Pork-, mirin- and sake-free ramen

Halal-critical ingredients

• Broth Tonkotsu is pork; many restaurant bowls use mixed pork/chicken bones. Home chicken + kombu only, from Halal chicken.
• Tare and sauces Mirin and sake are rice wines; some soy sauces add spirit. Read every bottle. See Soy sauce and Sake.
• Noodles and condiments Shop noodles, chilli oil, and tare packs are not automatically Halal. Ingredient list on the pack in hand — never the dish name.

Safe substitutes

• Pork bones / tonkotsu → Halal chicken bones plus kombu and shiitake
• Mirin in tare → Sugar plus a little rice vinegar Alcohol-free ‘mirin-style’ seasonings still need a label check; some still list alcohol.
• Sake in marinade → Water, soy, and sugar only
• Mystery instant noodles → Dried wheat noodles with a short, readable list — or skip the seasoning sachet

Allergens

gluten (wheat noodles and soy sauce), soy, egg (if using egg noodles or ajitama)

Ingredients

Broth

• 1.2 kg (2.6 lb) Halal-slaughtered chicken wings and backs
• 10 g (a 10 cm sheet) dried kombu
• 15 g (4–5 caps) dried shiitake
• 2.5 litres (10½ cups) water
• 80 g (4 whites) spring onions, whites
• 30 g (a 3 cm piece) fresh ginger, sliced

Tare (no mirin, no sake)

• 80 ml (5 tbsp) naturally brewed soy sauce with no added alcohol, mirin, or wine
• 20 g (1½ tbsp) caster sugar
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) rice vinegar
• 8 g (1¼ tsp) fine salt
• 40 ml (3 tbsp) water

Bowls

• 400 g (14 oz) dried wheat ramen noodles — read the pack (egg, fat, E-numbers)
• 400 g (14 oz) Halal chicken thigh, for chashu-style roast
• 40 g (a small bunch) spring onion greens, sliced
• 4 g (2 sheets) toasted nori sheets, optional

Method

1. Kombu steep. Cover kombu and shiitake with the cold water and soak 30 minutes. Heat slowly until small bubbles form (about 80 °C); do not boil the kombu or it turns slimy. Lift out the kombu. This is a standard dashi start, not a pork bone stock.
2. Chicken broth. Add chicken bones, spring-onion whites, and ginger. Simmer gently 75–90 minutes, skimming. Strain. You need a light, clear chicken-kombu broth — not tonkotsu. Confirm the chicken is Halal-slaughtered.
3. Alcohol-free tare. Warm soy sauce, sugar, rice vinegar, salt, and water just until the sugar dissolves. Cool. Do not use honjozo soy that lists alcohol, and do not use mirin or sake ‘for authenticity’. Sweetness here is sugar; acidity is vinegar. See Soy sauce and Sake.
4. Toppings. Salt the chicken thighs and roast at 200 °C for 25–30 minutes until cooked through; slice. Optional jammy eggs: boil 7 minutes, ice, peel. Season eggs in leftover tare mixed with extra water — not a mirin marinade. Shop ramen eggs in packets often contain mirin; read them.
5. Noodles are a separate product. Boil noodles according to the pack. Wheat ramen may include egg, kansui, and fats. Do not assume a Japanese brand is Halal. Prefer packs with a short ingredient list or a Halal mark.
6. Assemble. Put 30–40 ml tare in each bowl, add 350 ml hot broth, then noodles, chicken, spring onion, and nori. Taste and add tare, not a mystery bottled ‘ramen sauce’.

Technique and ingredient sources

1. How to make dashi — Just One Cookbook — Just One Cookbook 15 August 2026

   Kombu steep and temperature control for a Japanese stock base. Used as technique, not as a Halal ruling.

2. Ramen analysis — isithalal.food — isithalal.food 15 August 2026

   Why restaurant ramen is Halal if verified: pork, alcohol tare, and unverified toppings.

3. Soy sauce analysis — isithalal.food — isithalal.food 15 August 2026

   Added alcohol versus brewing traces.