[Backpost] Food Diary - Nakiryu, Tsuta & Ippudo Instant Ramen
Haven't done a food diary post in a long while..... So I thought I'd post an old one that I started drafting in 2017 about instant ramen versions of highly regarded ramen in Japan. Terrible because I didn't get round to finishing and posting it, and we are now well into 2020. But well, we are all still in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and my bum is itching to travel to Japan again. So............
We found one...just ONE...at a 7-Eleven that we passed on our way back to our hotel. Every 7-Eleven we popped by in Tokyo had lots of Ippudo, Santouka and Sumire, and none/few Nakiryu. Oddly enough, we found plenty of the Nakiryu in 7-Elevens in the more remote towns outside Tokyo. (ᗒᗜᗕ)՛̵̖
Would've liked to bring back a few more of the Nakiryu and Tsuta ones for friends, but we ran out of baggage space. Logistically, the bowl packaging makes them a nightmare to carry around, compared to the cup noodle packaging. And I confess: bringing home gourmet instant noodles is quite far down our priority list of things to bring home from Japan.
What. The Nakiryu tantanmen (担担麵 / 担々麵) instant noodle doesn't need much introduction or explanation. Neither does the original store at Minami-otsuka. The name, though, is interesting. 鳴 (na) means screaming or howling or roaring or crying. So 鳴龍 (nakiryuu) can mean screaming / howling / roaring / crying dragon. Think I'll stick with roaring dragon. Sounds cooler.
Packaging. Wide styrofoam bowl with a glossy and eye-catching foil lid bearing a (printed) gold Michelin 1つ星 掲載店 and ミシュランガイド Tokyo 2017 (Michelin Guide Tokyo 2017) at the bottom. Under the foil lid is printed the story of Nakiryu, which first began in 2012 in Otsuka. I didn't reallyread figure out all of the text, save for the first line.
Contents. The dehydrated noodles come with 3 packets, with the instructions (in Japanese) printed on the packets. The brown packet contains the seasoning and soup powder (かやく入り粉末スープ kayakuiri funmatsu suupu), basically the powdered soup seasoning and dehydrated toppings (mince and spring onion, etc). The red packet contains the sesame paste oils (ねりごまオイル neri goma oiru). The green packet contains the liquid soup (液体スープ ekitai suupu), in concentrated form.
Preparation. Hubby prepared it. And because we didn't bother to figure out the Japanese instuctions beforehand, we just dumped everything into the bowl, and added boiling hot water to a little below the "line" indentation on the styrofoam bowl. Instructions said to leave it, covered, for 3 minutes, but I think it needed another 1 or 2 more minutes. Mistake, hahaha.
In hindsight, I realised that we were supposed to add the sesame paste oil afterwards. As I'm writing this, I can't help remembering Takeshi Kaneshiro's character in《喜欢·你》(This Is Not What I Expected), where he makes instant noodles with the mathematical precision. The entire sequence, right up to him instructing the police officer.
Completion. Rich, creamy bright orange soup. Looks and smells rather like the original, though not as pretty. Pretty tasty, but of course, not like the real deal.
Instant v Original. So we had the tantanmen at the Minami-otsuka store during this Japan trip. There's hands-down no contest. But the instant comes close enough. Maybe 80-85%.
Contents. The dehydrated noodles were accompanied by 2 flavouring packets, and 2 condiment packets. The red packet was labelled special oil (特製油), the blue-silver packet was the liquid soup concentrate (液体スープ ekitai suupu). The clear, green packet held the dehydrated spring onions and a slice of dehydrated pork. In the fourth, clear packet was menma.
Preparation. Did everything as instructed. And sometimes following the instructions doesn't necessarily produce the optimum results. Filling the bowl with boiling hot water up to the indicated line...in this case, that equaled to too much water.
Completion. We weren't so in love with it. Even though we followed the instructions, there was too much water, so the broth was diluted. Oops. Guess we'll try again the next time. [Update: We did try it again, and put in less water, about 1/3 less. It was not bad, though overall it was very light and clear.]
In terms of instant noodles, the Nakiryu and Ippudo ones are good. Kings in the world of instant noodles. The Tsuta one is meh...probably needs more flavouring oils, and maybe a dash of real shoyu. I do like well-made, tasty instant noodles, and Japan has several good ones. Some of my favourites include the Nissin Cheese Curry cup noodles (Japan only), and the kitsune udon ones that is available everywhere in Japan. I would also add the Nissin Matcha cup noodles (tasty but don't expect a whooping mouthfull of matcha flavour). It's a great pity it was a limited time release!
Yeah, I know it's really late to post about the Nissin Famous Ramen Shop series, in particular the Michelin-starred Nakiryu tantanmen, which my fellow countryfolks have gone bonkers about.
