Tsuta Japanese Soba Noodles : the best instant ramen

I was in Japan for 2 weeks and have eaten bowls of ramen from different parts of Japan, that including bowls of instant ramen that are readily available at the convenience stores and supermarkets. I did not think much of this instant ramen from Tsuta, the world's first Michelin-starred ramen restaurant when I came across at 7-Eleven. I have eaten at their original outlet at Sugamo in Tokyo and also their outlet in Singapore which I felt the standard here is not on par with that in Japan. 

It consists of a piece of dehydrated chashu, preserved bamboo shoots, chopped scallions and fragrance oil.  The highlight was the lightly flavored soup, the truffle taste was mellower as compared to what they served in the restaurants. The noodles were still firm with a slight chewiness. The dehydrated chashu and the bamboo shoots were surprisingly good. 

I would not say this is as good as compared to what they served in their original shop in Sugama at Tokyo but it is kind of close. This is, in my humble opinion, the best instant ramen, in fact, much better than the instant version of Ippudo and Nakiryu that I have tried too. It was so good that I have decided to blog about it. It will be good if this can be found in Singapore too.

Ajisai Japanese Ramen at Yishun Park Hawker Centre

Chef Saito Hiroli, 74, is in charge of this Japanese Ramen stall in this slightly more than a month old Hawker Centre. He was born Tokyo in Japan and he entered the kitchen at 26 years old working at a Japanese gastropub in Osaka for a decade. After this, he went to Los Angeles in the United States of America and worked in a Japanese restaurant before leaving for Hong Kong then went to Sydney as well as other Asian cities before coming to Singapore in 1993. He worked as an executive chef in the hotel and also ran his gastropub together with a Japanese stall in a food court. He met Vincent Ng, 52, that ran a Chinese mixed-rice stall in the food court and both of them became friends. And, Vincent managed to convince Chef Saito to come out of his retirement and set up this stall together. 

This stall is supposed to serve Japanese food at affordable prices and with no authenticity sacrificed. Chef Saito was there when I ordered the Ajisai Miso Ramen at $5.50, the most expensive item on their menu. There are also Pork Chashu Ramen ($3.50), Chicken Ramen ($3.50), Tempura Ramen ($3.50), Jia Jia Ramen (Dry) ($3.50), Miso Ramen ($4.50), Ajisai Ramen ($5.00) and Plain Ramen ($2.50) on the menu. Some items like different types of Donburi and Japanese Curry as well as Garlic Fried Rice are marked as "Sold Out" on their menu. 

I waited for about quite a while for the order to be taken and waited for another 8 minutes or so before receiving the order as there was an order of 3 bowls of ramen before me. The Ajisai Miso Ramen came with half of the ajitama with a small piece of charsu that had more fat than meat, together with some sweet corns, wakame seaweed, fried chicken, and pork. The texture of ramen was pretty firm though with a kind of rubbery resistance which I did not quite like and the miso taste was just too strong. 

I decided to give it another try as I was not too convinced that this should be their usual standard since they have an experienced Japanese chef to oversee the cooking process. I ordered the Pork Chashu Ramen ($3.50) this time. While waiting for the order to be ready, I took notice of those blocks of braised pork belly on a plate that was placed in the glass display shelf, instead of being rolled and tied up the pork belly, it was just blocks of pork belly with a few pieces of string in between to hold its shape. And, that explained why I initially thought it was just half a piece of charshu as it was much smaller in size. 

I was expecting it to be served in tonkotsu broth but it was shoyu instead, it is clearly indicated beside the Pork Chashu Ramen, which has listed as A1 on their menu but I did not notice it when ordering. It fared slightly better than the Ajisai Miso Ramen that I had yesterday. It is served in clear dark broth, flavored with soy sauce with half of the ajitama, a piece of small charsu and kombu. 

The ramen was cooked to the al-dente texture and the ajitama egg was done just right, the chashu has a better lean-to-fat ratio this time. It was not too bad for just $3.50 and I should not be comparing nor complaining at all.

This is not the best of the hawker-style Japanese Ramen that I had tasted,  though this is likely to be the cheapest in Singapore for shoyu ramen.

