Velvety Pork Bone Ramen Broth

1. Boil Bones

To start, place the pork and chicken bones in a large stockpot and cover them with cold water. Put the pot on a high burner and bring it to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, immediately remove it from heat. This initial boil helps to remove impurities, which is crucial for a clean broth.

2. Char Vegetables

While the bones are boiling, in a medium cast iron or non-stick skillet, heat the vegetable oil over high heat until it begins to lightly smoke. Add the roughly chopped onion, garlic cloves, and ginger. Cook them, tossing occasionally, until they're deeply charred on most sides, which should take about 15 minutes. This charring adds a wonderful depth of flavor to your broth. Set the charred vegetables aside once done.

3. Wash Bones

Next, dump the water from the stockpot down the drain and wash all the bones under cold running water. Make sure to remove any bits of dark marrow or coagulated blood. You can use a chopstick to help remove small bits of dark marrow from inside the trotters or near the chicken's spines.

4. Add Ingredients and Boil

Return the clean bones to the pot, along with the charred vegetables, leeks, scallion whites, mushrooms, and pork fatback. Fill the pot with cold water and bring it to a rolling boil over high heat. As it boils, skim off any scum that appears on the surface and wipe off any black or gray scum from around the rim of the pot. This step ensures a clearer broth. Once scum stops appearing, reduce the heat to a bare simmer and place a heavy lid on top.

5. Simmer Broth

After about 15 minutes, check the pot and adjust the heat to maintain a slow rolling boil. Continue boiling the broth until the pork fatback is completely tender, which should take around 4 hours. Remove the pork fat with a slotted spatula and transfer it to a sealed container, then refrigerate it. Return the lid to the pot and continue cooking until the broth becomes opaque with a texture similar to light cream, which will take an additional 6 to 8 hours. Make sure to keep topping up with water as necessary to keep the bones submerged at all times.

6. Reduce and Strain Broth

Once the broth has achieved the desired consistency, cook over high heat until the broth is reduced to around 3 quarts. Strain the broth through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean pot, discarding the solids. For an even cleaner broth, strain it again through a fine-mesh strainer lined with several layers of cheesecloth. Skim the liquid fat from the top with a ladle and discard it.

7. Finish Broth

Finally, finely chop the cooked pork fatback and whisk it into the finished broth. Season the broth with your choice of condiments, such as salt, soy sauce, miso, sesame paste, grated fresh garlic, or chili oil. Serve the velvety broth with cooked ramen noodles and your favorite toppings.