Hakata Ramen, Ichiran Ramen

 

              Every country and culture has their form of comfort food. Within many countries, certain areas have their own comfort food. In Japan, few (if any) would disagree that the country’s comfort food is ramen. Ramen is essentially a noodle soup dish with a chicken or pork base. The noodles themselves can be somewhat thick to very thin and straight or wrinkled. Over the years ramen has evolved into many different types of soup bases with many different types of toppings. As a current resident in the Fukuoka area however, this author will be writing about the famous Hakata ramen and one of its more popular chain restaurants known as “Ichiran”.

              Hakata ramen is a pork based soup that utilizes a very thin type of noodle. Supposedly, and this guy ain’t disagreeing, the thin noodle is best for holding in the pork based soup flavor as well as being particularly strong for its thickness. Common toppings for Hakata ramen are shredded pickled ginger, takana (hot pepper spiced vegetables), bean sprouts, crushed garlic, sliced spring onion, a slice of dried seaweed, and/or an egg. The soup base is created by boiling pork bones for many hours and is usually an over night process. The aforementioned is the reason why specialty ramen shops are where to go for the true ramen taste as opposed to making it at home, unless of course you prepare your menu one day in advance. The utensils used for eating ramen are of course chopsticks and the Japanese soup spoon named renge.

              Throughout Japan there are thousands of ramen shops. Most are simple mom and pop shops but some have become so popular that they have created chains. One of the most popular chain ramen shops is “Ichiran”. Ichiran opened in Hakata, Fukuoka in 1960 and began spreading like wildfire. There are big Ichirans and there are small Ichirans, but they all have the same system and atmosphere, which is very unique. The writer will explain what a smaller Ichiran is like as it may not be as English friendly as its larger counterparts. Upon entering Ichiran you will see the ticket machine and you will hear traditional Japanese koto music. You may also hear the shop staff say “Irashaimasen”, which is the Japanese saying to greet customers. Simply insert your money and press what you want. It should be noted that there may be slight variances of what is on the menu depending on the shop you are in and its location in Japan. The mainstays on the menu are ramen, extra pork filets, extra noodles (large and small portions), extra spring onions, a side order of rice, hard boiled eggs, and beer. The bowl of ramen itself costs about 700 yen, but this price fluctuates depending on where you are.

              Take a look around. Unlike traditional restaurants, Ichiran has rows of stalls in which you will be eating at. Near the entrance you can see an electronic panel. This panel is actually the restaurant’s seating layout. Each button on the panel correlates to a seat; so you can see what choices you have to sit at before even looking around. This may seem unnecessary but once you have visited your first Ichiran you will understand why. The Ichiran seating rows are very narrow and each seat has a divider between it and its neighboring seat. It is sometimes difficult to see down the entire row in order to find a seat so that is why the electronic panel can help you.

              Once you have found you seat you will see that in front of you is a curtain separating you from your soon to be servers. There will only be a space of perhaps half a foot between the bottom of the curtain and your table counter. At your counter will be a piece of paper, a pen, a small “call order” button, a small container of chopsticks, and your very own personal water spigot. That piece of paper is instructions on how to prepare your ramen. However it is all in Japanese. This will be the only time you will need to speak to the staff. Shortly after you sit down an anonymous server, as you will only be able to see their hands, will come to your stall and give you a plastic cup for your water. You can probably get away with asking for an English menu in English but just in case, this writer will let you know how to ask for an English menu in Japanese. Say “eigo menu onegaishimasu”, or even just “eigo menu”. The proper phonetic sound goes like this: “A” (like when you say the first letter of the alphabet) “GO” (like when you say “go”) and “MENU” is spoken the same way in both languages. Ok, wipe the sweat off your brow. You are no longer required to speak for the rest of your Ichiran ramen adventure. A few moments later the disembodied hands should return with an English menu and a side menu. Use your pen to circle your choices in order to customize your ramen dish.

 

The choices are:

Five choices of fat content in the soup

Five choices of soup flavor strength

Five choices of noodle tenderness

Unlimited choices of spice (you can write the amount of hot spice you want added)

Three choices of the amount of sliced spring onion

Three choices of the amount of garlic

Do you want or not want slices of pork

 

Circle your choices and then put the tickets you purchased from the vending machine on the menu and push the menu just to the edge of the counter under the curtain. If your menu is not whisked away momentarily feel free to press the “call order” button. Now its time to play the waiting game. Don’t worry though, the waiting game plays out in only a few minutes.

              Finally the ramen arrives with the renge. In the middle of the soup will be the red spice. You will surely want to mix that around a bit to spread it throughout the soup. Everyone has their own preference on how they eat their ramen. Some eat all the noodles and pork first and then drink the soup and others rotate between soup and noodles. It should be noted that if you are very hungry and will want more noodles or pork that you should leave about half of your soup. You will see the choices of extra things to order on your side order menu. Since you are seated now you will not have to get up again to go the vending machine to buy more noodle tickets. Simply circle what you want and put the money on the menu and then press the “call order” button. A server will be by to take the money and menu and shortly return the change to you.

              Last but not least, eating ramen tends to give you a runny nose. Look behind you. On the walls, spaced accordingly, you should see tissue box holders. Grab as many tissues as you need to slow your nose from a sprint to a standstill. Once you are fully full and satisfied that’s it. Grab your belongings and head on out. I hope you enjoyed your Ichiran ramen experience.  S.B.