Inventory for tan-tan-men assembly:
Tonkotsu broth (lower left). Bare. More chicken to help keep the flavor inline with most tantanmen style dishes. Yellow hue in fat comes from chicken. I imagine all pork legbone would still turn out well. (But where would the gelatin come from). No ingredients besides the following:
Proportions:
- 4.5 lbs pork leg bones
- 2 lbs chicken wings
- 2 lbs chicken feet
Blanched bok choy. (30 seconds blanch tops in boiling water)
Negi threads. Soak in water for 30 min after slicing.
Tare: Soy (two types, white and usukuchi), tahini, a bit of rice wine vinegar. Extremely simple. Typically tantanmen uses a lighter chicken stock, so less is more here,
- I don't actually know if tare is the right word for this, but it seemed fitting, considering it's a flavor base.
- Szechuan pickles are also pretty common in what I've found, but it's hard to spot.
- Chinese black vinegar, also common.
Chili lard: Used 1/4 cup lard, 1-2 tbs togarashi powder. Will steep for longer (color is more orange than desired).
- Not sure if lard is required, I just like it. Veg oil would work better for the visual.
Noodles include 1 egg white for 500 g flour. Interesting translucency achieved that I couldn't get in other attempts. May be useful for thicker, more robust styles, but here it seemed off. Color got a little grey as these rested of the few days prior, something I've experienced before (and one of the reasons I avoid egg in these noodles). No dye.
Not shown is the soboro which included "sweet black bean paste," a rather hard to find item. I believe a good, sweet miso could be substituted (many of the recipes I found suggested this item is the precursor to miso in history, and they're both made similarly)
Wondering how this would turn out with a lighter, more standard chicken broth... time will tell.
