AFURI-Style Yuzu Shio Ramen — Citrus-Infused Clear Broth

In the summer of 2016, when AFURI opened its first location outside Japan in Portland, Oregon, the city had been wooed for years. New York, London, and Dubai had all expressed interest in hosting the Tokyo ramen chain’s first international outpost. AFURI chose Portland specifically for its water: the Bull Run watershed water (pH ~7.5) closely resembled the soft water from Mount Afuri in Kanagawa Prefecture, from which the shop takes its name. The mountain’s spring water was, in the founder’s view, inseparable from the ramen.

That specificity reflects the AFURI philosophy: a ramen of extreme delicacy. The Yuzu Shio — salt-seasoned yuzu ramen — is built on a chicken chintan (clear, gentle chicken broth), seasoned with a shio tare infused with yuzu juice and zest, and finished with actual yuzu peel floating in the bowl. The flavor is pristine, lightly citrus-touched, and deliberately understated. It sits at the opposite end of the ramen spectrum from tonkotsu.

AFURI now operates in Portland (two locations), Japan (23 shops), and internationally. This home-kitchen recipe is inspired by that approach — not affiliated with, endorsed by, or an official recipe of AFURI Inc. or any AFURI establishment.

Disclaimer: This is an original home-kitchen recipe inspired by the AFURI style. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or an official recipe of AFURI Inc. or any related establishment.

Table of Contents

1. What Is AFURI-Style Yuzu Shio Ramen?
2. Ingredients
3. Chicken Chintan Broth
4. Yuzu Salt Tare
5. Assembly: Chashu, Mizuna & Yuzu Zest
6. FAQ
7. Recommended Items
8. Sources & References

What Is AFURI-Style Yuzu Shio Ramen?

To understand AFURI’s yuzu shio, it helps to understand the two poles of ramen broth texture: chintan (清湯, “clear soup”) and paitan (白湯, “white soup”). Paitan broths — tonkotsu, chicken paitan — are made by boiling bones vigorously until the fat and collagen emulsify, creating an opaque, creamy liquid. Chintan broths are the opposite: bones or carcasses are simmered gently, without allowing turbulence to cloud the liquid, producing a translucent broth that is delicate in body but concentrated in clean, savory flavor.

AFURI’s chicken chintan is the vessel. It is not thin or watery — a properly made chintan has genuine body from dissolved gelatin — but it is quiet in flavor, designed not to compete with the yuzu. The shio tare (salt seasoning sauce) is where the yuzu enters: yuzu juice and zest are steeped into the seasoning base, releasing aromatic oils alongside the acid of the juice. When the tare hits the hot broth in the bowl, these volatile compounds bloom upward as steam — the first thing you smell before you take a sip.

→ Scroll right to see all columns on mobile

Ingredients

Serves 4.

Chicken Chintan Broth

• Chicken carcasses (backs and necks, not wings) — 1.2 kg / 2.6 lbs
• Chicken wings — 400 g / 14 oz (for extra gelatin)
• Water — 2.5 liters / 10.5 cups
• Kombu (dried kelp) — 10 g / ⅓ oz (approx. 10 cm piece)
• Ginger — 2 slices
• Leek (green part only) — 1 piece, roughly chopped

Yuzu Salt Tare (makes approx. 150 ml / ½ cup+)

• Yuzu juice — 3 tbsp (sub: 2 tbsp lime + 1 tbsp lemon, or bottled yuzu juice)
• Yuzu zest — from 1 whole yuzu or 1 tbsp bottled yuzu peel
• Salt (fine sea salt) — 2½ tsp
• Light soy sauce (usukuchi shoyu) — 2 tbsp (sub: regular soy sauce, 1.5 tbsp)
• Mirin — 1 tbsp
• Sake — 1 tbsp
• Kombu water — 50 ml (cold water infused with 5 g kombu for 30 minutes)

Toppings (per serving)

