Mr. and Mrs. Puff are both big ramen lovers. So when we were in Japan, a must-do was of course eating ramen. Little did we know, during this journey we tasted ramen that stand above all others.
It is not the famous pork-bone soup based ramen. It is not miso ramen. In fact, it is served with no soup with the noodle.
So what is this king of ramen heaven that the Puffys went into? Welcome to the world of Tsukemen (つけ麺)
Story of the Mr. and Mrs. Puffs encounter with the world of Tsukemen
One day while the Puffys were lost in the maze of Tokyo Station, looking for the Gudetama and Rikkamuka stores that were calling us (more on a later post), we went into the Ramen paradise – Tokyo Ramen Street
It’s the street with all of Japan’s best ramen from all over the country! What better place was there for Ramen addict like Mr. and Mrs. Puffs!
While all ramen houses were no doubt tasty offerings, there was one with lines significantly longer than others:
The Puffys immediately join the line (lucky just got in before breakfast cutoff).
The ramen-ya that we went to is Rokurinsha (六厘舎), speciality store that has received rave reviews everywhere. there are actually 5 branches in Tokyo, including Tokyo Station, Tokyo Skytree, and Haneda International terminal!
We ordered the breakfast tsukemen, and after waiting a bit, there were four bowls brought to us!
The Puffys were confused at first. Why are the noodles not with the soup? Did they make a mistake??
What is Tsukemen
It was ignorant of us to think that way! What we have in front of us is the Tsukemen! According to the all knowing Wikipedia, Tsukemen is ramen which is eaten after dipping in a separate bowl of soup. It is a relatively new type of Ramen which is invested by 大勝軒 in Ikebukuro.
The soup base is much thicker and denser than normal ramen, so the best way to eat is to just grab 2-3 strands of noodle, dip for 3-5 secs, and then sip the noodles loudly Japan style!
By serving the noodle separate from the soup, the texture of the noodle is preserved and the noodles were a bit chunky and not too soft! Yum!
Rokurinsha really perfected the Tsukemen, the fish flavored soup has a very sweet and distinctive taste, the noodles were cooked perfect and the cha-shu were thin and very tasty! Writing this post is making me drolling and crave for Tsukemen again!
Tsukemen is so tasty and special that it has climbed the ranking quickly and have become the Mr. and Mrs. Puff’s favourite ramen!
One last Tsukemen
The Puffys had a really great experience at Rokurinsha at Tokyo Station, and when we saw the branch at Haneda Airport the day we leave, we could not help but to get another bowl at 4am in the morning!
The branch inside Haneda is in a food court, and as like the first customers in the morning, there were no line up and everything was freshly cooked. It was a bit more pricey though but it is also as deliciously tasted as the branch in Tokyo! It was a perfect last meal to have in Japan and a wonderful way to end the trip
So, next time in Japan, the Puffys definitely recommend everyone to go try the Tsukemen and be amazed by it!
It would be great too if some ramen restaurant in Toronto can bring in Tsukemen to their menu!