Tonkotsu Ramen #4: Toppings

The final step - Toppings! And your Ramen is ready to be enjoyed.
Based on your liking the topping can vary from the whole range of vegetables, cheese, eggs, nori, mushrooms and so on.
Even thou one could add many different ingredients, it is still important to keep track of the flavours, trying to stick with one or two dominant flavours, and arrange the rest to fit it.

In this case the dominant flavour is the meat. Second to it are the shitake mushrooms, the rest just completes the palette ;).

This is a part of a longer post: Tonkotsu Ramen

1. Intro
2. Soup Stock
3. Noodles
4. Meat
5. Toppings

Tonkotsu Ramen

Serves: 2
Difficulty: easy
Total time: 15'

Ingredients:

Toppings
- Japanese Pork - sliced thinly
- Simmered shitake mushrooms
- 1 hardboiled egg, cut in half
- 1 medium carrot, cut in thin strips
- 50 gr of tofu, cut in strips
- 2 small nori sheets (5x5 cm each)
- 6 cm long leek, cut diagonally, in thin strips
- 1 small spring onion, cut in small circles

Soup
- 800 mL of Tonkotsu soup stock
- 2 tbs of strained liquid from the Pork sauce
- 1 tbs of tahini
- 2 cloves garlic, finely grated
- 1 ts mirin
- 1 tbs soy sauce
- pinch of white pepper
- pinch of salt (to taste)
- 1 ts sesame seeds coarsely ground

- 2 portion of Udon Noodles

To make it as fast as possible, prepare all your ingredients, then start with mushrooms. Boil the water for the noodles, and make the tahini. When everything is ready, heat up the soup and arrange the toppings. Some like to add pork back fat to their Ramen, I like it like this :).

1. Mushrooms
   - 3 large shitake mushrooms
   - 1 tbs soy sauce
   - 1 tbs mirin
   - 1 tbs sake
   - 1/2 ts of sugar
   
   • Slice up the mushrooms in thin slices.
   • Add them to a small pan and cover with the rest of the ingredients.
   • Simmer on low heat until the liquid becomes thick and the mushrooms are done.
   • Set aside.
2. Tahini
   In case you don't have tahini available, you can make your own.
   - 1-2 tbs of olive oil
   - 4 tbs of sesame seeds
   
   • Heat a pan and toast the seeds on low heat, with no oil for a few minutes.
   • Once they cooled down, add the olive oil and process using a food processor until finely grounded.
   • If you need more oil, add bit by bit, until you reach the desired thickness.
3. Cook the noodles in boiling water until tender. Wash them well under running water and rinse well from any residual water. Place them in the serving ramen bowls.
4. Soup
   
   • Heat up the soup stock.
   • In a small cup mix together the rest of the soup ingredients. Slowly add to the rest of the soup and mix until well combined.
   • Try the soup, and add according to taste more salt, pepper or soy sauce.
5. Pour the soup over the noodles.
6. First add the thin slices of meat, then the mushrooms, carrots and tofu.
7. Then sprinkle the onions and place the nori sheet in the centre. Put half an egg over it, and finally sprinkle with leek.
8. ENJOY! :)

Wasn't it worth the time? ;)

Previous step: Meat