Here’s another one sent by Javier over at Box From Japan. Box From Japan is a subscription service where you can get 4 unique bowls of instant ramen – direct from Japan – they also have subscription packages for Japanese snacks and candy as well as some other things – definitely worth a look – thanks again for sending this along!
Today it’s Kyoto backfat shoyu. Here’s a little about shoyu from Wikipedia –
Shōyu (醤油, “soy sauce”) ramen is the oldest of the five, it has a clear brown broth, based on a chicken and vegetable (or sometimes fish or beef) stock with plenty of soy sauce added resulting in a soup that is tangy, salty, and savory yet still fairly light on the palate. Shōyu ramen usually has curly noodles rather than straight ones, but this is not always the case. It is often adorned with marinated bamboo shoots or menma, green onions, kamaboko (fish cakes), nori (seaweed), boiled eggs, bean sprouts or black pepper; occasionally the soup will also contain chili oil or Chinese spices, and some shops serve sliced beef instead of the usual chāshū.
Also, here’s some from Lucky Peach about Kyoto’s ramen varieties –
Given Kyoto’s cultural reputation, you might expect its ramen to be a rarefied and refined reworking of the humble noodle soup. But the old capital is home to two distinct types of down-home ramen: the thinner assari-kei shoyu ramen, and a thick, gritty chicken-soup kotteri-kei ramen, both of which are referred to as “Kyoto ramen.” The former is a blend of pork and chicken broth, with a dark soy base; the latter is a rich porridge-like soup culled mostly from chicken, topped with spicy bean paste, chives, garlic, and pungent local kujnoegi onions—it’s quite popular with the town’s large student population.
Style/tare: Shoyu.
Toppings: Assari-kei: roast pork, scallions, bamboo shoots, nori; some shops offer pats of butter. Kotteri-kei: roast pork, scallions, bamboo shoots, spicy chives, minced garlic, chili bean paste, white pepper.
Alkright – let’s check out this variety from Japan!
New Touch Sugo-men Kyoto Backfat Shoyu Ramen – Japan
Detail of the side panels (click to enlarge). Contains pork. To prepare, add pork sachet contents and 430ml boiling water. Cover and steep for 5 minutes. Add in liquid sachet and stir well. Finally, top with spring onion garnish sachet content and enjoy!
Detail of the lid and its underside (click to enlarge).
The noodle block.
The soup base sachet.
A thick and rich liquid base.
A dry sachet.
A slice of pork and possibly mushrooms.
The garnish sachet.
Bit of onion.
Finished (click to enlarge). The noodles are thin and round in shape. They have a nice chew to them, not overly so, and a decent quantity. Definitely on the premium end of the stick. The broth is a shoyu – kind of has a brewed soy sauce hit to it; kind of a more earthy, almost burnt taste that I wasn’t completely enamored with. However, the thickness and oiliness of the broth was very nice. The chashu pork was good although thin. The menma had a kind of mushroom consistency to it in some parts, slightly crunchy in others – depending of course of the thickness. The mountain of spring onion was pretty epic. 3.75 out of 5.0 stars. JAN bar code 4903088010380.
New touch Sugomen Kyoto backfat soy sauce 124g ~ 12 pieces
