The Ever-Evolving Culture of Ramen
Food and Drink
Culture
Society
Travel
Sep 29, 2025
Yodogawa, Osaka, is home to this noodle shop serving a unique take on the classic dish—a bowl of unadorned noodles, lightly seasoned and without the broth one expects in a serving of ramen, designed to let their flavor do the talking.
Most people probably think of dishes like the oil-heavy aburasoba or ingredient-rich mazesoba when they hear “brothless noodles.” But the main dish here, Kirimen, is a little different. This is an utterly unique take on ramen, consisting only of noodles topped with a salty sauce—and, for the Kiritama version, a raw egg. The noodles are made in-house using a blend of domestically grown wheat and bring full, wheaty flavor with every bite. The chewy texture is much like that of a firm udon. This style, not seen anywhere else in Japan, is proof of the chef’s confidence in these noodles. It’s a bowl that shows the great potential of ramen as a genre.
Address: 2-1-6 Jūsōhonmachi, Yodogawa-ku, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture
Official social media account: https://x.com/kirimen_japan (Japanese)
(Originally published in Japanese. Kiritama from Chūkasoba Kirimen Sōhonten. ¥1,000. © Yamakawa Daisuke.)
Osaka
ramen
cuisine
AloJapan.com