Francesca Tay
Whether you’re a fan or simply tired of traditionalramen(Japanese noodle dish often served in meat-based broth), a wake-up call has been issued to your taste buds by the best Japan has to offer.
From Jul 2011, 6 of the best ramen restaurants in Japan come together to set up shop at the 4th level of ILUMA @ BUGIS. Iroha, Bario, Gantetsu, Tetsu, Ikkousha and Taishoken, have been brought here by Ramen Champion to showcase the signature ramen from 4 major cities.
Who wins the year-long fight for supremacy starting Jul 1, is partly decided, as it is in Japan’s traditional ramen competitions, by customers. Votes will be collated after each quarter-final via sales takings, on-site voting, SMS, as well as viral networking sites such as Facebook. The winner of the Ramen Champion will then be invited to set-up a restaurant here in Singapore after the competition in 2012.
Not to be confused with the Chinese La-mian, the customary Japanese ramen differs depending on which city it hails from, and is served usually with a generous serving of pork, vegetables and soft-boiled egg. Ramen Champion aims to test the palates of locals and revitalize an exchange in cultures and relish by bringing in individual chefs from divergent cities, which specialise in unique ramen such as Tsukemen (dry ramen with dip broth) and Futomen (thick ramen), ranging from $11-$15.
Urbanwire was one of the lucky few to sample all the ramen the chefs had to offer.
Taishoken (Tokyo)
With a rich heritage of 50 years, Taishoken prides itself as the creator of Tsukemen, which is dry ramen and thick dip broth served in separate bowls. Following founder Kazuo Yamagishi’s invention, it kickstarted a chain of restaurants serving the same item in different renditions.
A scrumptious broth made up of pork, chicken, anchovies and other ingredients boiled for more than 6 hours eventually becomes reduced to a thick soup meant for dipping the delectable cold yellow ramen. Mori Soba was one of the ramen that caught my eye as the presentation alone was different from the ordinary soupy ramen that I was used to.
To consume this delish meal, go traditional by dipping the noodles in the hot shoyu and wolf it down without spooning on any additional broth. If not done correctly, the Tsukemen will be too salty and overwhelming with umami (savoury taste)for one’s liking, which resulted in me gulping down a full bottle of water thereafter. The name Mori Soba pretty much explains the process, one was supposed to enjoy this dish like one would savour the more common sobadishes.
What differentiates this Tokyo ramen from the others is the scent of vinegar that has a natural sweet tint to it, yet remaining savoury. The generous serving of pork (approximately 200g) and bamboo shoots also earned the dish the thumbs’ up. However, the soft-boiled egg was overcooked and became a hard-boiled egg instead.
Boasting 100 stalls in Japan, it’s no wonder they stand a high chance in this competition.
Rating: 3/5
Iroha (Toyama)
Dubbed champions in the city of Toyama, Menya Iroha offers 1 of their 2 specialties, Toyama Black Ramen in this competition. With their other signature dish being Shiro Ebi Ramen, no wonder they’ve decided to enter the former in the competition, as locals will certainly enjoy this one-of-a-kind broth that has an exterior pitch black soup, with an unpredictable mellow taste.
Their secret ingredient? Black soybeans, responsible for the colouring of the dark soup and a modest nutty, charred aroma. Made with a chicken-pork broth and sautéed spring onions, a sesame zest can be detected while you slurp up your soup.
I particularly loved the balance of lean and fatty pork, with no hint of greasiness that could ruin the dish. However, the charred aftertaste of the broth stopped me from wanting more as the chef might have seemed overenthusiastic in the amount of black soybeans added.
Iroha is awaiting the confirmation of a Guinness World Record for the most bowls of ramen sold in 5 days.
Rating: 2/5
Gantetsu (Sapporo)
Any ramen connoisseur will definitely look forward to this mouth-watering dish from Gantetsu, winner of the ramen champion for 3 consecutive years in Sapporo. Well known by many to be the city of Ramen, Sapporo’s champion Gantetsu is a popular choice among many Japanese as it’s most famed for being the best of the best ramen. With their restaurant name translated as ‘stubbornness’, it expounds the fact that the chefs are indeed uncompromising, insisting on using only the best and highest quality of ingredients.
The Gantetsu Special Miso Ramen is the signature of this top-notch restaurant, with a lavish serving of butter corn, cabbage and pork. With no additional preservatives, the mix of Miso in the broth was a pleasant blend with their special ingredient, ginger paste. The combination is ideal for the cold weather in Hokkaido.
