Wakayama Chūka Soba (和歌山中華そば)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large stockpot
• •Fine-mesh strainer lined with cloth
• •Small saucepan for tare
• •Ramen bowls, warmed before serving
• •Noodle strainer or deep sieve

Instructions

1. 1

   Blanch the bones

   Put the pork bones in a large pot, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Boil hard for 5 minutes, then drain and rinse the bones under running water, rubbing away dark clots and gray scum. This first boil is not for flavor. It cleans the bones so the real broth can become rich without tasting dirty.

2. 2

   Start the broth

   Return the clean bones to the pot with 3 liters cold water, the pork belly or shoulder, onion, ginger, and scallion whites. Bring just to a boil, skim once, then lower to a steady simmer. Keep the surface moving gently, not thrashing. A violent boil breaks the fat into the broth too fast and makes the taste coarse before it has become deep.

3. 3

   Simmer and remove pork

   Simmer for 60 to 75 minutes, until the pork piece is cooked through and tender enough for a skewer to pass without force. Lift the pork out and let it cool. Keep simmering the bones for 3 more hours, adding a little hot water if the bones begin to show. The bones need time to give body; the meat would only dry out if you left it in for the whole journey.

   For a thicker Ide-style broth, keep the pot at a lively simmer during the last hour. For a cleaner depot-front feeling, keep it quieter. Both belong to Wakayama; choose the bowl you mean to make.
4. 4

   Make the dashi

   While the pork broth cooks, wipe the konbu with a damp cloth, but don't wash it. Put it in 2 cups cold water and warm slowly over low heat. Pull the konbu when the water trembles and small bubbles climb the side, before it boils. Bring the water to a gentle boil, add the katsuobushi all at once, take the pot off the heat, and leave it alone for 2 minutes. Strain through cloth or a fine sieve and let it drip. Don't squeeze, because squeezing presses harsh, oily flavors into the clean stock.

5. 5

   Build the tare

   In a small saucepan, combine the shoyu, mirin, sake, sugar, salt, and 1 cup of the fresh dashi. Bring just to a simmer for 2 minutes, then turn off the heat. Slice the cooled pork and spoon 2 tablespoons of the warm tare over it. The tare is the bowl's seasoning, not a sauce poured on top at the end, so it should taste stronger than soup but rounded, with no raw edge of alcohol.

6. 6

   Strain the broth

   When the pork broth is pale, full, and slightly sticky on the lips, strain it into a clean pot. You should have about 2 liters. If you have much more, simmer it down; if much less, add a little hot water. This keeps the tare honest, because the seasoning was balanced for a broth with body, not for a thin wash.

7. 7

   Season each bowl

   Warm the serving bowls. Put 2 to 3 tablespoons tare in each bowl, then add about 1 1/2 cups hot pork broth and stir. Taste the first bowl before you commit to the rest. It should be soy-forward and pork-rich, but still loose enough to drink. If it tastes flat, add tare; if it tastes sharp, add broth.

8. 8

   Cook the noodles

   Boil the thin noodles in plenty of water according to the package timing, usually 1 to 2 minutes for fresh noodles. Stir as they enter the pot so they don't cling together. Drain hard with two sharp shakes. Extra water dulls the broth, and thin noodles keep no secrets.

9. 9

   Assemble the bowls

   Slide the noodles into the seasoned broth and lift them once with chopsticks so they settle neatly. Add slices of chashu, a half-cooked egg, menma, scallion, and kamaboko if using. Keep the toppings modest and set slightly off-center. The bowl should look generous, not crowded. Leave it room.

10. 10

    Serve with hayazushi

    Serve at once with hayazushi on a small plate beside the bowl. Take a bite of the pressed mackerel sushi between spoonfuls of broth. The vinegar clears the mouth, which is why the pairing has stayed at the table. It isn't decoration. It teaches the richness how to behave.

Chef Tips

• •Ask the butcher for pork bones with some joint and skin attached, not bare white bones. Collagen gives the broth its body, and body is what makes Wakayama's pork-shoyu bowl different from a plain soy soup.
• •Use Japanese koikuchi shoyu for the tare. A soy sauce that tastes harsh straight from the bottle will taste harsher in the bowl, because the tare has nowhere to hide.
• •Fresh thin noodles matter. If you must use dried ramen noodles, choose straight, thin ones and cook them a little firm. Thick curly noodles pull the bowl toward another city.
• •Hayazushi is worth finding if you want the Wakayama table, not only the noodle bowl. If pressed mackerel sushi is out of reach, serve the chūka soba without pretending another side is the same thing.

Advance Preparation

• •The pork broth can be made 2 days ahead and refrigerated. Chill it quickly, keep the fat cap if you like a richer bowl, and reheat gently before serving.
• •The tare keeps 1 week refrigerated. It will taste too strong on its own, as it should, because the broth is waiting for it.
• •The pork can be sliced after chilling, which gives cleaner cuts. Warm the slices briefly in a spoonful of tare and broth before topping the bowl.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 830g)