Creamy Hakata Style Tonkotsu Ramen

By Brian ShenApr 21, 2026

You know and love the beloved creamy Tonkotsu style ramen, known for its fatty richness. There are regional variations that a true ramen connoisseur may choose, like the Hakata style, known for being very pork forward and lighter with the seasoning. Hakata style noodles are straight and thin, and the toppings are minimalist, allowing the broth and the noodles to shine. Think of Hakata like salt on a steak as opposed to sauce on a steak.

Hakata ramen is usually served with thin straight noodles, and that makes KYUNU Just Noodles a perfect fit!

In our take on the Hakata style Tonkotsu Ramen, you can get close to the real thing with a few shortcuts that make it a bit easier. This is still a multi-component recipe, but the good news is you can freeze it and make a quick tare when you are ready to enjoy.

Shortcut 1: Make a porky shio tare

Hakata style tares are usually pretty bare bones: salt and maybe a little water. We are going to make this extra porky by using a a trick from Chris Young, who worked in a Michelin star kitchen and became known for his chicken broth method, which favors using meat instead of bones. We will basically boil down the pork broth until it becomes a chicken concentrate and dissolve some salt in it for extra flavor.

Shortcut 2: Keep the aromatic oil simple

We will use pork or chicken lard, enhanced with some aromatics like garlic, ginger. If you want to add more umami, you can also add a pinch of msg.

Shortcut 3: Pressure Cook then rapid boil

Using a pressure cooker for the pork bones shortens cooking time, but will generally yield a clear broth unless you take one additional step: use the sautee function to rapidly boil the broth on high to emulsify the fat and turn the broth creamy. If the broth doesn't have the right velvety mouth feel, you can also add a little agar agar slurry to the broth.

With those things in place, you will have a delicious restaurant quality broth without simmering for 12 hours!

Note: this recipe is designed for an 8qt Ninja Foodi Multi-Cooker.

We recommend having toppings already prepared. You can make this part a lot easier by buying Korean banchan instead of making the toppings yourself. You can buy spinach banchan, fish cakes, kimchi. But we always recommend adding blanched bean sprouts, black fungus mushrooms, and a 4 minute egg as well.

Ingredients

Porky Tare

3-4 lbs Country style ribs (boneless), cubed
1 tbs neutral oil
2.5–3.5 quarts water
Approx 63g salt

Aromatic Oil

1/4 cup pork lard or chicken fat
1 stalk green onion
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1/2 inch ginger, sliced into planks

Pork Bone Broth

1 lbs Pork neck or bones
1 lbs Pork femur or leg bones
1/4 cup sake
Salt

Method

Porky Tare

Cut the country style ribs into 2 inch cubes.
Pre-heat the Ninja Foodi on the satuee function on medium-high heat. Add neutral oil and sear the meat to golden brown on all side, working in batches.
Pour enough water to cover the meat by 1 inch. Be sure not to go past the max fill line.
Pressure cook on high for 3-4 hours and natural release.
Strain the broth through a fine mesh sieve into another large pot.
Bring to just barely a boil and reduce to barely a simmer. Leave the pot uncovered to reduce.
The tare is finished when it is reduced to 20-30% of the original liquid volume.
Measure how much liquid you have. You are targeting 8.5–9.5% salt by weight. Then add the required amount of salt. Stir to dissolve, then set aside.

Pork Bone Broth

Clean the pressure cooker. Add water and bring to a boil.
Add the bones to the boiling water and cook for 5 minutes.
Drain the bones and wash with cold water to get rid of any bone debris.
Add the bones back to the pot. Add the sake and cover with water.
Pressure cook on high for 2-3 hours. Then use the quick release valve.
Once safe, open the pressure cooker. Using the sautée function on high, bring the pressure cooker to a rapid boil. Boil for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Aromatic Oil

Cut the green onion into 1 inch segments.
Heat the chicken or pork fat in a small sauce pan on medium low heat.
As it melts, add the green onion, garlic, and ginger.
Sautee until fragrant and lightly browned. Once lightly browned, remove the aromatics.

Assemble your bowl