While visitors to Japan are often said to search for their favourite restaurants on social media, traditional guidebooks still serve as a valuable way to find popular spots.
Since 2015, 246 ramen shops have received the Bib Gourmand designation – awarded for high-quality food at reasonable prices – in the Michelin Guide for Tokyo restaurants.
Ginza Hachigou, which opened in Tokyo’s Chuo ward in 2018, is one such establishment. Half of its customers are travellers from Europe, the US, and various Asian countries.
The most popular item here is the “ravioli gourmandise chuka soba”, which costs 2,200 yen including tax and features a wonton wrapped around a truffle and foie gras filling, the restaurant said. As it only serves 30 bowls of the dish per day, it says it sells out by early afternoon.
“We have a customer who has made the trip from the United States more than 10 times. I can feel how far ramen culture is spreading,” said owner Yasushi Matsumura, 66, who formerly was a chef for French cuisine.
But what does the future hold for ramen?
“I think we’ll see more bowls that are packed with the distinct personality of the ramen shop’s chef, rather than being limited to classic flavours like tonkotsu pork broth or soya sauce,” said Mr Kazuaki Tanaka, 52, a ramen enthusiast who eats more than 700 bowls a year and is nicknamed the “ramen bureaucrat”.
Ramen’s origin, evolution
Rairaiken, which opened in Tokyo’s Asakusa district in 1910, is said to have been the first ramen shop in Japan, according to the Shinyokohama Ramen Museum in Yokohama.
After the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, ramen shop owners from Tokyo and Yokohama, whose businesses were destroyed, evacuated to other prefectures. This became the catalyst for ramen to spread throughout the nation, the museum says.
The milky white tonkotsu broth was created in Kurume in Fukuoka prefecture shortly after the war in 1947, and it established itself throughout Kyushu.
When miso ramen was invented in Sapporo in 1954, it quickly spread to the rest of the Japanese archipelago.
Yoshimuraya, which was founded in Yokohama in 1974, is the originator of the iekei style of ramen known for its rich pork bone and soya sauce broths. With its increasing number of franchise and spin-off restaurants, the brand is enjoying nationwide popularity.
The 2000s saw a series of hit products being created, such as toripaitan creamy chicken broth and tanreikei light and clear broth.
“Ramen has never lost its popularity, and it has gained new fans with every boom,” said Mr Yoji Iwaoka, 66, head of the museum. “Although prices have risen, the appeal of ramen lies in its still-accessible price point, allowing people to enjoy it casually. It will remain an accessible gourmet food.” –
The Japan Times
Asia News Network
AloJapan.com