AJISAI JAPANESE RAMEN

51 Yishun Avenue 11 #01-42 Yishun Park Hawker Centre SINGAPORE 768867

Operating Hours: 11.00 am to 9.00 pm (Tuesday to Friday) / 

9.00 am to 9.00 pm (Saturday, Sunday & Public Holiday)

Ramen Taisho : the Hawker-style Japanese ramen

Tan Hock Soon and Kalene, his wife, started this ramen stall on 15 February 2016 in the food court at Clementi Mall before moving to Maxwell Food Centre on 15 July 2017. Hock Soon spent about 3 years traveling between Singapore and Japan, attending classes and undergoing different types of training to know about cooking and making the ramen. He even imported a noodle maker from Japan and making his own noodles when his stall was in Clementi. I am not sure whether is he still doing right now as his current stall space is smaller. He also attended the Street Food 360 course conducted by Makansutra.

There are the choices of Standard Ramen ($6.80), Ajitama Ramen ($7.80), Chashu Ramen ($8.80), Sambal Ikan Bilis Ramen ($7.80), Black Garlic Ramen ($7.80) and Mazemen Dry Ramen ($7.80). The Shoyu Tonkotsu Ramen ($7.80) is their newest addition and the Deluxe version that came with 3 pieces of chasu is reasonably priced at $9.80, which is cheaper than those from the Japanese restaurants. The ingredients like chashu and tamago eggs are made in-house.

I decided to go with the Black Garlic Ramen, it came with a good portion of noodles with a piece of chashu, bamboo shoots and a tamago egg, garnished with chopped scallions and topped with black garlic oil to serve. 

The chashu was a bit too tough and slightly too thin as well but they got the tamago egg right, the white was quite firm with a soft runny egg yolk. The broth is made from pork bones and chicken and boiled over a relatively long period of time for a rich and deep full-bodied flavor. The noodles were cooked just right to a smooth and elastic texture.

This has to be the better Hawker-style Japanese ramen as compared to the others that I had eaten so far. This is nearly as good as those that offer by the proper restaurant if they are able to keep up the standard. 

RAMEN TAISHO

1 Kadayanallur Street #01-32 Maxwell Food Centre SINGAPORE
Operating Hours: 11.00 am to 9.30 pm (Closed on Saturdays and Sundays)

Buta Kin : hawker-style ramen

It opened on 14 December 2015 in Beauty World Food Centre but was shut down in early 2017 as the food centre is supposed to be converted into an air-conditioned food court after the acquisition but the plan had fallen through. Most of the stalls that have moved out earlier started to move back, Buta Kin is one of them and the other is Hambaobao.

I am still on the look out for the best Ramen in Singapore. I have tried Tsuta but I did not like it as much as compared to what I had eaten in their original shop in Japan. I used to like the Tonkotsu Ramen Summer from Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King Four Seasons but it just did not seem as good as it used to be. I do not know whether it is a drop in their standard or my taste buds are getting more refined after my recent trip to Japan.

Buta Kin is one of those hawker stalls serving affordable Japanese Fare. They serve 5 different types of ramen and udon dishes with another 3 different choices of Japanese curry dishes. There are other such stalls around, like Takagi Ramen and Konomi Zen, both are in Ang Mo Kio and I have been patronising them regularly, though their standard is not comparable to the restaurant.

Some of the items on their menu are Tonkotsu Original Ramen / Udon ($5.00), Tonkotsu Black Ramen / Udon ($6.00), Tonkotsu Red Ramen / Udon ($6.00) and Tonkotsu Vegetable ($5.00) with the options to add a soft-boiled egg ($1.00), chashu ($1.80), black fungus ($0.80), seaweed ($0.80), vegetable ($1.00) or extra noodles ($1.00). They also serve Spicy Miso Pork Don ($5.00), Ebi Fry Curry Rice ($5.50), Tonkotsu Chicken Katsu Curry Rice ($6.00), Tonkotsu Pork Cutlet Curry Rice ($6.00) and also Cold Tofu with Sesame Dressing ($2.00). 

