When I first heard about this concept, I immediately thought of the possibilities. Could you ship overseas and serve in some kind of brick and mortar shop? Some kind of amazing shop that has some of Japan's best ramen on their menu?
Of course! And if you live in Singapore, this actually exists. The Takumen Ramen Gallery features six different Japanese bowls, shipped direct from the source.
I suppose this is a sort of sponsored post. The founder of Takumen sent me some bowls to try out at home. Here they are, from my favorite to the ones that didn't do it for me.
1. ど・みそ (Do Miso)
I'm a fan of their Tokyo shop, and the delivered version lived up to expectations. The pack of rich miso hid a massive piece of chashu. Those noodles were thick, and cooked well in my crappy Japanese home kitchen. This will be a theme with these packs; thicker noodles were much easier to cook well.
2. ちばから (Chiba Kara)
As the name implies, Chiba Kara is from Chiba. Though I'm not a real Jirorian (die hard fan of Jiro), this Jiro-kei bowl was rich and filling.
I should also note that each delivered bowl comes with a list of recommended toppings. I didn't add any, but this one recommends bean sprouts, shredded cabbage, and heaps of raw garlic.
にんにく入りますか？
3. 作田家 (Sakutaya)
Sakutaya is a decent Ie-kei bowl, meaning it is Yokohama-style ramen. The signature nori, spinach, and chashu toppings are all included.
4. 本田商店 (Honda Shoten)
And now the thinner noodle bowls. Thicker frozen noodles cook in 5-6 minutes, while the thin noodles are just over a minute. I had a problem, which would probably be remedied if I was a little more careful.
Honda Shoten brought authentic Kyushu tonkotsu ramen to my door. The soup was decadent, and that chashu tender. But I didn't cook the noodles long enough. My bad.
5. 元 (Hajime)
Hajime gets put on the top of many shio ramen lists in Tokyo. The broth is light and full of umami. The original shop's noodles are excellent, thin and firm. A perfect match with the soup. I, unfortunately, cooked them about a minute too long. It was really unfortunate to waste such a stellar bowl.
Sorry!
If you live in Japan, and can decipher the Japanese, you can order many, many different bowls from Takumen.com. Prices are comparable to what you would pay in the shop.
If anyone lives in Singapore, check out the Takumen shop and let me know how it is. It looks like they use the packs, along with some fresh toppings, to recreate the original experience. They have two shops.
Official Site Here.
4 comments:
Hey Brian, visited the place a few time since it opened. The packs would explain how they have like 1-2 cooks doing so many styles competently. Do MiSo and Hajime are easily the best bowls of their type (class?) here in Singapore, although there's not much competition to begin with. Sakutaya is decent. Didn't try the rest though. Pity there doesn't seem to be much of a queue at their main shop.
Maybe they should consider bringing in more interesting/diverse bowls since the scene here is pretty much dominated by Keisuke and his tonkotsu variations. We haven't had a good tsukemen place since Tetsu decided to pack up after their first year at Ramen Champion, and M--nya Mu---hi's quality dropping like mad after their expansion. I believe I saw Tomita and Fuunji at their website...
Interesting. Most of those chains have vastly different stories since their expansions. Some remain great, some became cash grabs!
I’ve made this so many times and love it! Super easy. And it’s amazig left over!
Ramen in Minnesota
can I order from Hawaii?! Not much options here.
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