If you are not familiar with ramen—I mean REAL ramen, not the Top Ramen that you probably lived on in college—then you might be unfamiliar with chashu (or cha siu). But listen, humans: It is among your best inventions! You may take time at this point to preen. Atticus just taught me that word and I am totally getting a snack for using it in a column. AND WHEN I GET THAT SNACK I WILL PREEN.
Chashu is soy-sauce braised pork belly for ramen...and we're talking Tonkotsu ramen here, which is basically boiled pork goodies that takes a looong time to do right. There are no shortcuts. You have to work at it for a whole day to make that broth bubble with delight and taste like a gift to your tongue.
Are you feeling down? Perhaps despairing that there is no light left in the world, no hope? THIS WILL FIX IT.
If you are feeling like Frodo Baggins and just ready to collapse because the evil of the One Ring is bringing you down, then Tonkotsu ramen with chashu pork is your Samwise Gamgee, and it will pick you up and carry you to Mount Doom so your finger can be bitten off by Gollum and all you want to do after that is diminish and go into the west with Elrond and Galadriel, and, uh...sorry, this analogy didn't turn out the way I thought it would.
BUT I'M SERIOUS ABOUT TONKOTSU WITH CHASHU. I mean, there's noodles in it, but it's ramen, so what can you do? The broth and the chashu are the stars of the show here. Atticus always makes sure mine never has onions in it because onions aren't good for hounds, but all the other toppings are the best.
Don't tell Orlaith, because I haven't told her yet myself, but...this might be better than poutine. I KNOW YOU'RE SHOCKED BUT I'M SHOCKED TOO. Not electrically, though. I'm SHOCKED BY DELICIOUS. Which would be a pretty great band name now that I think about it.
If you haven't had Tonkotsu ramen yet, it's totally worth a Google search and a drive to give it a slurp at a ramen joint near you! You can thank me with sausage the next time you see me.
—Oberon the Irish Wolfhound