We couldn't find any when we were in Japan in May and September 2017. Anyway, at the time, we had given up on trying the Nakiryu cup noodles, but learnt on Instagram that it had been re-launched in early November 2017. So we had a go at it again.
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| Instant Nakiryu tantanmen, 3 December 2017. |
We couldn't find any when we were in Japan in May and September 2017. Anyway, at the time, we had given up on trying the Nakiryu cup noodles, but learnt on Instagram that it had been re-launched in early November 2017. So we had a go at it again.
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| Last bowl of Nakiryu instant ramen in a Tokyo 7-Eleven, 3 December 2017. |
We found one...just ONE...at a 7-Eleven that we passed on our way back to our hotel. Every 7-Eleven we popped by in Tokyo had lots of Ippudo, Santouka and Sumire, and none/few Nakiryu. Oddly enough, we found plenty of the Nakiryu in 7-Elevens in the more remote towns outside Tokyo. (ᗒᗜᗕ)՛̵̖
Would've liked to bring back a few more of the Nakiryu and Tsuta ones for friends, but we ran out of baggage space. Logistically, the bowl packaging makes them a nightmare to carry around, compared to the cup noodle packaging. And I confess: bringing home gourmet instant noodles is quite far down our priority list of things to bring home from Japan.
Nakiryu (鳴龍)
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| Nakiryu and Ippudo instant noodles, 3 December 2017. |
What. The Nakiryu tantanmen (担担麵 / 担々麵) instant noodle doesn't need much introduction or explanation. Neither does the original store at Minami-otsuka. The name, though, is interesting. 鳴 (na) means screaming or howling or roaring or crying. So 鳴龍 (nakiryuu) can mean screaming / howling / roaring / crying dragon. Think I'll stick with roaring dragon. Sounds cooler.
Packaging. Wide styrofoam bowl with a glossy and eye-catching foil lid bearing a (printed) gold Michelin 1つ星 掲載店 and ミシュランガイド Tokyo 2017 (Michelin Guide Tokyo 2017) at the bottom. Under the foil lid is printed the story of Nakiryu, which first began in 2012 in Otsuka. I didn't really
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| Inside the packaging (3 December 2017) |
Contents. The dehydrated noodles come with 3 packets, with the instructions (in Japanese) printed on the packets. The brown packet contains the seasoning and soup powder (かやく入り粉末スープ kayakuiri funmatsu suupu), basically the powdered soup seasoning and dehydrated toppings (mince and spring onion, etc). The red packet contains the sesame paste oils (ねりごまオイル neri goma oiru). The green packet contains the liquid soup (液体スープ ekitai suupu), in concentrated form.
 |
| Nakiryu instant noodles - preparation.... (3 December 2017) |
Preparation. Hubby prepared it. And because we didn't bother to figure out the Japanese instuctions beforehand, we just dumped everything into the bowl, and added boiling hot water to a little below the "line" indentation on the styrofoam bowl. Instructions said to leave it, covered, for 3 minutes, but I think it needed another 1 or 2 more minutes. Mistake, hahaha.
In hindsight, I realised that we were supposed to add the sesame paste oil afterwards. As I'm writing this, I can't help remembering Takeshi Kaneshiro's character in《喜欢·你》(This Is Not What I Expected), where he makes instant noodles with the mathematical precision. The entire sequence, right up to him instructing the police officer.
 |
| Nakiryu instant noodles - ready to eat! (3 December 2017) |
Completion. Rich, creamy bright orange soup. Looks and smells rather like the original, though not as pretty. Pretty tasty, but of course, not like the real deal.
Instant v Original. So we had the tantanmen at the Minami-otsuka store during this Japan trip. There's hands-down no contest. But the instant comes close enough. Maybe 80-85%.
As an instant noodle dish alone, without comparing it to its original counterpart, it's definitely an instant noodle in a league of its own. Whether it is deserving of the 1 Michelin star, it really depends on what one is comparing it with, perhaps? I'm not sure about this idea of slapping Michelin stars to instant processed foods. But in any case, it is certainly an instant noodle that is head and shoulders above other instant noodles.
[Update: We got another one, and made it per the instructions.It turned out much better than our first attempt, but our thoughts stayed the same.]
The instant version is Ippudo's akamaru shinaji Hakata tonkotsu (赤丸新味 博多とんこつ).
Contents. The dehydrated noodles came with 5 flavouring packets. The orange packet contains the soup powder (粉末スープ funmatsu suupu). The red packet contains miso, and some kind of black fragrant oil in separate compartments. The olive green packet contains the concentrated liquid soup (液体スープ ekitai suupu). The black packet contains the seasoning (かやく kayaku), namely the condiments and garnish. The blue-printed transparent packet, labelled roast pork (焼豚 yaki buta) contains a slice of dehydated chashu.
