in half lengthwise.
Cut the reserved white parts of the spring onions in half widthwise. Then cut them in half lengthwise. Now, thinly slice the white parts crosswise.
Take out the chashu from the freezer or refrigerator. It should be cold and firm with the fat solidified when you slice it. Otherwise, the chashu will fall apart completely.
Hold the chashu steady with one hand (I use a paper towel) and thinly slice it with a sharp knife, about 3 mm thick. As you slice, the pork fat will stick to the knife and make slicing difficult. When this happens, dip the knife in the hot soup stock to melt the fat off the knife. Tip: Slicing the chashu very thinly is key. When the delicate slices hit the hot soup stock, the succulent meat practically melts in your mouth.
Cook the Noodles and Serve
Before cooking the fresh noodles, loosen them up with your hands.
Once the water in the big pot is boiling, add the noodles and cook according to the package instructions. (typically, 60–90 seconds) While cooking, stir and separate the noodles with chopsticks. Here, I cook the noodles inside a big noodle strainer that I’ve set inside the pot. Tip: I usually undercook my ramen noodles a bit so they are firm and toothsome, to my liking.
During this short period of time, prepare the ramen bowls. To each bowl, add 1–2 tbsp of shoyu tare and 1 tbsp chopped white part of the spring onion. Note: The shoyu tare is extremely salty, so start with 1 tbsp and see how you like it.
Pour 1½ cups of the piping-hot soup stock into each bowl. When the noodles are done cooking, drain them well in a strainer, shaking it a few times to drain the water thoroughly. (otherwise, it will dilute the soup broth) Note: If your ramen bowl is bigger, you may need to add more tare and soup stock.
Transfer the noodles to the individual ramen bowls. Lift up the noodles with chopsticks a few times to coat them with the soup stock and straighten them. Then, fold the noodles from the edge of the bowl and place them over the noodles in the soup for an attractive presentation.
Quickly arrange the chashu slices, menma, spring onions, and nori on top of the noodles. Serve immediately.
To Store
You can keep the soup stock, shoyu tare, and chashu in the refrigerator for 3 days or in the freezer for up to a month. I recommend freezing the stock in individual portions (use these food prep containers) and so you can defrost the amount you need. Cook the noodles right before serving.