Fukuoka Ramen Pit Stop

Ramen at Fukuoka.

Dropped off my bags at the airport, took a 5 minute subway ride to Hakata station to visit a classic tonkotsu staple, “Fukuchan” Hakata branch. Classic Hakata style, head bones, back bones visible from the pot. No finishing aroma oils used. Lots of tare, a spoonful of the magic powder, two separate scoops from the same pot. An oily layer and then the soup. The noodles are a tiny bit thicker than mine. Charsiu is very lean. A heavily pork smelling with a nice oily layer but relatively light soup base.

Next shop, catch a cab to Yakuin. Noodle Theater “Genei”. The shop is fitted out like a theater. The seats are elevated and look down on to the stage being the kitchen. They claim no MSG and house made noodles, so adhere to a similar standard to mine. Their recommendation was the fish based Shoyu. They fry shallots and make an aromatic oil to every order. They hand rub the noodles each serve. The soup is pretty much 100% fish stock. The noodles are high moisture so plump and chewy.

I was impressed and also running short of time to be able to explore and cue up at another shop decided to order their tonkotsu soup as well.

The tonkotsu had pretty good density, not as high as ours but given a twist to part themselves from the numerous classic tonkotsu staples. I got a strong aroma of ginger probably in the finishing oil. The noodles shared the same hand rubbed thin wavy noodles. The charsiu was basically the same slow cooked type but the tonkotsu
came out with a softer cut and the Shoyu had a leaner cut.

Both shops have a strong character and worthy of their respective fame.

Won’t go into point evaluation as I am no longer a unbiased blogger but I will say that I strengthened my confidence that my pursuit of my ramen is the closest to the ideal tasting ramen according to my preferences and standards!

3 bowls in 30minutes. This was my last food in Japan as I fast in my jet star flight.

As you can imagine, 5kg heavier in the very very intense 2 weeks in Japan!

Kura kotteri tonkotsu ramen (packaged)

My readers would probably know how religious ramen is in Japan. My mother got excited that our local ramen shop in Shichigahama “Kura” did a collaboration stint with mid size convenience store chain “Circle K” and came out with an instant cup ramen.

In 2009 May, I went and visited the owner of Kura, Mitsutsuka san and he was kind enough to spare time for me, listened patiently to my passionate plan to open up a ramen shop in Australia and gave me some valuable words of advise. Amongst pessimists and realists, Mitsuka san was one of the few people who said, “it took me 3 -4 years before customers steadily started coming. I can tell you it’s definitely hard but with your passion, I am sure you will make it!”.

My mother drove around Sendai because they were sold out everywhere and in the end was able to secure one for me.

The noodles are not the fried type but actual noodles freeze dried. The soup is not powder but concentrated liquid. And in the aluminum pouch there is a pork belly charsiu and minced backfat.
Of course some freeze dried shallots and a piece of real nori.

The main instruction on the lid calls for hot water to be poured in and to let stand for 5 minutes. Meanwhile keep the charsiu pouch and soup pouch warm by keeping it flat on the lid. However on the pouch it says to enjoy better, heat pouch in hot water for 2 min. So I opted for the enjoy further route and cooked the soup and charsiu pouches piping hot.

Result. Pretty impressive for an instant ramen. Can tell Kura’s distinctive notes of chicken and pork flavors and the minced backfat topping really intensifies the bowl. Noodles don’t come close to theirs but are some fine noodles for a packaged product. Only problem is the small serving size and I ended up adding my own thin curly noodles to finish it off. Can you see that Kura uses the same bowl as us!?

Kura had been hit badly by the tsunami being in the lower part of Shichigahama/Tagajo area. But I was happy to hear that Mitsutsuka san was alright and was able to reopen in several months. It is especially nice to see this cup ramen as it tells me that he is doing really well now.

Truffle Ramen Sold Out

I am overwhelmed with the strong interest in our truffle ramen. We’ve been expecting a batch of fresh perigord truffles to fly in last Friday or today but to our dismay, apparently the pigs could not find any and the ground has been frozen over in Perigaux and we could be hit with a price hike. Stay tuned for more updates!

Considering the above, we are going to avail our truffle fettuccine noodles individually as an option in any ramen for a $2.00 upgrade charge.

お土産ラーメン 昼顔 gift take home ramen “hirugao”

My friend M brought me a pack of take home ramen from Japan. This is a collaboration product made by a noodle company under license from a famous ramen shop. This one is called Hirugao. There is a famous shoyu ramen shop in Tokyo called Setagaya and they open up during lunch hour under the name Hirugao serving shio ramen only. Interesting concept to open two distinctly different concept businesses in one shop front.

The taste. It is a quite mild mellow taste probably stewing tonkotsu at intentionally lower temperature and length to not get the emulsification of the usual tonkotsu. This lighter tonkotsu based stock matches well with the string bonito second soup. However can taste really strong MSG and the smell of alcohol preservative and kansui is too pungent. This is why I use sodium carbonate kansui instead of potassium carbonate Kansui for my delicate shio. The strong MSG is sadly a sign of japanese norm so I realize again that this is the reason for many people criticizing my ramen as bland or punchless. I am glad we have enough customers supporting the all natural umami of taro’s. it was a good bowl though, there is rarely a bowl I don’t enjoy and it taught me that shio can be a fully satisfying bowl depending on the recipe an relative position in the menu. (at our shop it is the alternative light healthy choice, at Hirugao it is the only and main star on stage).

Anyway thank you M for your kind thought and also for the good luck “omamori”!