• Chashu pork (thin-sliced braised pork belly or loin) — 3 slices
• Mizuna greens — small handful (sub: watercress, baby arugula, or tatsoi)
• Ajitsuke tamago (marinated soft-boiled egg) — ½ per serving
• Menma (bamboo shoot strips) — 1–2 tbsp
• Nori — 1 sheet
• Fresh yuzu zest — a few strands, cut with a vegetable peeler or microplane
• Narutomaki (fish cake) — 1–2 slices, optional

Noodles

• Thin to medium straight ramen noodles — 120–140 g / 4–5 oz per serving (raw weight)

Chicken Chintan Broth

Step 1 — Blanch the Chicken

Place chicken carcasses and wings in a pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes. Drain and rinse each piece under cold running water, removing any grey residue. This step, as with tonkotsu, is about removing blood and surface impurities that would cloud the finished broth.

Step 2 — Low-Temperature Simmer (the Critical Step)

Return cleaned chicken to a fresh pot. Add 2.5 liters of cold water, kombu, ginger, and leek green. Bring the pot to just below a simmer over medium heat — watch for the first wisps of steam rising from the surface, then immediately reduce to the lowest heat setting. The target temperature is 80–90°C / 175–195°F: hot enough to extract gelatin and flavor, but not so vigorous that the broth clouds.

Maintain this low temperature for 2.5–3 hours. Skim any foam or fat that rises in the first 30 minutes. After that, the broth should become increasingly still and golden, with the bones gradually softening. Do not stir — agitation encourages cloudiness.

Step 3 — Strain and Clarify

Remove the kombu at the 30-minute mark (it becomes slimy if cooked longer). After 2.5–3 hours, remove the pot from heat. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer lined with a single layer of muslin or cheesecloth. Do not press the solids — let the broth drain by gravity. Pressing extracts cloudiness. You should have approximately 1.5–1.8 liters of golden, largely clear broth.

Yuzu Salt Tare

Making the Shio Tare

In a small saucepan, combine mirin and sake. Bring to a brief simmer over medium heat for 1 minute to cook off the alcohol. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Add salt, light soy sauce, kombu water, and yuzu juice. Stir until the salt dissolves completely.

Add the yuzu zest and let steep for at least 30 minutes at room temperature. The tare can be made up to 2 days in advance and stored in a sealed jar in the refrigerator — the longer it steeps, the more pronounced the yuzu fragrance.

How Much Tare Per Bowl?

Use approximately 2–2.5 tablespoons of yuzu shio tare per bowl of 300–350 ml broth. The finished bowl should be lightly, cleanly salty — not aggressively seasoned. Shio ramen is the most delicate of all ramen styles, and the tare quantity is the primary control over the final salt level. Taste a small spoonful of broth with tare before serving and adjust.

Assembly: Chashu, Mizuna & Yuzu Zest

Chashu for Shio Ramen

For AFURI-style ramen, use pork loin chashu rather than fatty belly chashu — the leaner cut complements the delicacy of the shio broth rather than overwhelming it with pork fat. Thin-slice (3–4 mm / about ⅛ in), fan the slices along one side of the bowl, and optionally sear them briefly with a kitchen torch or hot pan for a lightly caramelized surface.

Mizuna

Mizuna (水菜) is a Japanese leafy green with thin, feathery leaves and a mild, slightly peppery flavor. It is served raw as a garnish in AFURI-style ramen — the heat of the broth wilts it gently within 30 seconds of serving without cooking it. Outside Japan:

• Watercress — most similar in flavor and texture
• Baby arugula — slightly more peppery, visually similar
• Tatsoi — milder, available at Asian grocery stores

Yuzu Zest Finish

The final touch: use a vegetable peeler or microplane to zest a few thin strands of yuzu (or Meyer lemon) over the assembled bowl immediately before serving. The volatile aromatic oils in the zest are fragile — add them last, and serve immediately. Even a 2-minute delay will reduce the fragrance intensity noticeably.

Bowl Assembly Order

1. Pour yuzu shio tare into warmed bowl.
2. Ladle hot chicken chintan broth — 300–350 ml / 1¼–1½ cups per person.
3. Add cooked noodles (drain well, no rinsing for shio style).
4. Place chashu slices fanned along one side.
5. Add soft-boiled egg (halved), menma, and nori sheet.
6. Add a small handful of mizuna in the center.
7. Immediately zest a few strands of yuzu over the entire surface.
8. Serve at once.

