ZenPop Japanese Ramen Pack (Sponsored Post)

 ZenPop Japanese Ramen Pack

Check out the YouTube video! Instead of just doing an unboxing and eating of this tasty instant ramen pack, I packed a couple into my cycling pack, donned my cycling jersey from 1998, and rode around 75 kilometers into the distant reaches of western Tokyo.

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Grab your own pack here:

https://bit.ly/3lQSmqH

This month's theme is Flavors from Beyond, and they are all a bit left of center.

Yakisoba with tartar sauce mayo. Ok, I know most people, myself included, cringe a bit at the thought of mayo in ramen. But when you mix it in, it's really just oil, vinegar, and egg. These are all ingredients you find in ramen, so go for it! For me, I like to mix in something spicy, like kimchi, with these instant yakisoba bowls.

Non-fried noodles mean fewer calories (292 vs a standard 400 in most bowls of instant ramen) and a bit of hot and sour black vinegar soup in this men shokunin (麺職人). Perfect for a light snack.

The opposite of light snack is this pork curry udon. By the way, thanks for reading this far! And thank you to ZenPop for sponsoring this post and YouTube video. If you want to support Ramen Adventures, head over to their site and grab a ramen pack, or any other pack for that matter.

https://bit.ly/3lQSmqH

Noodle made with tofu. Tofu topping. Soy milk infused broth. It's tofu ramen!

Tonkotsu + togarashi = tongarashi. Pork soup with a spicy kick. This one is packed with tomato and cheese flavors. It's full of umami.

Iseebi is a kind of Japanese spiny lobster. This line of instant noodles, called Wara (和ラー) specializes in local Japanese flavors. Mie Prefecture is known for these expensive lobsters.

Seino!!!! This is one of Japan's most highly ranked shops out in Wakayama Prefecture. I've been a few times. Thick tonkotsu soup with heavy local soy sauce.

Thanks again to ZenPop. If you aren't interested, no problem, but if you have any inkling to try some instant ramen shopped straight from Japan, please use this link to grab a subscription.

https://bit.ly/3lQSmqH

And use promo code RAMENADVENTURES ($3 USD off first Ramen Pack). Ya'll are the best!

風花 (Kazehana in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture)

風花

Kazehana is a fairly standard shoyu spot up in Kanazawa. I was wandering the streets one evening on a weekday night and nothing was open except this one. Sometimes all you need is a classic bowl.

Kazehana's preservative-free soup is made from chickens and vegetables.

A lot of tourists flock to Kanazawa. If you are there and get a bit tired of all the seafood, this might be one for you!

コオロギラーメン (Cricket Ramen at Antcicada)

Antcicada

Antcicada is a gourmet restaurant that serves a course for dinner and ramen for lunch. The chef is my good friend Shota, a young guy who staged at Michelin starred restaurants in Japan, Denmark, and even the Faroe Islands. His first restaurant is up to those standards. Oh, and everything is centered around insects.

The shop officially opened in May, 2020, but I was lucky enough to try a pre-open dinner.

Rice cracker with bits of bugs.

The restaurant also focuses on fresh and foraged vegetables and herbs. One of the best things I ate in 2019 was this shirako (白子) wrap. Fish milt fried and served with dozens of fresh herbs from Chiba.

It takes over 100 crickets to make one bowl of ramen. They experimented with many recipes, like a 100% cricket broth, before settling on a blend of niboshi and cricket. The flavors are deep and complex. A bit earthy.

The crew behind Antcicada are all very nerdy about this endeavor. They've researched alongside universities things from an insect's diet to seasonal hormones to how fermentation affects these bugs. Crickets fed only sudachi citrus. River bug pheromones used in gin. Contained ecosystems with insects, plants, and fish. All of this goes into their spot.

As of August 2020, their shop is only open on weekends, and only serves ramen Sunday afternoon. Expect this to change, and expect another post about the actual shop in the next few weeks.

Official site here.