I ordered their Tonkotsu Black Ramen and added a soft-boiled egg for $7.00. The broth was a bit light in flavour and the black garlic sauce was not as fragrant as expected to be but the noodles were cooked just right though. The chashu was tender but not much flavour. The soft-boiled egg was done right with a gooey egg yolk. I should have gone for their Special Tonkotsu Ramen for $6.90 that consists of 3 slices of chashu, black fungus, soft-boiled egg with seaweed, which offers a better value. 

BUTA KIN

144 Upper Bukit Timah Road #04-28 Beauty World Food Centre SINGAPORE 588177

Operating Hours: 11.30 am to 8.30 pm (Daily)

Japanese Soba Noodles Tsuta, Singapore Vs Japan - World's First Michelin-starred Ramen : Are they equally good?

Chef Yuki Onishi, founded Japanese Soba Noodles Tsuta in January 2012, it is a shop nestled in the residential area of Sugamo, Tokyo. They became the first Michelin-starred Ramen restaurant in 2015.

Chef Onishi after giving up a promising corporate career, returned to Kanagawa, his hometown, to follow in his father's footsteps in 1997. He acquired the art of making ramen in his father's ramen shop before moving ahead to pursue his dream of opening a ramen shop. When he started his own shop, his trademark dish is Shoyu Ramen with the signature Shio Ramen. The shoyu broth consists of 3 different types of Shoyu : cedar cask-aged Marudaizu natural soy sauce from Wakayama Prefecture blended together with a naturally brewed, aged Nagano soy sauce and a white soy sauce to intensify the flavor. This is added to the soup stock together with kelp from Hokkaido, pike from Mie, clam stock and other ingredients then boiled to bring forth its full flavors. The noodles are handmade and serving fresh daily using 4 types of whole wheat flour and whole grains.

JAPANESE SOBA NOODLES TSUTA, SINGAPORE
9 Scotts Road #01-01 Pacific Plaza SINGAPORE 228210
Operating Hours: 11.00 am to 10.00 pm (Daily)

Tsuta Singapore has opened on 6 November 2016, it has only 18 counter seats and is located on the ground floor of Pacific Plaza. This is the only outlet of Tsuta, the second in the world after their original shop in Japan. This is a partnership with Hersing Corporation, an investment company which is also behind Tim Ho Wan and Kam's Roast Goose that are located in the same building. 

The queue is outside the restaurant and it started as early as 30 minutes before their operation time. I was the number 7 in the queue when I went there at 10.45 am. 

Their menu also consists of a limited selection of side dishes such as Niku Meshi (diced roasted pork on rice served with onion sauce) at $6, Ro-su Meshi (sliced roasted pork shoulder on rice topped with fragrant butter sauce) at $6 and soup chazuke at $2, the rice can be added to the remaining soup together with bonito flakes and Japanese seaweed. An additional portion of soba noodles is at $1.00, bamboo shoots at $2.00, rice at $1.80, char siu at $2.00 per piece and flavored egg at $1.80.

I decided to go with Ajitama Shoyu Soba at $16.80 which consists of a piece of char siu and a flavored egg. I also ordered Iced Wheat Tea at $1.80 to go along, this tea is selected by Chef Onishi as he feels that it complements his ramen most. 

The tickets were handed over to the service staff before I took my seat at the counter. I actually made an effort to check whether am I allowed to take picture of their kitchen before doing so as this is not allowed at the shop in Japan. 

Each bowl is served with 100 grams of noodles. The noodles are made fresh daily using the same combination of whole wheat and grain flours that are directly imported from Japan. It is known as soba noodles as the noodles are of a higher standard than the more common ramen. And, they cooked it just right. The toppings tasted close to what I had in Japan but it was garnished with spring onions. Pork collar is used to make char siu as it is lower in fat with just the same texture and flavor.

The shoyu ramen is made with the same types of shoyu then topped with a dollop of black truffle pureed in truffle oil. The shio ramen is also made with a chicken-seafood broth with Okinawa sea salt and Mongolian rock salt and topped with green olive pureed in truffle oil. The standards are expected to be the same. 

I waited for about 5 minutes for my shoyu ramen to be served. I frowned when I sipped the soup, it was much saltier as compared to what they served in Japan with a rather overpowering taste of truffle oil. I did not manage to finish the soup which is not quite usual for a soup lover like myself.

The standard is not the same and definitely not as good, it might be good during the initial period when Chef Onishi was around but it is so lacking now. It actually tasted quite ordinary, a far cry from what I had in Sugamo, Tokyo. Apparently, it is not even as good as some of the other options for ramen that are here.

There is also plan to include Miso ramen and Tsukeman, a ramen dish that is served with dipping sauce that is already on their menu in Japan.

JAPANESE SOBA NOODLES TSUTA, JAPAN
1-14-1 Plateau-Saka 1F Sugamo, Toshima-ku, Tokyu
Operating Hours: 11.00 am to 4.00 pm / 6.00 pm to 8.00 pm (Closed on Wednesdays)

This is supposed to be the number one ramen in a city of thousands of ramen joints. Their location is a stone's throw from Sugamo Sation on the Yamanote train line which loops around center of Tokyo. To secure one of those 9 seats at the counter for a bowl of Micheline-starred ramen on the same day, you are expected to be there really early. Tickets for set time slots are distributed from 7 am and you are expected to come back later according to the color of the tickets allocated. The colored ticket represents different timing, at 11.00 am, 12.00 pm, 1 pm, 2 pm, 3 pm and 4 pm respectively. Please take note that everyone in the party is expected to be present to get a ticket. 

You are also required to pay a deposit of ¥1,000 in order to receive a ticket. It will be refunded later when you come back later just before you enter the shop and place your order through the vending machine. Do take note that the vending machine is in Japanese. There are only 150 bowls of ramen to be served daily in the price range of ¥1,000 to ¥1,500 ($13 to $20). There is strictly no picture of the kitchen is allowed and only one bowl of ramen per person, sharing is also not permitted. 

The instructions for the ticketing system is listed out and pasted on the wall at just where the queue is supposed to be, which is at the covered entrance to the apartment next to it. 

Their menu is simple, it consists of either soba or tsuke-soba served in a shoyu and shio varieties. Their Shoyu Soba is a soy sauce ramen that is made from a chicken and seafood stock base, enhanced by a soy sauce blend then topped with their signature black truffle oil and black truffle sauce that intensifies the overall umami experience. The broth of shoyu ramen is rich and complex while the freshly made soba noodles are firm, smooth with a desired chewiness that has a clear and nutty flavor, balanced perfectly with the black truffle oil, the char siu is perfectly roasted too.

The shio ramen is lighter and saltier in flavor. The seafood dashi made from the combination of clam and red seabream and it blended really well into the shio soup, which uses Okinawan sea salt and Mongolian rock salt. It is then topped with Italian white truffle oil, green tapenade, tomato and herbs.

You might want to include a trip to Sugamo when you are visiting Tokyo, this is not just for an affordable Michelin-star dining but also a top-class ramen experience. Ultimately, their ramen is so much better than that in Singapore. 

Takagi Ramen Shop : Ramen for the Average Singaporean

There is a new ramen stall in a coffee shop facing the MRT station in Ang Mo Kio central recently opened on 2 January 2016. The Owners, Ai Takagi and Yang Kaiheng, her husband, are the founders of the now-defunct socio-political website known as The Real Singapore (TRS) that shut down by the Singapore government as they deemed the TRS site for 'causing ill-will'. Ai Takagi decided to forgo her studies in law and went ahead to start the hawker business with husband that is serving authentic and affordable Japanese Ramen in food court and coffee shop. They started the first outlet in NUS Prince George's Park near the Kent Ridge MRT and the second outlet at NUS Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy which is near Botanical MRT but has already shut down then followed by this newest outlet in Ang Mo Kio. 

As indicated on their Facebook page, their ramen is served in a Tonkotsu based soup which is made from quality Australian pork bones that are boiled for 12 hours to extract all the essence and goodness. They then let the flavors infuse and condense for another 12 hours to give a collagen rich and smooth broth. It is then carefully filtered for a clean taste of authentic Tonkotsu soup without a strong pork or oily aftertaste.

There is a current promotion of 1-for-1 different choices of ramen starting from 2 January 2016 to 9 January 2016. I went with a friend and we tried Karaka-Men for $6.00 and Black Tonkotsu for $6.50.

The Karaka-Men is the spicy Tonkotsu Noodle Soup that served with strips of seaweed and beansprouts, i added Ajitama for $1.00 to go with it. Though the broth has got a distinctive spicy taste but its spiciness was actually quite mild with a rather light flavor and not as salty as most ramen out there, which is good. The texture of the noodle was a bit too soft to my liking. The 2 pieces of Charsu tasted quite good though with a literally melt-in-the-mouth texture. 

The Black Tonkotsu is Tonkotsu Noodle Soup served with charred garlic oil, bamboo shoot strips and black fungus. The flavor of the broth was equally light and i could not quite taste the charred garlic in it. The texture of ramen was a bit too soft too but for just $6.50, it is quite acceptable. 

Takagi Ramen is hoping to open more outlets in different parts of Singapore to allow the average Singaporean to enjoying authentic Japanese Tonkotsu Ramen. And, they are in the midst of planning to open the next outlet in Yishun.

TAKAGI RAMEN

Block 721 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8 Broadway Coffee Shop SINGAPORE 560721

Operating Hours: 11.00 am to 10.00 pm (Daily)

Brothers Ramen : Ramen From The Heart

We should support our homegrown ramen shop to ensuring their survivability is not threatened by the proliferation of ramen shops in the close vicinity. Read my article on MAKANSUTRA.

BROTHERS RAMEN

10 Anson Road #01-20 International Plaza SINGAPORE 079903

Operating Hours: 11.30 am to 2.30 pm / 6.30 pm to 8.30 pm (Closed on Sundays)

Tonkotsu King MATSURI at Parkway Parade

Tonkotus King MATSURI is having their Soft Opening on 22 July 2014 and 23 July 2014 at Parkway Parade from 11.30 am to 15.30 pm for lunch and 17.30 pm to 21.00 pm serving only ramen with no side dishes.

And from 24 July 2014 onward, they will be in full operation serving the full menu. 

The newly introduced Wasabi Ginger Ale ($3.50) is specially bottled by Keisuke-san solely for his outlets, just like the earlier Green Tea Cola. The Wasabi Ginger Ale has a little to none of Wasabi taste but tasted a little towards Ginger Beer. This is definitely an interesting choice.

Gyoza is part of the selection for the side dishes. It comes in 3 pieces for $3 or 6 pieces for $6. It tasted just like those from the Keisuke Gyoza King in Tanjong Pagar. The dumplings have got a slight crisp exterior with a nice juicy filling. 

Nanban Chicken is definitely amongst one of my favourite choices for a side dish. The fried chicken pieces served with Tartar Sauce with sprinkled with bits of tartar sauce for $9. The tartar tasted a little egg mayonnaise with a rather slight sweet taste.

Tonkotsu Ramen ‘AWA ODORI’ ($18.90 with special toppings) is specially created by Keisuke-san using his secret recipe by adding in Pork Sukiyaki and a raw egg yolk to its sweet broth derived from the seasoned pork and caramelized onions.

Tonkotsu Ramen 'SANJYA' ($18.90 with special toppings) features 3 types of spices, namely the red chilli, the green chilli as well as a black spicy taste. These spices have been specially created for this particular outlet and for this special ramen. All of these spices might have their own distinctive flavor but harmoniously blended well when mixed together. It did not taste too spicy though it left quite a spicy aftertaste.

A special thanks for the invitation to be amongst the few to attend the Pre-Opening Dinner on 17 July 2014. We totally enjoyed the foods and drinks. 

It was a great pleasure to meet up with the unexpectedly friendly Keisuke-san.

TONKOTSU KING MATSURI

80 Marine Parade Road #B1-18 Parkway Parade SINGAPORE 449269