Sunday Cookbook Adventures: Momofuku Ramen Broth

I decided that I would go for a fun change of pace this weekend, so instead of spending 12 hours making a single component to be used in a Thomas Keller recipe, I decided to spend 12 hours making a single component to be used in a David Chang recipe... (I'm making this component its own post since I'll be using it in future Momofuku recipes and want to be able to refer back to it...) Thus, I'm diving back into one of my very favorite cookbooks.
Over the course of the last few months, I've found myself falling in love with the process of stock-making. As irritating as the "Quick" Pork Sauce was last weekend in terms of being the opposite of quick, it was also super-cool to watch that stock develop... to watch that lushness and sheen set in as every ounce of awesomeness was extracted from the bones... Momofuku Ramen Broth is more complex than your typical stock, and the richly flavored liquid that results is well worth the 12 hours and 10 pounds of meat and bones that you spend making it... Things start off with a couple sheets of konbu, which steep in a pot of hot water.
The konbu is removed, and in go a couple cups of dried mushrooms.
These are removed after cooking for about a half hour, leaving a broth that is already a pretty nice color (if you can see it through the steam below).
Next up are the chicken legs, which go into the pot and gently simmer for a little over an hour.
While the chicken simmers, you can get your pork bones roasting in a 400°F oven.
The chicken comes out of the pot, and the roasted pork bones and some bacon go in. The bacon will be pulled out after simmering for about 45 minutes, so I tied mine together with some kitchen twine to expedite that process when the time came...
The pork simmers for another 6 - 7 hours after the bacon is pulled, and things are starting to look pretty rich...
Now a little veg is added to the mix: onion, carrots, and scallions...
After another 45 minutes, it's time to start straining your broth. I first got the big stuff out...
... then de-fratted the broth. (Again, you can do this by constantly skimming for the first 9 hours of cooking, but the only way I can make these stocks is if I go do something outside of the kitchen during the long stretches of simmering, so I choose to just use my fat separator... I'm sure Keller and Chang would be very disappointed in me...)
From here I threw everything in the fridge and went to bed. In the morning, I warmed the broth enough to get it back to liquid state, seasoned to taste with mirin and sake, then passed it through a fine sieve and finished off the final round of reducing. When you're at about 2.5 quarts of liquid, you have double-strength broth, which makes for a more compact product to store in the freezer...
Pictures can't really do justice to how beautiful this broth is, but you can maybe guess how potent and kick-ass the flavor is... This is the liquid I was supposed to use in the grits when I made my Momofuku Shrimp and Grits, and I now see that I sold that dish short by substituting bacon dashi (even though Chang OK'd the substitution...). This stuff is awesome. Very, very awesome... All of this, by the way, was so that I would have the amount in the measuring cup below:
That 1/4 cup of concentrated broth on the left will be finding a home in my Roasted Sweet Summer Corn with Miso Butter, Bacon & Roasted Onions tonight... The rest will be stored away in the freezer to use in the not-too-distant future. Can't wait...