Kurume Taiho Instant Ramen - 久留米ラーメン

So here it is, the last instant ramen from my trip. Could I have coincidentally saved the best for last? According to Rameniac, this is one of his REAL favorites. It looks like I'm in for a treat because we all know that "the rameniac" doesn't joke around when it comes to tonkotsu ramen from Kyushu.


The plain looking box opened in a revealing fashion, unlike any other. And inside was a beauty awaiting anxiously to please my yearning hunger. Under the cover was a detailed description on how the ramen should be prepared. It even included a time line that showed how many seconds to cook the noodles in order to arrive at your preference. 30 seconds for 超かため (super hard), 60 seconds for かため (hard), 90 seconds for ふつう (normal), and 120 seconds for やわめ (soft). I chose normal.


The contents of this 昔ラーメン (old-style ramen) include:

• 自家製生めん (Home-made noodles)
• スープ (Soup)
• とんこつ用ごま (Sesame seeds especially for tonkotsu)
• 紅しょうが (Red ginger)

If you've ever smelled slightly-ground goma (sesame seeds) then the pic below might bring back those memories. That smell is unforgettably delectable and it goes great with this soup. A surprisingly sweet taste combined with the shyoga (red ginger) and goma made for a harmonious balance of flavor. This is without a doubt, a great blend of ingredients.


The noodles were also distinguished in their own right. Graceful and elegant are the only words that can do them justice. I now understand Rameniac's feelings toward this ramen. Hopefully I'll get to try the original someday.

Main Ingredients

Soup (スープ): Animal extract, pork oil, salt, dextrose, soy sauce, gelatin, spice, sugar, sesame, monosodium glutamate, sake, グァーガム...
Noodles (メン): Flour, egg powder, salt, embryo bud, calcium, sake, milk, kansui, gardenia...

Kairyu (Dotonkotsu) Instant Ramen - 久留米ラーメン

I wonder if there's such a thing as ramenholics anonymous in Japan. If so, I think I need to go. Wait, but that would mean I'd have to give up ramen...F THAT! Only two more instant ramen packs remain and I'm not sure what I'll do without them. I've been eating them in order of expiration date so hopefully the best are towards the end. Although I doubt they can get much better since all of them so far have been top notch. Next up is Kairyu. A ramen-ya from Kurume city and their dotonkotsu ramen. That pic on the box looks so good. It's too bad those slices of chashu aren't included.


This pic below was a card from inside the box. I just thought I'd share it because it looked pretty cool.


The contents include a pack of heavenly blonde noodles and a pouch of Kairyu's famed kotteri soup.


This soup was very garlicky. I mean VERY garlicky. Is garlicky even a word? Wouldn't that be a cool name for a dog? Here garlicky licky... What am I saying? The overwhelming sense of garlic has made me lose it--not that I ever had it in the first place. But seriously, this garlic aura is making my head spin. Aside from that, the soup was very light and became creamier with every sip. It really could have used some toppings. I have to go open the window now to get some fresh air in here.


The noodles were a little thinner than the average hakata-style, but that didn't take anything away from its texture. It was a good noodle that left me looking for a kaedama. I guess we always can't be so lucky.

Main Ingredients

Soup (スープ): Animal extract, pork oil, slat, spice, soy sauce, monosodium glutamate, sake, garlic, caramel color...
Noodles (メン): Flour, vegi-tanpaku, water candy, salt, sake, kansui...

博多ラーメン Tonkotsu Instant Ramen

In looking all over the box to find the shop name, this instant ramen is simply called Hakata Ramen Tonkotsu. Hmmm...it says tonkotsu on one side and ninniku (garlic) on the other. I'm a bit confused on why two boxes are stuck together. Oh wait. It says 替玉付 (kaedama tsuki). Wow, I've never heard of instant ramen including kaedama. Looks like I'm in for a big meal.


The contents include two packs of thin Hakata-style noodles (obviously), fresh ginger, sesame seeds, dried green onions, garlic chips, and a pouch of フクチャンスープ. Fukuchan soup? Okay so that must be the shop that makes this ramen.


What a beautiful-looking instant ramen. It's not only good-looking, it's an instant culinary delight. If this was served at most ramen-ya's in LA, people would never know the difference. This smooth, creamy tonkotsu soup is loaded with flavors that will leave you speechless. The mind-numbing combination of garlic chips and ginger just blows you away. I take pride in my instant ramen cooking, but all the credit goes to the creators for this one. I don't think I could've messed this up if I tried.


The noodles unbelievably took this ramen up another notch. Their thin, light texture left me yearning for more. Wait a minute! Did I hear someone say...