Preparation. Pretty straightforward. Put condiments into bowl and pour boiling hot water. We did follow the instructions for this one.
Completion. As far as instant tonkotsu ramens go, the flavour and consistency of the tonkotsu soup was decent. The noodles as well. The black fungus was a nice addition, but personally the chashu was forgettable.
Instant v Original. Flavours are fairly close to the original...about 80% perhaps? If I closed my eyes, I might just mistake it was an Ippudo takeaway. But that instant chashu is a dead giveaway that it's not. And as usual, nowhere close to rivaling the real deal.
What. Like Nakiryu, Tsuta doesn't need much introduction. In terms of personal experience, we first ate at Tsuta during our summer 2015 trip, before it got the 1 Michelin star. At the time, we had the miso ramen because their signature special blended shoyu ramen had sold out (posted here). We did have a taste of the signature shoyu ramen in the end, when Tsuta opened its first Singapore branch.
Ippudo (一風堂)
What. Of the 3 ramen in this post, the Fukuoka-based Ippudo is the oldest (opened in 1985) and the most familiar, and so probably doesn't need much introduction. 一風堂 (ippuudou) means one wind hall, and its namesake comes from the founder's favourite band, the 1980s synthpop band Ippu-Do, and the founder's intention to revolutionalise the stagnant Kyushu ramen industry.The instant version is Ippudo's akamaru shinaji Hakata tonkotsu (赤丸新味 博多とんこつ).
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| Ippudo instant noodles condiments. (3 December 2017) |
Contents. The dehydrated noodles came with 5 flavouring packets. The orange packet contains the soup powder (粉末スープ funmatsu suupu). The red packet contains miso, and some kind of black fragrant oil in separate compartments. The olive green packet contains the concentrated liquid soup (液体スープ ekitai suupu). The black packet contains the seasoning (かやく kayaku), namely the condiments and garnish. The blue-printed transparent packet, labelled roast pork (焼豚 yaki buta) contains a slice of dehydated chashu.
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| Ippudo instant noodles - preparing.... (3 December 2017) |
Preparation. Pretty straightforward. Put condiments into bowl and pour boiling hot water. We did follow the instructions for this one.
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| Ippudo instant noodles - complete! (3 December 2017) |
Completion. As far as instant tonkotsu ramens go, the flavour and consistency of the tonkotsu soup was decent. The noodles as well. The black fungus was a nice addition, but personally the chashu was forgettable.
Instant v Original. Flavours are fairly close to the original...about 80% perhaps? If I closed my eyes, I might just mistake it was an Ippudo takeaway. But that instant chashu is a dead giveaway that it's not. And as usual, nowhere close to rivaling the real deal.
Tsuta (蔦)
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| Tsuta instant noodles (7 December 2017) |
What. Like Nakiryu, Tsuta doesn't need much introduction. In terms of personal experience, we first ate at Tsuta during our summer 2015 trip, before it got the 1 Michelin star. At the time, we had the miso ramen because their signature special blended shoyu ramen had sold out (posted here). We did have a taste of the signature shoyu ramen in the end, when Tsuta opened its first Singapore branch.
 |
| Tsuta instant noodles condiments. (7 December 2017) |
Contents. The dehydrated noodles were accompanied by 2 flavouring packets, and 2 condiment packets. The red packet was labelled special oil (特製油), the blue-silver packet was the liquid soup concentrate (液体スープ ekitai suupu). The clear, green packet held the dehydrated spring onions and a slice of dehydrated pork. In the fourth, clear packet was menma.
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| Tsuta instant noodles - adding water... (7 December 2017) |
Preparation. Did everything as instructed. And sometimes following the instructions doesn't necessarily produce the optimum results. Filling the bowl with boiling hot water up to the indicated line...in this case, that equaled to too much water.
 |
| Tsuta instant noodles - complete. (7 December 2017) |
Completion. We weren't so in love with it. Even though we followed the instructions, there was too much water, so the broth was diluted. Oops. Guess we'll try again the next time. [Update: We did try it again, and put in less water, about 1/3 less. It was not bad, though overall it was very light and clear.]
Instant v Original. Overall verdict? Depends on what is being asked. If it's whether they capture the taste of the originals. Nope. 全く不満足な。The Tsuta instant ramen was the least like the original. Guess some dishes are just not meant to be instantised.
In terms of instant noodles, the Nakiryu and Ippudo ones are good. Kings in the world of instant noodles. The Tsuta one is meh...probably needs more flavouring oils, and maybe a dash of real shoyu. I do like well-made, tasty instant noodles, and Japan has several good ones. Some of my favourites include the Nissin Cheese Curry cup noodles (Japan only), and the kitsune udon ones that is available everywhere in Japan. I would also add the Nissin Matcha cup noodles (tasty but don't expect a whooping mouthfull of matcha flavour). It's a great pity it was a limited time release!
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