This recipe is an original compilation by the HowToCook.jp editorial team, based on general culinary knowledge of shio ramen and chintan broth techniques. It is not based on any proprietary or official AFURI recipe.

FAQ

Q: What is the difference between shio ramen and other ramen styles?

A: Shio (塩, “salt”) ramen is the oldest ramen category, predating the shoyu and miso variations. The seasoning tare is based purely on salt and light seasonings rather than soy sauce or miso paste, which allows the broth’s natural character to come through more directly. Most shio ramen uses a light chicken or seafood broth — the pale golden color is a visual cue. The AFURI style adds yuzu to this foundation, which is not a traditional shio ramen ingredient but has become strongly associated with the brand internationally.

Q: Can I use frozen yuzu juice and zest?

A: Yes — frozen yuzu is often the best option outside Japan. The juice freezes well with minimal flavor loss, and frozen yuzu peel retains good aromatic quality. Thaw only what you need and keep the rest frozen. Some Japanese grocery stores also sell bottled yuzu juice at room temperature — this is a reliable second choice, though the fresh fragrance from frozen is slightly better.

Q: My chintan broth turned cloudy. Can I fix it?

A: Once cloudy, a chintan broth cannot be made fully clear again — the emulsification is irreversible. However, it can be clarified partially by a raft technique: beat 2 egg whites with a splash of cold stock, whisk into the warm (not hot) cloudy broth, then slowly bring to a simmer without stirring. The egg white proteins will coagulate and trap fine particles; skim and strain through a fine-mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth. This Japanese-French technique (similar to making a consommé) can recover approximately 70–80% of the clarity. Alternatively, use the cloudy broth as a base for a paitan-style variation rather than the delicate shio version.

Q: Why is AFURI’s ramen considered innovative for Japan?

A: When AFURI launched in Tokyo in the early 2000s, the yuzu-shio combination was relatively novel in the ramen world. Most high-profile shops were competing in the rich, thick-broth space (tonkotsu, chicken paitan). AFURI’s approach — a clean, light broth elevated by premium citrus — appealed to a broader demographic including those who found tonkotsu too heavy. It also positioned Japanese ramen as a refined, seasonal cuisine rather than a casual street food, which contributed to the brand’s successful international expansion.

Recommended Items

Sources & References

• AFURI IZAKAYA — Modern Japanese Restaurant in Portland
• Why Did Cult Tokyo Ramen Shop Afuri Come to Portland? — Portland Monthly
• First Look at Tokyo’s Cult Afuri Ramen — Portland Monthly
• Afuri Ramen Tokyo — Yuzu Shio Ramen in Ebisu — Tiny Urban Kitchen
• Yuzu Shio Ramen Kit for 3 by AFURI — Goldbelly
• Ramen Direct from Tokyo — AFURI Ramen Official
• Ramen School 004: Afuri-Style Yuzu Shio Ramen — Adam Liaw — Step-by-step recipe specifically inspired by Afuri’s signature yuzu shio ramen, including clear chicken broth, yuzu-shio tare ratios, and topping preparation by MasterChef Australia winner Adam Liaw.
• Easy Yuzu Shio Ramen Recipe — The Sound of Cooking — English-language homemade yuzu shio ramen recipe with light chicken and dashi broth, yuzu tare, and assembly instructions for the Afuri-style light clear broth bowl.
• Shio Ramen From Scratch — Sudachi Recipes — Detailed from-scratch shio ramen recipe covering clear chicken-seafood broth technique and shio tare construction for the light, delicate broth style Afuri is known for.

※ This article contains Amazon Associates Program affiliate links. A small commission may be earned if you purchase through these links, at no extra cost to you.

Recipe attribution: This recipe is an original compilation by the HowToCook.jp editorial team, based on general knowledge of shio ramen and chintan broth techniques. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by AFURI Inc. or any related establishment.

情報の最終確認日: 2026年02月