Ramen Hanabi - August 2022
In Japan, Summer (natsu, 夏) is the season of fireworks (hanabi, 花火, literally, fire flowers: isn’t that a beautiful name?). Sitting by the riverside and watching the skies light up in rainbows of colors is a summer-favorite activity. You’ll always need some food while watching, so why not bring some tasty Japanese ramen?
Charumera Cup Consommé Tomato Flavor from Myojo
Allergens: wheat, egg, dairy, shrimp, pork, chicken, soy, sesame, apple Processed in a facility that also processes buckwheat, crab, and peanuts Cooking time: 3 minutes Myojo Foods Co., Ltd. presided by Akihiro Toyome is releasing a new collaboration design version of the long-selling brand Myojo Charumera in preparation of the One Piece Red (ワンピース フィルム レッド) movie release. Are you ready for this? If you haven’t yet watched One Piece, it’s been one of the most popular anime of the last decade. To celebrate the occasion, not 1 but 2 tasty limited-time One Piece designs are hitting the shelves. Which one do you have in your pack? Consommé Tomato Flavor is what lies beneath the lid: full of flavors and red like the movie! The tomato bouillabaisse flavor is made with an addition of seafood, because, what else would pirates eat while sailing the Red Line?
Miso Ramen Donburi Ebi Dashi Shitate or Shio Ramen Donburi Kanitama style from Sanyo Shokuhin
(Miso) Allergens: shrimp, egg, wheat, dairy, sesame, pork, soy, gelatin Processed in a facility that also processes crab Cooking time: 3 minutes (Shio) Allergens: shrimp, crab, egg, wheat, dairy, squid, sesame, pork, soy, chicken, mountain yam Cooking time: 3 minutes Ise, one of Japan’s most sacred places as it hosts the Imperial family’s shrine: Ise Jingu (伊勢神宮). Sapporo Ichiban surprises us again with delicious flavors made from local products. Mie prefecture (三重県) boasts a beautiful coastline and fresh seafood from the ocean. The noodles are slightly sticky and that go well with the texture of the soup. In this Ultraman collaboration, the main ingredient is Ise lobster that gives all its umami to the soup. It’s combined with some rich miso and gives some depth to the whole experience. The dish is topped with eggs, green onions and some wakame seaweed! We also have the classic salt ramen version (塩らーめん), with its simple yet elegant flavors fused with crab meat and egg for that extra punch.
Ikasumi Yakisoba from Peyoung
Allergens: wheat, squid, soy Cooking time: 3 minutes One of Japan’s standard dishes, yakisoba (やきそば) comes with some new, original flavors: Ikasumi (イカスミ, squid ink). Peyoung is behind this innovation. The company has been making those since the 1970s. Contrary to the common yakisoba recipe, this one is not stir-fried the classic way. The black and white hard package has also spilled a lot of Japanese food blogger’s ink, as it’s quite unique and eye-catching. Filled with squid and garlic toppings, the dish is very tasty, and the sauce reaches near perfection! Cabbage is the vegetable of choice for such a dish, and Peyoung did not forget to add a sizable portion.
Super cup 1.5 bai Seafood Flavor Setouchi Lemon Shitate Ramen from Acecook スーパーカップ1.5倍
Allergens: shrimp, crab, wheat, egg, dairy, squid, soy, pork Cooking time: 3 minutes This product is a new product of the "Super Cup 1.5x" series in collaboration with AOASHI, which is familiar to a long-selling brand released in 1988, and this time it is a limited-time product released so far under the title of "Heisei's blockbuster revival series". This dish gained popularity for its seafood flavor that uses seafood soup stock mixed with pork, initially released in May 2001. It has been newly developed with the same taste from the early Heisei era (平成時代) to satisfy everyone’s nostalgia. Spicy seafood oil is the decisive factor for the taste! The "seafood oil" that condenses the taste of seafood such as squid, scallops, and shrimp is combined with the spiciness of chili peppers and a hint of delicious Setouchi lemons (瀬戸内レモン)!
Hiyashi Stamina Niku Soboro Soba from Toyo Suisan
Allergens: Wheat, Buckwheat, Egg, Sesame, Mackerel, Soy, Chicken, Pork, Apple, Gelatin Cooking time: 4 minutes Summers in Japan are hot and humid. Eating a steaming bowl of ramen might not always be the best option, unless you want to feel like taking a 3-hour nap right after. Rest assured, Japan has prepared many alternatives, including a wide range of cold noodles. We’ve selected the "Cold stamina meat soboro soba", characterized by its solid taste with the spiciness of chili oil and the richness of garlic. Soboro (そぼろ) refers to ground meat, fish, or eggs that are cooked into fine, crumbled pieces. In this case, the soba (そば) noodles come with meat. The dish is light, and flavorful and comes with gentle aromas.
Nissin Men Syokunin Yuzu Shio Flavor from Nisshin
Allergens: wheat, egg, dairy, pork, chicken, mackerel, soy, sesame Cooking time: 4 minutes Nissin’s Menshokunin (麺職人) series is always fun to eat. Especially when they decorate their packaging with beautiful hanabi (花火, fireworks). The concept of those noodles is simple: make them yourself. For the summer months, we’ve selected a delicious yuzu shio (柚子しお) flavor that is both, tasty and refreshing. This newly released product replaced the traditional vegetable flavors by yuzu, a fresh citrus fruit popular in Summer. The portion is very generous, and a detail that makes it stand out, is the deliciousness of chicken oil! The yuzu soup, which has a refreshing aroma of yuzu and a rich flavor of seafood, goes well with the non-fried whole grain noodle. Topped with eggs and green onions, it’s a dish that remains simple, yet packs a punch of flavors!
Maru Uma Tottori Gyukotsu Ramen from Acecook
Allergens: wheat, egg, dairy, beef, soy, chicken, pork, gelatin Cooking time: 3 minutes Tottori (鳥取), Japan’s least visited prefecture is host to many beautiful sceneries, and tasty food. This dish is actually from one of the region’s most famous ramen stores: Kamikotsu. Fans have been traveling to the location for over 60 years to enjoy the unique taste of local ramen. Characterized by the soy sauce flavor paired with beef bones (牛骨), the noodles come with a slight sweetness and lovely beef aromas. The dish is finished with black pepper that elevates the whole combination and leaves you with a satisfying aftertaste. The noodles are non-fried, medium thick, chewy, and exactly what you’d want in that kind of ramen. Together with some char siu, bean sprouts, and green onions, those ramen are awesome!