However, not many youths can accept the flavourful ginger paste and will end up finishing the dish without mixing the paste in, which would be a huge disappointment, as the ginger paste is really the star of this yummy bowl of ramen.
With a perfectly cooked soft-boiled egg and classic wavy yellow noodles, the perfection of timing when it comes to boiling the broth is what makes this dish second to none.
Rating: 4/5
Bario (Tokyo)
Chef Iwasaki-san deserves a pat on his back as Bario’s ramen is listed as The Guardian (UK)’s 50 Best Things to Eat in the World. But think twice about ordering a serving for yourself if you’re watching your diet, the Bario ramen isn’t for small eaters. Japanese already gather as much, as the restaurant name translates to ‘big, strong man’, pointing to the fact that this Tokyo-based ramen caters to hearty appetites. A slightly spicy broth with thick noodles complemented with generous servings of cabbage, bean sprouts and thick slices of pork chashu, which are served with 2 choices of garnish – fried garlic bits or chilli flakes. Made from 7 secret spices including chilli powder, pepper and garlic, the soup base was very rich and flavourful in comparison to the other ramen. Faint tinges of cinnamon and anise can also be made out.
What sets this ramen furtherapartfrom other competitors is the noodle itself. General Manager of RadioHeatwave.com, Rachel Ong, who was also there for the tasting, added that this was the only place in Singapore that she could find futomen. Futomen is much thicker than the normal noodle and has more of a bite.
The best part of the ramen was the heaps of vegetables served, with the sweet cabbage balancing out the thick soup base, resulting in a less oily aftertaste. The broth, despite being very rich and full-flavored, didn’t stop many from emptying the entire bowl of soup.
Rating: 4/5
Ikkousha (Hakata)
Well known in Fukuoka, Ikkousha’s signature ramen, Hakata Ajitama Ramen has a unique and acquired taste. Contrary to the sweet-salty broth most of the other competitors possess, Ikkousha’s ramen introduced us a very heavy and salty pork flavour that recalls Chinese herbal soup.
The noodles used for this dish are the common and firm thin ramen, with an indulgent amount of spring onions topped with sweet tender pork belly. A perfectly soft-boiled egg shows the passion in Ikkousha’s chef to bring his best to the table.
Black fungus was the distinctive ingredient in the dish as it added a fresh flavour to the broth. However, the strong pork scent was too much to take. It was also excessively salty and left an unnatural aftertaste in my mouth.
Unless you’re really a fan of fungus and pork, one should steer clear of this one.
Rating: 2/5
Tetsu (Tokyo)
Saving the best for the last, I was pleasantly amazed by the outlook of this bowl of tsukemen. Already gorged and satiated by the time the last dish arrived, the tantalizing appearance of Tetsu’s Paitan Tsukemen was enough to seduce my already full tummy. The soup looked thick and savoury while thick slices of pork were prominently displayed at the top, with yellow ramen noodles that looked chewy and tasty.
Rated by newspaper Tokyo Times as the best dip noodles, Tetsu popularised this dish after its creation, and it has become one of the centrepieces in the ramen industry, finding its way into restaurants along ramen roads and theme parks across Tokyo.
Requiring 15 hours of preparation for the broth alone, the signature dish is well known for its natural sweetness. The chicken and pork thick soup that has been reduced to a dipping sauce offers a sweet and salty balance to the dish that entices one to want more, and more. Like in tsukemen, the broth came with bamboo shoots and pork slices, but what I liked most about it is the garnishing with light spring onions that gave a zesty fragrance to the broth.
The chef also insisted that one dip the noodles into the broth instead of pouring the soup over the chewy yellow ramen, explaining to UrbanWire that clear soup can be added to the remaining broth so that one can enjoy the soup after finishing their noodles, unlike the tsukemen.
I was particularly impressed at the thoughtfulness of Tetsu ramen as they proceeded to dilute the broth with clear soup and popped in a hot stone to reheat the dish.
Unlike other tsukemen, the Paitan Tsukemen didn’t leave a cloyingly rich aftertaste but a pleasant one that lingered sweetly.
Rating: 5/5
Ultimate Ramen Champion 2011 Singapore is located at 201 Victoria Street, ILUMA @ BUGIS, #04-08/09/10, Opened daily from 11:30 am to 10:30 pm
Photo courtesy of Tay Wan Lin, Klix Photography, m:idea.