Japanese ramen cocktail uses tonkotsu pork broth for alcoholic noodle flavour

A delicious recipe for ramen lovers to make at home.

Japan has a thriving local culture spread out across its 47 prefectures, with different areas boasting famous specialties so travellers’ taste buds can always be entertained during their travels.

French liqueur brand Cointreau has been celebrating these local specialties over the past year, with its unique Gotochi (Local) Cocktail Project. After creating an eye-catching takoyaki cocktail in honour of its Osaka hometown, Cointreau is raising eyebrows again, this time with a treat for ramen lovers as the 16th installment in their 47-part series.

The new cocktail has been designed for Fukuoka, a prefecture located on the southern island of Kyushu. Fukuoka is known for many things, including ancient temples, beaches and modern shopping malls, but for most people around Japan, Fukuoka is known for its ramen.

While a number of places around Japan are famous for ramen, Fukuoka is synonymous with tonkotsu ramen, which contains a creamy broth made with pork bones. A visit to the prefecture will leave you spoilt for choice with hundreds of restaurants offering excellent tonkotsu broth-based noodles, but now Cointreau is shaking up the local ramen scene with a new cocktail that actually contains pork broth.

Whether or not the new cocktail will catch on in Fukuoka is yet to be seen, but ramen lovers around the world will be able to create their own Tonkotsu Cocktail with the following recipe.

Ingredients:

• Bourbon Whiskey (Cointreau recommends using Buffalo Trace) – 40 millilitres (1.35 ounces)
• Cointreau – 15 millilitres
• Tonkotsu soup – 20 millilitres
• Apple juice – 15 millilitres
• Apple vinegar – 1 tablespoon
• Benishoga (red pickled ginger) juice – 10 millilitres
• Coriander – 10 leaves
• Pork Bone – 1
• Benishoga (red pickled ginger) – as desired, for topping

Method:

1. Dissolve 10 grams of tonkotsu soup granules in 100 millilitres of water to make the soup (granules can be found in instant noodle packs)
2. Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Shake and pour into a glass of ice.
3. Top with the pork bone and benishoga, as desired.

The pork bone and red pickled ginger topping might not be for everyone, but as long as you can get your hands on the other ingredients, you’ll be able to taste the delicious blend of alcohol with orange, apple, coriander, ginger and…tonkotsu ramen broth.

Now all we need is for Fukuoka’s most famous ramen chain Ichiran to start serving up tonkotsu cocktails. Until then, we’ll just have to try this as a ramen pairing for ourselves at home.

Source, images: PR Times

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