東京の有名店でせたが屋という醤油ラーメンの店がある。この店が昼限定で「ひるがお」として塩ラーメンを提供するらしい。こういう1店でテーマを変えて営業するのは何だか粋だなと思う。まだやってるかわからないが確か中村屋も夜はフレンチ風のコース料理を出している。

商社時代の後輩からお土産でひるがおのラーメンをいただいた。こういう手のラーメンは製麺メーカーが有名店とコラボして出来上がるので有名店の味そのままとは行かないが敬意を表して丁寧に作る。丼もスープの素も温めお湯の量もしっかり計り茹で時間も計測。

麺は日持ちする様半生になっている。そのせいかもちもち感も腰も物足りない。

スープは結構トンコツのコクが効いており魚介の風味とマッチしている。化学調味料がかなり強く改めて日本の大衆食文化の化学調味料漬けぶりが分かる。なるほどこれに慣れているとうちの味がパンチがないと感じる人が多いのもうなずける。

食べているうちにカンスイと茹で切った時に抜けきってないアルコール保存料の味がスープに溶けだしてきて匂いが気になる。やはり塩ラーメンはごまかしが効かない。うちではこれを気にして塩ラーメンの麺には炭酸カリウムを抑え炭酸ナトリウムのカンスイを使用している。

塩といえばあっさりだがこういう塩一筋の店ではトンコツ強めのコクがある塩もありだな、というか素直に塩もコクを出せば贅沢感のある一品にしあがるんだと参考になった。

M君、ご馳走様！参考になったよ。御守りもわざわざありがとう！その気持ちもあわせていちばんの御守りになるわ！

メキシカンつけ麺 Mexican tsukemen

Tried making tsukemen with avocado and salsa. My staff were in doubt but what do ya know, it ain’t half bad amigo!

遊びでつくってみました。

アボカドとサルサが入った漬けダレで頂きます。

けっこういける！

New stock pot

New stock pot arrived from Japan. My wife brought this back and it was a big job involving fighting with the jetstar ground staff at check in. It is made by a Japanese company called Nakao Aluminium. Interesting to see that the aluminum is manufactured by Kobe steel. A long time customer that I used to handle as a coal trader. So this means that there are a lot of local Qld bauxite and coal involved to make this pot. Happy to use Aussie resource Japanese manufactured pot for my ramen!

Men-Jikan @ Geebung

I visited Geebung to drop in at Men-Jikan to see what they were up to. Their gyoza is pretty good and his miso ramen was the inspiration for my starting miso. Yesterday I saw a note by the owner advising of the birth of his second child and therefore closing for the day. Looks like he got his early Xmas present! Congratulations and we’ll see you soon!

Tonkotsu Soup

Until a couple weeks afo, we have been selling out of Tonkotsu soup and many customers have expressed their disappointment. So we started pushing harder to make more soup.  Happy to say that we did not sell out once last week. 

Courier Mail Review

We were recently picked up as one of the best ramen in Brisbane.  They let us choose which ramen to picture so I chose the Tsukemen.  This one, I believe is already currently pretty close to perfect, meaning not much more I can alter to make it any better.  Tonkotsu, Shoyu and others, I still need to keep working on. 

http://www.couriermail.com.au/life/fooddrink/brisbanes-best-ramen/story-fn8wa7yw-1226112998864

 

Brisbane’s best ramen

Asian influence

It’s fast food, but not as we know it. In Japan there’s a ramen shop on just about every corner, but in Brisbane, they’re only just starting to take off. Believed to have originated with the Chinese, ramen are basically noodles in a flavoured broth. However, aficionados will tell you there are good and bad as well as many variations, favoured by the inhabitants of different regions of Japan. Hearty, healthy and good value. Eschew the burger and fries for a bowl of steaming ramen at the pick of Brisbane’s ramen shops.

Natascha Mirosch, Food Editor

Taro’s Ramen and Cafe

Ground Level, Boeing House
363 Adelaide Street, City
Ph 3832 6358

A more sophisticated offering than usual, both in seating options and menu. No MSG or preservatives are used and the pork is quality Bangalow pork, while the special water (must be referring to Kansui or lye water, ie sodium carbonate and potassium carbonate) used to make the noodles is imported from Japan. There are around half a dozen ramen, from the Tonkotsu to a fiery Tonkotsu, Shio or Golden Triple Soup – a chicken, vegetable and seafood broth with prawn oil. Each large bowl comes with generous amounts of spring noodles, as well as, from boiled egg halves to nori and bamboo shoots, priced between $13.80 and $15.80. (prices now 13.90 to 15.90)

Hakataya Noodle

Shop 27B Sunnybank Plaza,
Cnr Mains Rd & McCullough St, Sunnybank
Ph 3344 1313

You’ll know you’ve found it from the line that begins forming from 11am. This is a sister to the popular Hakataya noodle shop in Surfers Paradise. Order at the counter and take a number to one of the outdoor tables or squeeze in at the bench and watch the action in the kitchen. The menu has four types of ramen priced between $10 and $13, from the clear broth of the Nagahama with thin slices of pork and spring onions to a miso-based and richer Karaka men. They come with a side of spicy pickles and extra noodles are free if you ask for them when ordering.

Men-Jikan

1/16 Railway Parade, Geebung
Ph 3265 5665

Terry Forbes fell in love with ramen on a visit to Japan. A chef who is self taught in the art of ramen, he opened this simple ramen shop in Geebung in mid-2011. A master miso paste is the basis of many of the ramen broths that come in eight types, from soy to butter and corn or a spicy miso. All have generous amounts of meat and are garnished with half a soft-boiled egg and other goodies like fermented bamboo shoots. Prices are from $10-$16.

Back at Men-Jikan

Miso Butter Corn and Gyoza with my daughter. 

Takeaway Gyudon, Gyoza, Side Salad, and Pickles for wife and other daughter both home with the flu…