All about Nissin Ippudo Hakata Tonkotsu Instant Ramen
There are many instant noodles only available at the convenience stores of 7 Eleven Japan, which include Nissin Ramen Santouka I introduced the other day.
Nonetheless, I hadn’t seen one of my favorite cup ramens of that kind being sold for a while. But at last, a few days ago, I found the instant ramen bowl lined up in my go-to 7 Eleven.
So I grabbed it.
Ippudo Instant Ramen from Nissin
What I bought in that 7-eleven is the pictured Nissin Ippudo “Aka-Maru (赤丸: red circle)” “Shin-Aji (新味: new taste)” “Hakata Tonkotsu (博多とんこつ: Hakata-style pork bone broth ramen)” instant noodle soup.
As you may know, Hakata Ippudo is one of the most popular, best-recognized Japanese ramen restaurant chains specializing in Hakata-style Tonkotsu ramen.
Ippudo’s original ramen shop was opened in 1985 in Chuo Ward, Fukuoka City. Their Tonkotsu ramen is characterized by deep-tasting, flavorful pork bone broth and homemade noodles developed with lots of research.
As with the actual Tonkotsu ramen served in the restaurants, this Ippudo instant ramen created by Nissin with the help of the ramen shop is of very high quality. I have loved it since it went on the market in 2000.
Nowadays, Ippudo instant ramen can be bought even on Amazon.com. So for those of you who are curious about the taste, today, let me share in-depth information about the product.
Ingredients and Nutrition Facts
First, let’s look at the ingredients and nutrition facts of this instant ramen. On the side of the bowl, you can find the lists.
According to that, the noodles are made using wheat flour, salt, vegetable oil, egg powder, soybean dietary fiber, vegetable protein, and chicken extract.
Meanwhile, the soup base consists of pork extract, soy sauce, lard, flavor oil, sesame, wheat flour, chicken extract, Toubanjian (Chinese chili paste), Gochujang (Korean red chili paste), onion powder, salt, and spices.
The calories per serving (121 grams) are 451 kcal, and this Ippudo instant ramen contains 8.2 g salt equivalents in total.
Contents
As for the contents of this bowl, you will see the 5 packets above in the container when you peel back the lid. Specifically,
- The orange packet contains a soup base mix.
- The green one contains a liquid soup base.
- The red one consists of 2 parts; one contains black garlic flavoring oil called “Kuro-Koyu (黒香油)”, while the other has spicy red miso paste called “Aka-Miso (赤みそ)”.
- The transparent and blue ones contain toppings and garnishes or “Kayaku (かやく)” made up of chopped green onions, cloud-ear mushrooms, and a slice of Chashu roast pork.
By the way, the wheat noodles are non-fried.
How to Cook (Instructions)
Next, here are the cooking instructions for the Nissin Ippudo instant ramen. The making is somewhat complicated as the following.
- First, put the contents (toppings and garnishes) of the transparent and blue packets into the bowl.
- Pour boiling water until it reaches the line indicated inside the bowl.
- Close the lid and place the red and green packets on top to let them warm.
- At the same time, let the noodles sit and cook for 3 minutes.
- 3 minutes later, remove the paper lid and add the contents of the orange packet (soup base powder) and the green packet (soup base liquid).
- Stir all the ingredients well with chopsticks.
- As a finishing touch, add in the contents of the red packet (black garlic oil and spicy red miso paste).
- After giving it all a good stir again, enjoy the noodle soup!
Taste
Lastly, as for the taste, as I mentioned above, the pork bone broth is umami-packed, delightfully flavorful thanks to the savory black garlic oil Kuro-Koyu or “Mayu (マー油)” and the spicy Aka-Miso.
The thin straight noodles also have a pleasant, chewy bite. As a whole, this Nissin Ippudo ramen has a super delicious taste, making it one of the best instant noodles ever.