It's Kaedama time!!!


These garlic chips are as good as potato chips. You can't eat just one.

Main Ingredients

Soup (スープ): Animal extract, pork oil, soy sauce, salt, garlic, gelatin, onion, sake, monosodium glutamate, spice, ginger, vinegar, caramel color...
Noodles (メン): Flour, egg white, salt, sake, kansui, shell calcium, くちなし...

Sumire Instant Ramen - 札幌ラーメン

The Sumire instant ramen comes in three flavors: shoyu, shio, and miso. The miso is their signature ramen, but I still opted to only buy the shoyu since I'm not much of a miso fan. As I write this though, I'm beginning to regret that I didn't buy the miso. Luckily for me, I'll be able to try the miso this weekend at the Mitsuwa Legendary Ramen Fair. Sweet!


The contents include a pack of yellow noodles, menma, two pouches for the soup, and a picture of すみれや.


This oily Sapporo-style soup was incredibly strong...and strange. This thick sardine flavored soup with just a dash of shoyu tasted like I was drinking fish blood. Very different, but I could get used to it...I think.


The noodles were tastier than the soup. Their chewy texture probably saved the soup. I can't wait to taste the miso this weekend.

Main Ingredients

Soup (スープ): Soy sauce, animal oil, chicken extract, vegetable oil, pork extract, salt, spice, vegetable extract, shiitake extract, sardine extract, caramel color, monosodium glutamate...
Noodles (メン): Flour, egg white, kansui, salt, sake, color...

Harukiya Instant Ramen - 荻窪 中華そば

Since experiencing the magic of Harukiya on Day 1 of my Tokyo trip, I was delighted to learn that I could take some of that magic home. There's nothing like a great tasting ramen to revive your senses after a long plane ride.


The contents include いちばん スープ (#1 soup) and a packet of their original noodles. Don't worry, that soup looks much better once you add some water.


I told you it looks better. My first thought: "Woah, this tastes exactly like the real stuff!" My second thought: "Damn, this stuff is incredible!" My third thought: Leave me alone I'm trying to eat this stuff.


The noodles tasted remarkably fresh for being instant. They were alien-like, in the best way possible.

Main Ingredients

Soup (スープ): Lard, soy sauce, fish extract, animal extract, sardine oil, salt, sugar, seaweed extract, green onion oil, vegetable extract, spice, monosodium glutamate, caramel color...
Noodles (メン): Flour, sake milk lactobacillus, kansui, salt, shell calcium...

Taishoken Instant Ramen なま 中華そば - 池袋

Ever since I bought all these packs of instant ramen on my trip, I've been anxiously looking forward to this one. If you don't know about Taishoken, then you need to do your homework. I wasn't able to make it to Ikebukuro on my trip (even though I was only six or so stations away), but I'm looking forward to going on my next trip.


The contents include a pouch of soup and an incredibly gorgeous packet of noodles. It might just be me, but those noodles look amazing. I've never seen anything like it.


Wow. This is definitely instant ramen heaven! This light shoyu flavor has Tokyo written all over it and just looking at the pic below is making me drool. I feel like getting on the next plane to Ikebukuro in the morning. Yo bro, we should have went the opposite way to Ikebukuro instead of Ogikubo my first night there!


These noodles were special. They must have been made with a mutated strain of kansui because they are crazy good!

Main Ingredients

Soup (スープ): Shoyu, pork extract, animal oil, sugar, salt, onion, monosodium glutamate, dried sardine, spice, sake, caramel color...
Noodles (メン): Flour, egg, kansui, sake, salt...

Irori Instant Ramen - 札幌ラーメン

This instant ramen has one of the best boxes. Not only does the flaming wok capture your attention, but the all black background makes you wonder what's really inside. This could be interesting.


The contents include a pack of crimpy noodles and two pouches of soup.


I'm not afraid of the dark, but this dark soup somehow frightens me. How do they make it so black? Anyway, back to the review. Well, it's definitely not your typical ramen. The shoyu flavor was surprisingly mild and I really couldn't taste the squid. I expected more of a charred flavor, but looks can be deceiving.


The noodles were incredible! 生ラーメン is the best!

Main Ingredients

Soup (スープ): Animal oil (pork), soy sauce, pork extract, salt, squid extract, でん粉, sugar, hakusai extract, spice, monosodium glutamate, sake, color, caramel color, smoked liver...
Noodles (メン): Flour, salt, wheat carb, egg white, vegetable oil, sake, kansui...

Ide Shouten 中華そば Instant Ramen - 和歌山

So now we come to something I didn't try on my Japan trip. And I think I might pass out soon from all this MSG. My head is pounding. If you see an unfinished post, then that's probably what happened.


The contents include a light, elegant-looking pack of noodles, a packet of shoyu soup, and dried green onions. Sweet, another one with toppings!


I love shoyu ramen, but I'm not so sure that I love this shoyu ramen. The soup was very strong and surprisingly thick for shoyu. Overall, it still had a good flavor. I would eat it again.


These Hakata-style noodles were great. The best instant Hakata-style noodle I've ever had. No joke! Whew...it looks like I made it through the post without passing out.

Main Ingredients

Soup (スープ): Animal extract, soy sauce, pork oil, gelatin, salt, monosodium glutamate, sake, caramel color, sweet seasoning...
Noodles (メン): Flour, sake, nyuusan (milk lactobacillus), kuchinasu (flour color)...

Keyaki Instant Ramen - 札幌ラーメン

Here is another instant ramen based on a real ramen I tried during my Japan trip. Amazingly, like the others, this instant ramen tastes almost exactly like the real thing. They must have some sort of ramen cloning machine in Japan that automatically zaps the real thing into a box of instant bliss. I wouldn't be surprised if that were true.


The contents include the noodles, a pouch of miso soup, a pouch of アブラ, and WHAT!...toppings? Okay it's not much, but look there's menma and goma included! Nice.


I could drink this soup for days. I'm not much of a miso fan, but this soup is extraordinary--it contains apple juice. It's a sweet and spicy symphony that just dances on your tongue. I've been to Sapporo before, but I never tasted a soup like this. The menma and goma are a nice touch, but I do miss all those toppings from the original.


The noodles were nice and chewy. I wish I had bought some more of this one.

Main Ingredients

Soup (スープ): Animal extract, miso, sake, soy sauce, vegetable extract, fish oil, apple juice, zelatin, salt, ginger, garlic, tobanjan, seaweed extract, lard, sugar, sansho, ago, shiitake, aji, monosodium glutamate...
Noodles (メン): Flour, sake, kansui, sake extract...

Komurasaki Instant Ramen - 熊本ラーメン

You may remember my encounter with Komurasaki and their Oosama-ramen early on in my trip to Japan and how their creamy tonkotsu soup reminded me a lot like Shinsengumi's. Well, the same goes for their instant ramen.


The contents include long, blonde strands of thin, yellow noodles and a packet of tonkotsu soup. No toppings as expected.


This creamy soup is great, but it still doesn't impress me all that much. The balance of flavors combine for a mellow taste much like the real thing. But man, do I miss those toppings!


The Hakata-style noodles were very easy to slurp. Their smooth texture gently rubs the tonsils as they go down.

Main Ingredients

Soup (スープ): Animal extract (pork & chicken), salt, sesame oil, vegetable oil, lard, soy sauce, fish oil, sugar, monosodium glutamate, caramel color...
Noodles (メン): Flour, salt, kansui, sake, プロビリングリコール...

Hachiya Instant Ramen - 旭川ラーメン

I thought about taking a month off from eating ramen, since I ate so much in Japan, but after several days the withdrawal was setting in and my love for ramen was yearning for some comfort. I needed to break open one of the instant ramen packs that I bought at the Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum. This will be the first time I feature an instant ramen on this blog, I usually just leave the instant stuff to edjusted and alvin (because they both do such a great job), but I guess I can't be selfish and I should share these with all of you.

In case you don't remember my encounter with the real Hachiya ramen, you can check it out here. At the time, I called it the best I've ever had, but that was before Jiraigen. Let's see how the instant stuff compares to the original.


The contents include a packet of Asahikawa ramen soup and a delicious-looking pack of nama ramen. No toppings included, which is a shame, but I wouldn't want to eat chashu or menma stuffed in a little box anyway. It's probably better to not add any of my own toppings either because I wouldn't want to ruin the flavor Kato-san intended.


Just a gloopy mess until you add water, but it still smells so good.


Okay, so it wasn't exactly the real thing, but it still tasted better than most nama-ramen we can get over here. The soup had a really distinct fish essence that I don't remember the real thing having. But that charred lard flavor was amazingly still there. Mmmm...I'm glad I bought two packs!


The noodles were very similar to the real thing. Oh man, I wish every ramen-ya in LA would use these noodles.

Main Ingredients

Noodles (メン): Flour, salt, egg white, kansui, kuchinashi extract...
Soup (スープ): Pork extract, pork oil, shoyu, salt, sugar, dried bonita, fish and shell extract, monosodium glutamate, caramel color...