January 18, 2010

Kitakata Ramen/喜多方ラーメン

Today, I got this box of Kitakata ramen as a gift. Kitakata ramen is one of the Three Great Ramen in Japan, together with Sapporo ramen and Hakata ramen.
今日は贈り物としてこの喜多方ラーメンをもらいました。喜多方ラーメンは、札幌ラーメン、博多ラーメンとともに、日本の三大ラーメンです。

Seven packs of ramen noodles, together with four pouches of soy sauce-flavored broth and three pouches of miso-flavored broth:
ラーメンの麺が7パックに、醤油味のスープが4袋と味噌味のスープが3袋:

Note that the broth of Kitakata ramen is usually soy sauce-flavored.
喜多方ラーメンのスープは普通、醤油味です。
Kitakata ramen is characterized by its thick, flat, and curly noodles, among others.
喜多方ラーメンの特徴の一つは、太めの平打ち縮れ麺です。

In general, Kitakata ramen noodles have high kasuiritsu* (38-43%), in contrast to 30-35% for regular ramen noodles, giving them a sleek, mochi-mochi (mochi-like) texture.
*The percentage of water added to flour when making noodles.
一般的に喜多方ラーメンの加水率*は38~43%と高く、ツルツル、モチモチした食感になっています。一般的なラーメンの麺の加水率は30~35%です。
*麺を作る時に加える水の割合(パーセント)
Hopefully, I will be able to update this post in a day or two.
できれば、一両日中に更新します。
Edited to add this photo:
この写真を追加します:

I had one pack for lunch today. Sorry, as you can see, no toppings. Common toppings for Kitakata ramen include chashu (Japanese version of char siu), menma (a kind of simmered bamboo shoots), and chopped negi (Japanese scallion). The noodles were sleek as I had imagined but not as resilient as I had imagined, and the broth was salty as I had imagined.
今日の昼食に1パック食べました。ご覧の通り、具は、なしです。喜多方ラーメンの一般的な具としては、チャーシュー、メンマ、刻んだネギがあります。麺は思った通りツルツルでしたが、思ったより腰はありませんでした。スープは思った通り、塩辛かったです。

6 comments:

Nancy Heller said...

This looks so good! Do they ship these products to the US?

Mama said...

Yum! I can't wait to see how they look (and hear how they taste) when they're cooked. Ramen is my #1 favorite food!

Hiroyuki said...

Nancy Heller: I don't know if they can be shipped to the U.S., but some Rakuten shops do ship similar products like these:
http://en.item.rakuten.com/s-fu/ramen-014/
http://en.item.rakuten.com/s-fu/ramen-02/

Hiroyuki said...

pink: Don't expect too much (laugh)! I hope it will be slightly better than regular, much cheaper ones readily available in any supermarket, but I don't think it will be far better. Anyway, I think I'll have one of them for lunch today and report back.

Unknown said...

Hiroyuki-san

Could you please explain a bit more about the menma? The ones i can find here in Australia come from China, and I am afraid I hate these China ones as they have a strong urea smell to them. The ones I have had in Japan taste (and smell) so different and therefore nice. Where do you normally buy them? What packaging do they have?

Thanks for your time! :)

Oliver

Hiroyuki said...

oliver: I previously posted photos of my memma here:
http://hiro-shio.blogspot.com/2010/01/ramen-of-my-style.html
Pre-seasoned memma that you can get from any supermarket in Japan.
Manufacturer's site:
http://www.mikuro.co.jp/
As you may know, almost all menma comes from China or Taiwan. Shinachiku, which is another name for menma, means Chinese bamboo.
Menma is fermented before being salted for preservation. That's why it's smelly, and it has to be rinsed with several changes of water to get rid of the smell.
Salted memma is exported to other countries like Japan, where it is desalted and seasoned.
That being said, I'm not familiar with salted menma; I've never bought this type of menma.