Chintan-style Ramen broth – 清湯、チンタン

Ramen is an iconic Japanese dish, often celebrated for its rich and deep broth. Among the varieties of broths, Chintan stands out for its apparent simplicity and depth of flavor.

What is Chintan broth?

Unlike its thick and cloudy counterpart, Paitan, Chintan is a clear, transparent broth, as its name suggests.

But don’t be fooled, this clarity doesn’t mean a lack of flavor. On the contrary, Chintan is a complex blend of carefully selected ingredients that give it a rich and nuanced flavor.

Particularities of Chintan broth

Preparing Chintan requires particular attention to temperature. Unlike Paitan, which is obtained by boiling at high temperature, Chintan is produced by heating at temperatures below boiling.

This method allows the fats to separate cleanly from the watery broth, giving Chintan its characteristic crystal clarity. This fat is then removed and used later as a flavored oil topping, adding another dimension to the ramen’s flavor. It can also be incorporated into a tare

Potential aromatics to add to the broth

These are usually added during the last hour of cooking.

• Onion
• Crushed garlic (unpeeled)
• dashi elements such as bonito, kombu, niboshi

How to cook ingredients for Ramen

Here is a generalized table showing the cooking time for each ingredient to correctly extract the gelatin

Basic protocol for a Chintan-style Ramen broth

A formal recipe using the principles described in the article is coming, but I wanted a dedicated article giving a “generalized” protocol for this type of broth

Chintan-style ramen broth

A basic protocol for making a Chintan-style ramen broth

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5/5 (4)

Cook Time: 7 hours hours

Course: Soups and broths

Cuisine: Japanese

Servings: 4 people

1x2x3x4x

Mode cuisineEmpêche ton écran de se mettre en veille

Author: Marc Winer

Ingredients

• Bones such as chicken backs, pork neck bones, femurs or other bones of your choice
• A certain amount of water generally, a weight equal to the bones is preferred, but you can go up to double
• Aromatic vegetables and other ingredients for more complexity

Procédé

• Immerse the bones and offal in the water.
• Heat on high until the pot starts to boil.
• Skim off the foam that rises to the surface.
• Reduce the heat to maintain a temperature below simmering (about 88°C) to preserve the clarity of the broth.
• Cook for the recommended time depending on the ingredients. (8h for beef, 6h for chicken/pork)
• In the last hour, add the aromatics.
• Strain the broth.

Notes

Use a cooking thermometer. Why is this important? If the boiling is too strong, the fat may emulsify and we would end up with a kind of “Paitan” broth, which is not the objective here

If too much water evaporates, add enough to keep the bones fully covered

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