Tonkotsu Gyokai Tsukemen (Soup only)

Add your water and pork bones to a pressure cooker, at least 8 qts, but preferably 10. Bring to a boil, and skim the scum, until little to none rises, around 20 minutes Cover, bring to high pressure, cook one hour. Meanwhile, deskin the pork belly, roll into a cylinder. If attached to the ribs, cut along the ribs to remove the belly first. While cooking, remove the toenails of the chicken feet. There can be dirt under the nails, it’s good to remove. Open the pressure cooker using fast release, add the chicken backs, chicken feet, tied pork belly, ribs, and pork belly skin. Close the pressure cooker, bring to high pressure, cook 1 hour. Fast release again, open the pressure cooker, remove the pork belly roll, and reserve for chashu. Add the onion, ginger, and garlic. Boil for 1 hour uncovered. Add water as needed to keep things submerged, but some evaporation is expected. Strain the soup, reserving the pulp of bones and meat and vegetables. Do not discard pulp. DO NOT DISCARD PULP. Dig through the pulp to remove large bones, like femurs, or extra chunky neck bones. You’ll notice at this stage that the bones are quite brittle and can break under pressure. Any bones you can crumble in your fingers are good to keep. Blend 2/3rds the bones, meat, vegetables, in a blender, with enough soup to make a slurry. Yep, that’s right, you’re blending bones here. It’s fine. Add the slurry back to the strained soup. Mix to combine. Yield is 3.5 L, add or boil water to get to this level. Add the slurry to a large pot, and add kombu and niboshi. Heat to 176F, and allow to steep for 20 minutes. Discard kombu, bring to a simmer, and add remaining ingredients (katsuobushi, sababushi, and gyofun). Remove from heat, steep 15 minutes. Stir frequently to prevent burning on the bottom of the pot, as the sludge can settle and scorch Strain soup through porous strainer to remove fish, pressing on pulp to ensure full extraction. Final yield is around 2.5L, which is around 10 generous servings.

Unbalanced

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet