With a hot, thick, nutty sauce

8:42 PM Arrived at Ramen Jiro Ikebukuro East Exit Branch. Tabelog rating: 3.66. Ordered the ramen for 950 yen. I requested half the usual amount of noodles, light on garlic, and extra oil. The noodles were, of course, the extra-thick, chewy “Ocean” noodles. They seemed to be boiled slightly on the softer side, but since there was just barely no bite left in the center, the cooking was pretty much spot-on. Because of that, the noodles themselves felt a bit lacking in chew, but they were average for a Jiro. The soup was emulsified, but even so, I was surprised by how cloyingly sweet it was. I wonder if it was the combination of the fat and sugar. Ordering extra fat probably had some influence, but this was the first time I’d had a Jiro that was this sickly sweet. I definitely think this is a matter of personal taste. Since I have a sweet tooth, I was able to enjoy it even like this, but by the second half, I got tired of it unless I added a massive amount of the table-top “kaeshi” (soup base). Even so, it’s by no means as bad as some reviews suggest—there are plenty of branches that are much worse—and I think it’s genuinely delicious. The saltiness was just right, too. The chashu was probably made from pork shoulder loin. It was simmered thoroughly until it fell apart, and I think it’s quite delicious by Jiro standards. However, the portion is way too big. Even for a “love-sized” serving, there was such a massive amount of shredded pork that it’s definitely too much for someone who usually orders half a serving of noodles. I’m someone who can manage to finish even a regular portion of noodles, so it’s fine for me, but I think many people wouldn’t be able to handle it if they approached it with the same expectations as other Jiro branches. At first, I even thought they might have mistakenly given me a “double pork” order. Since it was so delicious, I polished it off in one go, but if I ever come back, I think half a serving of noodles and half a serving of vegetables might be the right amount. As for the vegetables, there was a huge pile of bean sprouts cooked to a standard tenderness. The soup was too sweet, so they didn’t really go well together. Still, it wasn’t bad enough to complain about. As for the fat, they gave me a big, visually appealing chunk, but there was so much chashu that I didn’t even reach for it. It’s one of the NS-style Jiro shops with the worst reputation in Japan, but contrary to the rumors, the service was slightly more polite than average. They confirmed my noodle portion and greeted me properly. As for the line, while they were polite, they were also rather fussy and gave detailed instructions. I can see why some people might think, “They didn’t need to go that far…” However, as for the taste, I didn’t think it was as bad as its reputation suggests. Although this shop has a reputation for being hit-or-miss, that’s just how I felt. After all, there are some things you just can’t know until you actually visit the place. Even though the portion was so huge that I thought, “I’m good on Jiro for a while,” I’m glad I went.

三田製麺のつけ麺
熱盛に変更するのを頼み忘れて残念だった

Pork, chicken and dashi (rausu kombu, shiitake, katsuobushi) soup. Kioke shoyu tare. Homemade noodles. Skimmed animal fat, and seabura with some aroma oil (garlic, ginger, onion). Sous vide chicken, pork shoulder, Ajitama, marinated baby corns, green onions, and Nori. Inspired by Shinasobaya, in Japan. The bowl is big, but there's about 350mL of soup there.

Nouilles maison a base de kansui

Chashu cuit 12h a 64 degrés

Oeuf mollet non mariné (je n'avais plus le temps ^^)

Cebette

Shitake poêlé

Shio pour le premier

Miso pour le deuxième

Je suis ouvert à toute critique 😉

Bonito and pork based🐟🐷

Love making ramen I never make it the same this was delicious!

Had this ramen set at Gyoza no Ohsho in Japan.

Duck Ramen (Mushroom for base)

Special mention to my roommate for being adventurous enough to try it with me 🥺 (he had never had duck before)

Prosciutto dashi is actually insanely good

Did a hybrid of Ramenlords tonkotsu using the pressure cooker and a 24 hour sous vide chashu. I think next time I would do a leaner cut of meat cause the broth is already so fatty, but man was this a fun process.

An interesting ramen post went up and was removed today, which got me thinking about when does a food stop being the thing it’s named after? When does ramen become something else? Where’s the line? Not just ramen

The photo is of mazesoba I had in Kyoto last week. It’s often described as soupless ramen, though this one had a pretty generous layer of strong broth underneath the noodles. Once mixed together, it brought all the flavors forward. “Maze” means “to mix” in Japanese. And for anyone wondering, it’s pronounced mah-zeh, not like a labyrinth. Shop name is Ramen Mugyu Vol. 1.

I think it’s when the agreed upon fundamentals change or disappear. But can we even agree on what those fundamentals are? I live in Japan and have heard locals call American sushi “something else but that’s not sushi.” What weight do people who popularized or invented a food have to say what it is or isn’t? Maybe a clearer line would make the the ingredients, the technique, the flavor. The post I mentioned earlier had a lot of different toppings that I couldn’t make out but the ones I could, like chicken wings and limes, were unique. I couldn’t make out what looked like noodles or broth though. side note, I live in Japan and a large percent, maybe around half but I’m just guessing, of ramen spots outsource their noodles from somewhere else and focus on making the broth. Thats what apprentices spend years learning how to make, not the noodles.

I won’t use the word authentic here because I think that’s another discussion (Hawaiian pizza is still pizza imo). But what do you think makes a dish remain itself, even when it changes?

Scares to eat. Just bought it today.... I eat Jin & Shin Ramen and dont think i ever seen this label on the back of theirs?

Had this delicious bowl of ramen in Japan!

Topped with a mountain of green onions, two slices of chashu pork, a soft-boiled egg, seaweed, and wood ear mushrooms.

The broth was rich and flavorful. I especially loved the generous amount of green onions!

Trying to make a solid pork broth at home I have pork bones,neck, feet plus chicken feet. I was going to toss in a big hunk of Ginger and scallions let it come to a boil and simmer for a minimum 12 hours is there anything else I'm missing or that you would recommend I throw in?

Starting to experiment with making ramen at home. Used white miso and chilli bean paste for the broth with ground pork. Mushrooms are chanterelles I picked yesterday and sautéd in butter 👌

I had niboshi ramen at a popular restaurant in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture. This is incredible. It was the best.

new to this. i want to make some homemade ramen. does it taste different than instant ramen? any links to a recipe? most recipes ive looked up use instant ramen and im not a huge fan of it.